The 1908 Dominion Championship was a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

game that was played on November 28, 1908, at the Rosedale Field in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, that determined the Senior Rugby Football champion of Canada for the 1908 season. The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) champion Hamilton Tigers defeated the

Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

(CIRFU) champion Toronto Varsity 21–17 to claim their second Dominion Championship. This was the last Dominion Championship played before the establishment of the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

trophy for the 1909 Dominion Championship game.

Game recap

The Tigers were playing without star player

Ben Simpson Benjamin L. Simpson (September 5, 1878 – October 20, 1964) was a star football player in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (Big Four) for seven seasons for the Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team ...

who was injured by a kick to the chest in the IRFU Playoff against the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

two weeks earlier. Despite his absence, the Tigers started strong and led by a score of 19 to 4 in the second quarter. However, Varsity scored a converted try to end the half, had a strong showing in the second half, and trimmed the lead to two, scoring 13 straight points. The comeback attempt fell short as Hamilton had two rouges to end the game and the final score was 21–17.

References

Rugby union competitions in Canada 1908 in Canadian football 1908 awards 1908 in Ontario Toronto Varsity Blues football 1900s in Toronto {{Canadianfootball-competition-stub