The 58th
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 ...
was played on November 28, 1970, before 32,669 fans at
CNE Stadium
Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National Exhi ...
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 ...
. 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 ...
defeated 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 ...
23–10. The 1970 Grey Cup marks the only time in CFL history that two third-place teams have met in the championship game. The contest itself was marred by woeful field conditions, as throughout the game several sections of the natural-grass surface came away in chunks.
Box Score
First Quarter
Calgary – TD –
Hugh McKinnis
Hugh Lee McKinnis, Jr. (born June 6, 1948) is a former professional American and Canadian football player who played in 3 CFL seasons from 1970 to 1972 for the Calgary Stampeders and 4 NFL seasons from 1973 to 1976 for the Cleveland Browns and th ...
5-yard run (
Larry Robinson
Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Ki ...
convert)
Montreal – TD –
Ted Alflen
Theodore Thomas Alflen (born September 13, 1946) is a former American football player. A defensive back and halfback, he played college football at Springfield College, and played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) for the Denve ...
10-yard pass from
Moses Denson
Moses Denson (born July 6, 1944) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Denson played three seasons for the ...
(convert no good)
Second Quarter
Montreal – FG –
George Springate
George Philip Gregory Springate (May 12, 1938 – November 20, 2019) was a Canadian police officer, lawyer, politician, professional football player, professor, and citizenship judge.
Life and career
Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Walt ...
21-yard field goal
Third Quarter
Calgary – FG –
Larry Robinson
Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Ki ...
21-yard field goal
Montreal – TD –
Tom Pullen
Thomas Pullen (born January 3, 1945) is a former American football and Canadian football player. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1965 to 1967. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, he also played professional football in t ...
7-yard run (
George Springate
George Philip Gregory Springate (May 12, 1938 – November 20, 2019) was a Canadian police officer, lawyer, politician, professional football player, professor, and citizenship judge.
Life and career
Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Walt ...
convert)
Fourth Quarter
Montreal – TD –
Garry Lefebvre
Garry Lefebvre (November 12, 1944 – March 16, 2016) was a Canadian Football League player with the Edmonton Eskimos and Montreal Alouettes at the wide receiver and punter positions.
Professional career
After being injured in high school, Lef ...
10-yard pass from
Sonny Wade
Jesse "Sonny" Wade (born April 1, 1947) is a former All-American football player at Emory & Henry College in Virginia. He played professionally for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from 1969 to 1978.
High school
Wade attend ...
(George Springate convert)
Trivia
Both teams finished the regular season third in their respective conferences. Montreal was third place in the Eastern Conference at 7-6-1, and Calgary was third in the Western Conference with a 9-7-0 record.
The Alouettes were coached by former Als great
Sam Etcheverry
Samuel "The Rifle" Etcheverry (May 20, 1930 – August 29, 2009) was a professional American football, American and Canadian football player and head coach. Etcheverry played the quarterback position, most famously with the Montreal Alouettes of ...
, and would be the Eastern Conference representative in the Grey Cup six times during the 1970s. Montreal met both Alberta teams during that span. This was their only meeting with Calgary; the other five times, they met the Edmonton Eskimos.
In the fourth quarter, Als quarterback
Sonny Wade
Jesse "Sonny" Wade (born April 1, 1947) is a former All-American football player at Emory & Henry College in Virginia. He played professionally for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from 1969 to 1978.
High school
Wade attend ...
demonstrated the condition of the turf when he hurled a huge chunk of grass out of the way so the officials could make a measurement. For his part, Stampeder head coach
Jim Duncan called the field a "disgrace." As a result of the poor field conditions, the City of Toronto installed AstroTurf two years later. The turf was in place by the time CNE Stadium hosted its next Grey Cup in
1973.
The 1970 game was the last Grey Cup played on natural grass until the
1984 game at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. This was also the final Grey Cup game to be played on a Saturday; from 1971 on, all subsequent Grey Cup games took place on a Sunday. The
1969 Grey Cup was the first to be played in full on a Sunday.
Sonny Wade
Jesse "Sonny" Wade (born April 1, 1947) is a former All-American football player at Emory & Henry College in Virginia. He played professionally for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from 1969 to 1978.
High school
Wade attend ...
won the first of his three
Grey Cup Most Valuable Player
The Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is awarded annually since 1959 to the player of the winning team who deemed to have had the best performance in the Grey Cup Game, the Canadian Football League's championship game. This award is pres ...
awards.
Videos
*
*
External links
*
Video clips
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4rGvpITvo8 (black and white) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3ZCm1KDApo (color) videos of the entire game
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NX8WBkHM3Y 1 minute video of the game
1970 in Canadian football
58
Grey Cups hosted in Toronto
Montreal Alouettes
Calgary Stampeders
1970 in Toronto
1970 in Canadian television
November 1970 sports events in Canada
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