 | ||
The Grey Cup is the championship of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team. The trophy is named after Albert Grey, the Governor General of Canada from 1904 until 1911. He donated the trophy to the Canadian Rugby Union in 1909 to recognize the top amateur rugby football team in Canada. By this time Canadian football had become markedly different from the rugby football from which it developed. Although it was originally intended to be awarded only to amateur teams (like the Stanley Cup), over time, the Grey Cup became the property of the Canadian Football League as it evolved into a professional football league. Amateur teams ceased competing for the Cup by 1954; since 1965, the top amateur teams, playing in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), have competed for the Vanier Cup.
Contents
The Grey Cup game is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 4 million. Two awards are given for play in the game, Most Valuable Player and the Dick Suderman Trophy as most valuable Canadian player.
The Edmonton Eskimos have made the most appearances (25), while the Toronto Argonauts have won the most championships (16) and have the best record in the Grey Cup composite standings (16-6). Despite the CFL's short-lived U.S. expansion in the mid-90's, the Grey Cup was never played outside of Canada. The Baltimore Stallions were the only American team to appear in the Grey Cup (twice, losing in 1994 and winning the following year). Although the first Grey Cup game was in 1909, there were none from 1916 to 1919, so the 2012 Grey Cup was the 100th. The 104th Grey Cup was played on November 27, 2016 at BMO Field in Toronto, with the Ottawa Redblacks defeating the Calgary Stampeders 39–33 in overtime to win their first championship as a franchise and the first for the city of Ottawa since the defunct Ottawa Rough Riders won in 1976.
Results
^ A. Game was not held due to World War I.
^ B. Game was not held due to a rules dispute with the Canadian Rugby Union.
^ C. Played as a two-game series; Ottawa won by a total score of 20–7.
^ D. Game was decided in overtime.
^ E. Game was suspended with 9:29 remaining in the fourth quarter due to extremely dense fog, and completed the next day.
^ F. Originally awarded to Baltimore, Maryland – see Canadian Football League in the United States.
^ G. Game was decided in double overtime.
^ H. Originally awarded to Ottawa, but declined due to lawsuits and delays on the renovation of Frank Clair Stadium.
^ I. Game has yet to be played or is in progress.
Win/Loss records
Although the official website of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats consider them as the same team, the Tiger-Cats, Hamilton Alerts, Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Flying Wildcats are all listed separately because, when the latter three were active, the teams competed as separate franchises. The Tigers and Flying Wildcats merged in 1950 to create the Tiger-Cats.