Eric Cradock (died October 5, 1985) was a Canadian stockbroker and sports entrepreneur who played a key role in

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 ...

development in the 1940s and 1950s. Toronto-born Cradock worked in mining and stocks, and was reputed to have become a millionaire in his early 20s. Along with

Lew Hayman Lewis Edward Hayman (September 30, 1908 – June 28, 1984) was an American sports figure. He was one of the driving forces behind the Canadian Football League as coach, general manager, team president, and league president. As head coach, he was a ...

and Léo Dandurand, Cradock co-founded the original

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 ...

in 1946. The team quickly gained respectability, winning the Grey Cup in 1949. Cradock had a flair for showmanship and was successful in attracting paying customers. Cradock sold his shares in the Alouettes for profit in 1952 and returned to Toronto. In the mid-1950s he angled to take control of

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 ...

from the

Argonaut Rowing Club The Argonaut Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club was founded in 1872. The current junior head coach is Connor Elsdon. In the past, the club fielded teams in ice hockey and football, and the football team c ...

. In 1956 he joined another ownership trio, this time with John Bassett and

Charlie Burns Charles Frederick Burns (February 14, 1936 – November 5, 2021) was an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 749 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Oakland ...

, and became co-owner of the club. Cradock brought back old friend Hayman to run the club. He had sold out by 1960, apparently over differences with Bassett. Football was not his only avenue of sports entrepreneurship. In 1946, while also founding the Alouettes, he was co-owner of the short-lived

Toronto Huskies The Toronto Huskies were a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1946–47 season. They were based in Toronto. The team compiled a 22–38 win–loss r ...

of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

. The team folded after just one year.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cradock, Eric 1985 deaths Toronto Argonauts owners Montreal Alouettes owners Canadian football people from Toronto Businesspeople from Toronto Year of birth missing