Alvin Horace "Al" Ritchie (December 12, 1890 – February 21, 1966), also known by his nickname "The Silver Fox", 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 ...

player, coach, and administrator who was the head coach of 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 ...

from 1928 to 1932, in 1935, and in 1942. He had many accomplishments and honors, including being named to the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

(as a charter member),

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

and the

Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and Nor ...

. The Al Ritchie Memorial Stadium, Al Ritchie Arena, and Al Ritchie Neighborhood are named in his honor. In the 1910s, prior to serving in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Ritchie played for a Saskatchewan rugby team and was a player-coach in baseball, hockey and lacrosse. From about 1918 to about 1922, he was the coach of the Victoria Senior Hockey team, leading them to the championship in 1921 and in 1922. In addition to coaching the Roughriders, he was their manager through most of the 1920s, while also coaching the

Regina Pats Regina (Latin for "queen") may refer to: Places Canada * Regina, Saskatchewan, the capital city of the province ** Regina (electoral district) ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina France * Régina, French Guiana, a commune United States * R ...

football and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

teams (being the only person to win the championship in both sports). While coaching and managing the Roughriders from 1928 to 1932, they made 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 ...

each season, but lost in all five matches. Ritchie also worked as a scout for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

from 1933 until his death in 1966.

Early life and playing career

Al Ritchie was born on December 12, 1890 in

Cobden, Ontario Cobden is a small community in the Township of Whitewater Region, in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located northwest of Ottawa,https://www.distance-cities.com/ca/distance-ottawa-on-to-cobden-on and roughly halfway between Renfrew and ...

. He played football for a Saskatchewan football team in the 1910s while serving as a player coach in baseball, hockey, and lacrosse. He then went into

and served as an artilleryman.

Coaching career

Victoria Senior Hockey Team

After returning from World War I, Ritchie continued to coach hockey and football. His first position after the War was as a coach for the Victoria Senior Hockey team in the

Manitoba Hockey League The Manitoba Hockey League was a senior men's ice hockey league operating in or around the 1920s in Manitoba, Canada, under the auspices of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association, now known as Hockey Manitoba. The name ''Manitoba Hockey League'' ...

. He led them to championships in 1921 and 22.

Regina Pats

From 1923 to about 1930, he was the coach for the

hockey team. He helped create the Regina Pats football team and led them to the championship in 1928. He led their hockey team to

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

championships in 1925 and 1930. He is the only person to ever win the championship in both hockey and football. He also was their team manager.

Regina Rugby Club/Roughriders

While he was the coach of the Victoria Hockey team, he became the general manager of the

Saskatchewan 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 ...

(then known as the Regina Rugby Club). He led the Roughriders to Western Championships in 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932. They made the

five consecutive years from 1928 to 1932, the years Ritchie was head coach, and lost all five games. Ritchie retired in 1932, but then unretired and continued coaching. He then retired again in 1933, but returned in 1935. He retired a third time in 1936, but made one final return in 1942. At one point the Roughriders had 56 consecutive wins while Ritchie was coach. He was later inducted into the Roughriders' plaza of honor.

Later life and death

At the end of his coaching career, he became a scout for the

, and was a scout from 1933 until his death in 1966. From the 1920s until 1956, he worked for the Federal Department of Customs. In 1956, he was honored by the council of the

Winnipeg Football Club The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

. They said "While many Canadian football operators, whether it is a team, a club or a league, require a considerable number of men, there at times emerges a single man in such operators who seems to symbolize the spirit of football across Canada. Such a man is Alvin Horace Ritchie." In 1963, he was a charter member for the

. In 1964, he was inducted into

. He died on February 21, 1966 in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

after a battle with cancer. He was posthumously inducted into the

Legacy

Many tributes were made to Ritchie after his death, including by:

Vern DeGreer Vern is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Vernon, Lavern or other names. People named Vern include: * Vernon Vern Bakalich (1929–2015), New Zealand rugby league player * Verdi Vern Barberis (1928–2005), Australian ...

, Jack Wells,

Bill Good Bill Good Jr. (born 1945) is a Canadian television personality and host of talk radio shows, all in the province of British Columbia. After 21 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, first doing radio before moving to Television news, ...

Hal Pawson HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

Jack Matheson John Matheson (July 25, 1924 – January 24, 2011) was a Canadian sports journalist known for his wide coverage of sports for the ''Winnipeg Tribune'' from 1946 to 1980. Matheson was born on July 25, 1924, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He began his ...

Hal Walker Hal Walker (March 20, 1896 – July 3, 1972) was an American film director. He was known for doing some of the earliest Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis films such as ''At War with the Army'' and '' Sailor Beware'' and some with the team of Bing Cro ...

, and Jim Coleman.

Athol Murray Athol Murray (January 9, 1892December 15, 1975) was a Canadian Catholic priest and educator. He built a collection of shacks in Wilcox, 55 km south of Regina into a non-denominational residential college. It began as a convent school founded ...

, one of Ritchie's friends, said that he was "The

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

". In March of 1966, there was a unanimous vote to name a building in Saskatchewan the "Al Ritchie Memorial Centre". There later was a neighborhood in Regina named after him. It had a population of about 8,000 in 2016. Multiple buildings in the neighborhood were also named after him, they included the: Core Ritchie Neighbourhood Centre, Al Ritchie Wellness Centre, Al Ritchie Community Association, and Al Ritchie Arena.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Al 1890 births 1966 deaths People from Renfrew County Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Sportspeople from Ontario Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan