The

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

had an opportunity to defend their

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 ...

title in 1949, but the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

returned the trophy to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

for just the third time in its history.

Canadian Football News in 1949

The

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

rejoined with the

WIFU 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 ...

and adopted the colours of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

. The WIFU regular season was extended to 14 games, per team. Wearing helmets became compulsory with the two unions. The

Western Canada Rugby 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 ...

ceased its operations.

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 1949''

Finals

* ''Calgary won the total-point series by 22–21. The Stampeders will advance to the Grey Cup game.'' * ''Hamilton won the total-point series by 26–18. The Tigers will play the Montreal Alouettes in the Eastern finals.'' * ''Montreal won the total-point series by 36–20. The Alouettes will play the Hamilton Tigers in the Eastern finals.''

Eastern Finals

* ''The Montreal Alouettes will advance to the Grey Cup game.''

Playoff bracket

Grey Cup Championship

1949 Eastern (Interprovincial Rugby Football Union) All-Stars

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

Frank Filchock Frank Joseph Filchock (October 8, 1916 – June 20, 1994) was an American gridiron football player and coach. As a consequence of a famous scandal regarding the 1946 NFL Championship Game, he was suspended by the National Football League (NF ...

, Montreal Alouettes *QB –

Andy Gordon Andrew Gordon is an American television producer and writer, based in Los Angeles, California. He is known for creating and producing the teen sitcom ''True Jackson, VP''. He has also written on other popular shows such as ''The Big Bang Theor ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders *HB –

Howie Turner Howard "Touchdown" Turner (October 13, 1922 – November 2, 2004) was a Canadian football player who played for the Ottawa Rough Riders. He won the Grey Cup with them in 1951. He previously played football for and attended North Carolina State ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders *HB –

Virgil Wagner Virgil Wagner (February 27, 1922 - August 22, 1997) was an award-winning, all-star and Grey Cup champion Canadian football halfback for the Montreal Alouettes. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of ...

, Montreal Alouettes *HB – Royal Copeland, Toronto Argonauts *E –

Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...

, Hamilton Wildcats *E –

Ralph Toohy Ralph Toohy (October 6, 1926 – July 19, 1998) was a Grey Cup champion and all-star Canadian Football League player. He played offensive and defensive end. Toohy played football with Loyola High School, and later attended Colorado College. He ...

, Montreal Alouettes *FW –

Bob Paffrath Robert William Paffrath (July 3, 1918 – May 21, 2005) was an American former professional football player who was a halfback. He played for the Miami Seahawks and the Brooklyn Dodgers of the All-America Football Conference, for the Ottawa ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders *C – Don Loney, Ottawa Rough Riders *G – Eddie Michaels, Ottawa Rough Riders *G –

Vince Scott Vincent Joseph "Boomer" Scott (July 10, 1925 – July 13, 1992) was a Canadian football player. He played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and was later a Hamilton city councillor. He became a Canadian citizen in the mid-1950s Scott was born in ...

, Hamilton Wildcats *T –

Herb Trawick Herb Trawick (February 22, 1921 – September 16, 1985) was a professional Canadian football player and was the first African American to play professional Canadian football. Trawick spent his entire 12-year career as an offensive lineman and def ...

, Montreal Alouettes *T –

John Wagoner John Bryan Wagoner (June 7, 1923 – February 6, 2017) was a Canadian football player who played for the Ottawa Rough Riders and BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions co ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders

1949 Western (Western Interprovincial Football Union) All-Stars

''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 –

Keith Spaith Keith Spaith (April 8, 1923 – March 1, 1976) was a Canadian football player for the Calgary Stampeders from 1948 to 1954. Early life Spaith was born in Dinuba, California. He played college football with Saint Mary's College of California an ...

, Calgary Stampeders *HB – Del Wardien, Saskatchewan Roughriders *HB – Ken Charlton, Saskatchewan Roughriders *HB – Vern Graham, Calgary Stampeders *FB – Sammy Pierce, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *E –

Ezzert Anderson Ezzrett "Sugarfoot" Anderson (February 10, 1920 – March 8, 2017) was an all-star professional Canadian football player. Biography Anderson graduated from Kentucky State and turned pro in 1945 and 1946 with the Hollywood Bears in the Pacific ...

, Calgary Stampeders *E –

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. Aft ...

, Calgary Stampeders *C –

Mel Wilson Melford Russel Wilson (April 3, 1917 – July 29, 2007) was an all-star and record-setting Grey Cup champion Canadian football player, playing from 1937 to 1951. A Winnipeg native, Wilson played his first football with St. John's College, later ...

, Calgary Stampeders *G – Mike Kissell, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *G –

Riley Matheson Riley M. Matheson (December 12, 1914 – June 1987) was an American professional football player who was an offensive lineman for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams, the Detroit Lions, and the ...

, Calgary Stampeders *T –

Johnny Aguirre John Aguirre (born Juanito Aguirre; August 22, 1919 – November 2007) was a Canadian football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders. He won the Grey Cup with them in 1948. From 1948–50, Aguirre played 27 games with the Stampeders. Prev ...

, Calgary Stampeders *T – Mike Cassidy, Saskatchewan Roughriders

2nd Team

*QB – Doug Belden, Saskatchewan Roughriders *HB – Chuck Fenenbock, Edmonton Eskimos *HB –

Normie Kwong Norman Lim Kwong (born Kwong Lim Yew; ; October 24, 1929 – September 3, 2016) was a Canadian football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also an active businessman ...

, Calgary Stampeders *HB – Harry Hood, Calgary Stampeders *FB – Paul Rowe, Calgary Stampeders *E – Matt Anthony, Saskatchewan Roughriders *E –

Johnny Bell Johnny W. Bell (born June 15, 1965) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 23 from 2007 to 2016. He also served as the Majority Whip of the Kentucky House of R ...

, Saskatchewan Roughriders *C – Doug Brightwell, Saskatchewan Roughriders *G – Bud Irving, Winnipeg Blue Bombers *G – Bert Iannone, Calgary Stampeders *T – Pat Santucci, Saskatchewan Roughriders *T – Toar Springstein, Saskatchewan Roughriders

1949 Ontario Rugby Football Union All-Stars

''NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.'' *QB – Stan Wolkowski, Hamilton Tigers *HB –

Don Knowles Donald Gordon "Sleepy" Knowles (1927 – October 19, 2017) was a halfback in the Ontario Rugby Football Union. Coming straight from high school, Knowles played for his hometown Sarnia Imperials from 1946 to 1950, with his finest season being 1949 ...

, Sarnia Imperials *HB – Jack Stewart, Hamilton Tigers *DB –

Sylvester Mike Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

, Windsor Rockets *E – Keith Fisher, Sarnia Imperials *E – Bill Damiano, Hamilton Tigers *E – Rube Ainsworth, Hamilton Tigers *FW – Joe Capriotti, Hamilton Tigers *C –

Jake Gaudaur Jacob Gill Gaudaur, Jr., (October 5, 1920 – December 4, 2007) was a Canadian Football League (CFL) player, executive, and commissioner. His 45-year career in Canadian football, including 16 years as the league's fourth commissioner (and its ...

, Hamilton Tigers *G – Don McKenzie, Toronto Beaches-Indians *G – Jack Moreau, Windsor Rockets *T – Lloyd "Dutch" Davey, Sarnia Imperials *T –

Len Wright Sir Leonard Morton Wright (1906 – 22 October 1967) was a Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ...

, Windsor Rockets

1949 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, sportsmanship ...

(IRFU MVP) – Royal Copeland (RB), Toronto Argonauts *

Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy The Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy is a trophy awarded to the Canadian Football League West Division's most outstanding player, chosen from the nominees from each team in the division. Either this trophy winner or the winner of the Terry Evanshen T ...

(WIFU MVP) -

(QB), Calgary Stampeders * Gruen Trophy (IRFU Rookie of the Year) - Jim Loreno (HB), Hamilton Wildcats * Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy (WIFU Rookie of the Year) - John Stroppa (HB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers * Imperial Oil Trophy (ORFU MVP) -

- Sarnia Imperials

References

{{CFL seasons Canadian Football League seasons