Canadian Football News in 1936

Teams were restricted to a maximum of five imports, and only players who had lived in Canada for a full year could compete in 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 ...

game. When Regina won the West, five of their imports were declared illegal by the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU). Regina offered to drop the players for the Grey Cup, but the CRU would not allow them to play for the cup. Instead, the Grey Cup was a contest between the

Sarnia Imperials The Sarnia Imperials were a football team from Sarnia, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League and contested for the Grey Cup until 1955. In their history, the Imperials appear ...

of the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

(ORFU) and 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 ...

of the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

(IRFU). Sarnia won their second and last Grey Cup with a powerful line-up that included future Hall of Famers Hugh (Bummer) Stirling and

Ormond Beach Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan ...

. The

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagu ...

(WIFU) was formed in August with the Winnipegs,

Calgary Bronks The Calgary Bronks were a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta, that competed in the Alberta Rugby Football Union (ARFU) in 1935 and 1936, as well as the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) from 1936 and 1940. ...

, and the

Regina Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. The IRFU and WIFU adopted a two-game point series format for the playoffs. The series was played between first and second place teams. A white ball was used in games played under floodlights in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. Intercollegiate teams stopped competing for the Grey Cup. The

fielded two teams; the main, or "big" team in the WIFU, and the "little" Roughriders who played in the last SRFU season. The Calgary Bronks played a full schedule in the

Alberta Rugby Football Union The Alberta Rugby Football Union was formed on September 25, 1911, and governed the newly emerging and evolving sport of football in the province for over 2 decades before it was disbanded in 1936. First the Calgary Rugby Football Union (CRFU) was c ...

including some games which conflicted with the WIFU schedule. For the open dates, the Bronks fielded the same team that was competing in the WIFU (5 games). For the remaining three games, the Bronks fielded a second team which was referred to as the Calgary Bronks 'B'. The final game of the regular season saw the Calgary Bronks square off against the University of Alberta Golden Bears. These teams were the two top teams in the ARFU, so it was decided that in addition to being the final regular season game, the game would also determine the ARFU championship.

Regular season

Final regular season standings

''Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points'' Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.

Grey Cup playoffs

''Note: All dates in 1936''

BCRFU tie-breaker playoff

*''Vancouver Athletic Club Wolves win BCRFU and advance (only to default.)''

Division semi-finals

*''Regina won the total-point series 24–14 after Winnipeg started the series with a 2-0 lead.'' * Game to be played on Nov.7 in Winnipeg, but Moose Jaw Millers withdraw on Nov. 5 and Regina advances to Final * BCRFU forfeits game, Calgary Bronks "B" side advance to final.

Division finals

*''Regina started the game with a 5-0 lead.The Calgary Daily Herald - Nov 10, 1936
/ref> CRU would not allow them to play for the Grey Cup'' *''Sarnia advanced to the Grey Cup game.'' *''Ottawa won the total-point series 22–6 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.''

Grey Cup Championship

1936 Eastern (Combined IRFU & ORFU) All-Stars selected by ''Canadian Press''

''NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.''

1st Team

*QB – Bob Coulter, Toronto Argonauts *FW –

, Sarnia Imperials *HB – Hugh Welch, Hamilton Tigers *HB –

Ab Box Albert George "Ab" Box (March 8, 1909 – July 30, 2000) was a Canadian professional football halfback, quarterback and punter. Born in Toronto, Box attended Malvern Collegiate Institute where he played on the football team and later on the ...

, Toronto Argonauts *DB – Ted Morris, Toronto Argonauts *E –

Wes Cutler Wesley "Wes" Cutler (born February 17, 1911 in Toronto, Ontario, died June 10, 1956, in Toronto, Ontario) was a star football player in the Canadian Football League for six seasons for the Toronto Argonauts. He was inducted into the Canadian Foot ...

, Toronto Argonauts *E –

Seymour Wilson Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township *Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria *Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria *Seymour, Tasmania, a locality ...

, Hamilton Tigers *C – Fred Wigle, Montreal Indians *G – Charles "Tiny" Herman, Ottawa Rough Riders *G – George Pigeon, Montreal Indians *T –

Dave Sprague David Shafer Sprague (August 11, 1910 – February 20, 1968) was a star football player in the Canadian Football League for eleven seasons for the Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilto ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders *T – Pete Joktus, Montreal Indians

2nd Team

*QB – Arnie McWatters, Sarnia Imperials *FW –

Abe Eliowitz Abe Eliowitz (November 10, 1910 – November 19, 1981) was a star football player in American college football and in the days before the Canadian Football League. He also played college baseball. Early life and education Eliowitz attended Michi ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders *HB –

Andy Tommy Andrew Bailey Tommy Sr. (December 24, 1911 – April 23, 1972) was a star professional Canadian football player for eleven seasons for the Ottawa Rough Riders and one season for the Toronto Argonauts. Tommy led his team to two Grey Cup wins, in 1 ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders *HB – Mike Hedgewich, Sarnia Imperials *DB – Hugh Sterling, Sarnia Imperials *E – Jack Holden, University of Toronto *E – Syd Reynolds, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers *C – George Willis, University of Western Ontario *G – Pat Butler, Sarnia Imperials *G – George Hornig, McGill University *T – Ernie Hempey, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers *T – Gus Greco, University of Toronto

1936 Canadian Football Awards

Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy The Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy is a Canadian football award recognizing the most outstanding football player of the Quebec Student Sport Federation (RESQ) The trophy was originally presented to the player who best exemplified skill, sportsmanshi ...

(IRFU MVP) –

Arnie Morrison Arnie Morrison (1907-1976) was a Canadian football player, playing from 1933 to 1938 with the Ottawa Rough Riders. Morrison was a multi-sport star athlete, but was involved in a junior football brawl and riot when his Ottawa Rideaus played the St ...

(QB), Ottawa Rough Riders * Imperial Oil Trophy (ORFU MVP) - Syd Reynolds - Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1936 In Canadian Football Canadian Football League seasons Grey Cups hosted in Toronto