First season 1901 Home Stadium Ron Joyce Stadium Home ground Ron Joyce Stadium | Athletic director Glen Grunwald Year built 2007 | |
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Head coach Greg Knox
1st year, 6–2–0 (.750) Stadium capacity 6,000 (12,000 with temporary seating) | ||
The McMaster Marauders football team represents McMaster University based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The team plays Canadian Interuniversity Sport football in the Ontario University Athletics conference. The Marauders have been playing organized football since 1901 when they played their first exhibition game in the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union. The team has appeared in three Vanier Cup games, winning one in 2011.
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History
The earliest reference of the sport of football at McMaster was during a meeting on November 30, 1898, when the university's athletic association's debated about expanding into the sport of football. The association had reached a consensus two days later that the lateness of the season made it pointless to start the sport for that year. The university would form a football team in the following year.
The McMaster Marauder's football team played their first football game in an exhibition game against the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry in 1901, losing 1-0. The Marauders won their first game in an exhibition match against Royal Military College of Canada with a score of 17-5. The Marauders played their first regular season game in 1902, losing their first game to the University of Toronto in a one-game season. The Marauders would not win their first game until the following season, where they also made their first playoff appearance. The early football team at McMaster would not have a head coach until the end of World War I, with most of the coaching duties taken up by the team captains.
The Marauders have made sixteen consecutive OUA post-season appearances, having last missed the playoffs in the 1997 season. During this period the Marauders have won all seven of their Yates Cup championships (awarded to the champion of the OUA conference), and advanced to the Vanier Cup semi-final seven times. The Vanier Cup semi-finals is played in two bowl game, the Mitchell Bowl (Churchill Bowl prior to 2003) and the Uteck Bowl (Atlantic Bowl prior to 2001). The Marauders football team have also made an appearance at the Churchill and Mitchell Bowls in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2012, and 2014. The Marauders have also appeared at the Atlantic and Uteck Bowls, in 1961, 1964, 1967, 2002 and 2011. Amongst these appearances the Marauders advanced to the Vanier Cup three times, in the 1967 Atlantic Bowl, the 2011 Uteck Bowl, and the 2012 and 2014 Mitchell Bowls.
The Marauders would make their first Vanier Cup appearance in 1967 at the 3rd Vanier Cup, going on to lose 10-9 to the Alberta Golden Bears. After a 44-year absence from the cup final the Marauders won their first (and only) CIS championship at the 2011 47th Vanier Cup, beating Laval Rouge et Or 41-38 in overtime. In the following year the Marauders lost against Laval in the 48th Vanier Cup. In 2014, they lost 20-19 to the Montréal Carabins in the 50th Vanier Cup. In addition to the championships presently offered by CIS and OUA, the Marauders had also been awarded a CCIFC championship in 1967, as well as several OIFC championship, in 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963 and 1964.
Season-by-season record
The following is the record of the McMaster Marauders football team since 2000:
Records
The Marauders currently hold a number of Ontario University Athletics records, both in terms of the team, as well as individuals who had played for the Marauders. Current records held by the Marauders are:
Team records
Individual records
McMaster Marauders in the CFL
As of the end of the 2016 CFL season, 12 former Marauders players are on CFL teams' rosters: