The 1909 Canadian football season was the 18th season of organized play since the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) was founded in

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

and the 26th season since the creation of the founding leagues, 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

Quebec Rugby Football Union The Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) was a football league consisting of teams from Quebec and formed in 1883. Eastern Ontario teams like Ottawa City and Ottawa College joined in 1894. League formation and play The QRFU was formed officially ...

(QRFU) in 1883. The season concluded with Toronto Varsity defeating Toronto Parkdale in the 1909 Dominion Championship game. This year was notable for being the first year that the champions were awarded the Grey Cup trophy, although it was not delivered to the University of Toronto until March 1910.

Canadian football news in 1909

Lord Earl Grey, the Governor General of Canada, donated a trophy to be awarded for the Dominion Football Championship of Canada. Only teams registered with the Canadian Rugby Union were eligible to compete for the trophy. The championship game was played in Toronto at

Rosedale Field Rosedale Field was a grandstand stadium located in Rosedale Park at 20 Scholfield Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally called Toronto Lacrosse Grounds, it was linked to St. Andrew's College located in the area west of MacLennan Avenue fr ...

on December 4 between the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

and the

Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club Toronto Parkdale was an amateur Canadian football and hockey club based in the Parkdale neighbourhood in the west end of Toronto. As a branch of the Parkdale Canoe Club established in August 1905, the club's hockey and football teams were nickna ...

with the University of Toronto winning 26–6 before 3,807 fans. Hugh Gall kicked a record eight singles in the game for the U of T. The gross revenue was $2,616.40. On December 11, following an invitation from the New York Herald newspaper, the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

and Ottawa Rough Riders played an exhibition game of

Canadian football Canadian football () is a 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 scoring area ( ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

at Van Cortland Park. The Tigers won 11–6 before 15,000 fans. Saskatchewan Rugby Football League did not play in 1909.

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

League Champions

Grey Cup Playoffs

''Note: All dates in 1909''

Alberta Rugby Football League Playoffs

*''Calgary wins the total-point series 48-7.''

IRFU Playoff

*''Ottawa advances to the East Semi-Final.''

ORFU Playoff

*''Toronto Parkdale advances to the Grey Cup.''

Dominion Semi-Final

The varsity Ottawa rugby match (HS85-10-21683)