Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club was an early

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 ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team based in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

. The team was founded in 1907 as the ''Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club'', but football had been played in the city and environs for nearly 2 decades. The first game in Alberta was played in Edmonton, with Edmonton and Clover Bar (an outlying community, now a suburb) playing to a scoreless tie in 1890. "The first record of an organized rugby club in Edmonton appeared in the Edmonton bulletin on September 19, 1891." In 1891 Edmonton defeated Calgary 6-5 in the Alberta Total-point Challenge Series. A team from Edmonton (actually the outlying community of

Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 municipalities that constitute the Edmont ...

) had a picture taken of themselves after they defeated a Calgary team (in Calgary,) declaring themselves ''Champions of Alberta''; the picture has two dates on it, being taken in either 1893 or 1895. The team is neither affiliated with the current franchise, the

Edmonton Elks 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 ...

(also previously nicknamed Eskimos), nor forms part of its history. "The Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club was formed on April 10, 1907 and adopted the uniform colors of black with yellow facings. Edmonton played its first game on November 9 and defeated the ''Calgary City Rugby Foot-ball Club'' 26-5 at the Edmonton Exhibition Grounds." The club was renamed the Edmonton Esquimaux in 1908 and again as the Edmonton Eskimos in 1910. They competed in the ''Alberta Rugby Football League'' and later

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 ...

(AFRU) when it was created in 1911. In the years before and after the First World War the city was represented by the Edmonton Civics in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and the Edmonton Canucks in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

. The Edmonton Eskimos were AFRU and WCFRU champions in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

, earning the right to compete for 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 ...

in the

9th Grey Cup The 9th Grey Cup was played on December 3, 1921, before 9,558 fans at Varsity Stadium at Toronto. Edmonton was the first western team to challenge for the Grey Cup. The Toronto Argonauts shut out the Edmonton Eskimos 23–0. External links * * ...

championship game – the first time for a Western Canadian team – losing 23–0 to the undefeated

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

. The team was renamed the Edmonton Elks in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and represented the WCFRU in the 10th Grey Cup, losing 13–1 to the Queen's University Golden Gaels. The team changed back to the name ''Eskimos'' for the 1923 season, winning their third consecutive AFRU championship but failing to clinch the WCFRU championship. The Eskimos did not win the 1924 AFRU championship, and folded before the

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

season. The Eskimos team returned for the

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

season, winning the ARFU or ARFL championship for the seventh time in 14 seasons of competition. Their last season was

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, when the team was succeeded by a new club called the

Edmonton Boosters Edmonton Boosters was a Canadian football team 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 ...

.HISTORY OF THE EDMONTON ESKIMOS
/ref> The Boosters folded after 3 season, and were later followed by the Edmonton Hi-Grads in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

(a team of high school graduate all-stars) and then yet another incarnation of the '' Eskimos'', a team lasting two seasons (

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

and

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

) before ceasing operation as the Second World War began.

Seasons

Other Edmonton football clubs

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Season ! Name ! G ! W ! L ! T ! PF ! PA ! Finish ! Playoffs , - ,

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, , YMCA , , style="text-align:right" , 6 , , style="text-align:right" , 2 , , style="text-align:right" , 4 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 24 , , style="text-align:right" , 85 , , 3rd , , , - ,

, , Civics , , style="text-align:right" , 3 , , style="text-align:right" , 1 , , style="text-align:right" , 2 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 20 , , style="text-align:right" , 21 , , 2nd , , , - ,

, , Canucks , , style="text-align:right" , 2, , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 2 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 8 , , style="text-align:right" , 17 , , 4th , , , - ,

, , Harlequins , , style="text-align:right" , 2, , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 2 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 1 , , style="text-align:right" , 56 , , 2nd , , , - ,

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

, , Boosters , , style="text-align:right" , 5 , , style="text-align:right" , 1 , , style="text-align:right" , 4 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 42 , , style="text-align:right" , 61 , , 3rd , , , - ,

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, , Boosters , , style="text-align:right" , 4 , , style="text-align:right" , 1 , , style="text-align:right" , 3 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 20 , , style="text-align:right" , 24 , , 2nd , , , - ,

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, , Boosters , , style="text-align:right" , 4 , , style="text-align:right" , 1 , , style="text-align:right" , 3 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 17 , , style="text-align:right" , 7 , , 2nd , , , - ,

, , Hi-Grads , , style="text-align:right" , 5 , , style="text-align:right" , 1 , , style="text-align:right" , 4 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 23, , style="text-align:right" , 39 , , 3rd , , , - ,

, , Eskimos , , style="text-align:right" , 8 , , style="text-align:right" , 0, , style="text-align:right" , 8 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 29 , , style="text-align:right" , 117 , , 4th , , , - ,

, , Eskimos , , style="text-align:right" , 11, , style="text-align:right" , 3, , style="text-align:right" , 8 , , style="text-align:right" , 0 , , style="text-align:right" , 80 , , style="text-align:right" , 147 , , 4th , ,

References

Defunct Canadian football teams Rugby clubs established in 1907

Rug Rug or RUG may refer to: * Rug, or carpet, a textile floor covering * Rug, slang for a toupée * Ghent University (''Rijksunversiteit Gent'', or RUG) * Really Useful Group, or RUG, a company set up by Andrew Lloyd Webber * Rugby railway station, N ...

1907 establishments in Alberta 1920s disestablishments in Alberta Sports clubs disestablished in 1929