The Queen's Gaels football team represents Queen's University in the sport of

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 ...

. The

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langu ...

compete at the

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

level, within the

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...

(OUA) conference. Queen's began competing in intercollegiate football in 1882. The Gaels play in the

Richardson Memorial Stadium There have been three versions of George Taylor Richardson Memorial Stadium, a Canadian football stadium located on the campus of the Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. All three have been the home of the Golden Gaels/Gaels football team. ...

in Kingston, which has a capacity of 8,000. Since its inception, the team has won 23

Yates Cup The Yates Cup (french: La Coupe Yates) is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of U Sports. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back ...

championships and four

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

championships, the most recent being in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. Unique to only two Canadian universities (the other being

University of Toronto Varsity Blues The Toronto Varsity Blues is the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 43 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and U Sports. The Varsity Blues traces its founding to ...

) Queen's has also competed and won three

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 ...

championships (1922, 1923, 1924). The program has had three

Hec Crighton Trophy The Hec Crighton Trophy (sometimes referred to as the Hec Crighton Award) is awarded annually to the most outstanding Canadian football player in U Sports. The trophy is named after the late Hec Crighton - teacher, coach, referee, and author of th ...

winners, Larry Mohr and

Tommy Denison Tommy Denison (born October 7, 1978) is the offensive coordinator for York University's football team, the York Lions of U Sports. As a former quarterback in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, he is a two-time All-Canadian and two-time winner of the ...

who won it twice.

History

Queen's has competed continuously since 1882 and the team began organized play in 1883 when 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) was first founded. The team later went on to win two ORFU championships in

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

and 1894. The first organized university football league in Canada, the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU), was founded in Kingston in November 1897, with charter members Queen's,

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, and the

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

. Queen's exerted its dominance in the 1920s, winning three straight

s 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 ...

, 1923 and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

. In 1955, the Grey Cup ceased being awarded to amateur teams. Since the beginning of the Vanier Cup championship in 1965, Queen's has won four titles in 1968, 1978, 1992 and 2009. Queen's Football at Richardson

Steve Snyder era (2019-Present)

Steve Snyder took over the team in 2019. In 2021, he led the team to a perfect season in the OUA and a berth into the Yates Cup Final. Steve was named OUA and U SPORTS Coach of the Year in 2021.

Pat Sheahan era (2000-2018)

The team was led by

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Pat Sheahan from 2000 to 2018, and he led them to their fourth Vanier Cup in

. The following year the team endured a difficult 2010 season, finishing 3-5. The team went on to have strong seasons in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

when the team finished 6-2 and in third place in both years. The Gaels qualified for the playoffs for eight straight years until they finally missed the playoffs in 2014. The team finished fourth in the OUA in 2015, being beaten by the

Carleton Ravens The Carleton Ravens are the athletic teams that represent Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. The most notable sports team for Carleton is the men's basketball team. In men's basketball, the Ravens have won 16 of the last 19 national men's ...

in the semi-final game. The team finished in seventh place in 2016 with a 3-5 record and missed the playoffs due to a tie-breaker with

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, whom they lost to earlier in the season. In 2019, Sheahan was replaced by the team's current head coach, Steve Snyder.

Head coaches

List of Queen's Gaels head coaches. * Frank Tindall (1939,1948–1975) *

Doug Hargreaves John Walter Douglas Hargreaves, (December 20, 1931 – July 5, 2016) was a Canadian air force officer, athletic coach, and educator. During his 19-year tenure as head football coach, he led the Queen's Golden Gaels to 16 consecutive OQIFC pla ...

(1976–1994) *

Bob Howes Bob Howes (born January 4, 1943) is a former professional Canadian football offensive lineman who played fourteen seasons in the Canadian Football League, mainly for the Edmonton Eskimos. He was a part of five Grey Cup championship teams with the ...

(1995–1999) * Pat Sheahan (2000–2018) * Steve Snyder (2019–present)

Season-by-season record

The following is the record of the Queen's Gaels football team since 1992:

National award winners

: Larry Mohr (1985),

(2002, 2003) *

J. P. Metras Trophy The J. P. Metras Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding down lineman in U Sports football. The award was first initiated in 1974 and is named after John Pius Metras. Metras was a former coach of the Western Mustangs from 1939 to 1969 ...

: Dick Bakker (1977), Jim Muller (1979),

Mike Schad Michael Schad (born October 4, 1963) is a former Canadian American football offensive lineman in the National Football League and is currently a mortgage banker with CMG Financial located in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. He was drafted by the Los Angel ...

(1985) *

Presidents' Trophy The Presidents' Trophy (french: Trophée des présidents) is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e. best record) during the NHL regular season. If two teams are tied for the mo ...

: Thaine Carter (2008) *

Peter Gorman Trophy The Peter Gorman Trophy is awarded to the Rookie of the Year in U Sports Football. The Trophy acknowledges the great contribution Peter Gorman has made to the development of Canadian University Football. As founder of the Canadian College Bowl, his ...

: Gord Goodwin (1977) *

Russ Jackson Award The Russ Jackson Award is presented to the U Sports Football player best exemplifying the attributes of academic achievement, football skill, and citizenship and is named in honour of Canadian Football League Hall of Famer and former Ottawa Rough ...

: Charlie Galunic (1986),

Jock Climie Jock Climie is a Canadian retired Canadian Football League player who played the slotback position primarily with the Ottawa Rough Riders, and Montreal Alouettes. He is also a former sportscaster with Canadian sports television channel TSN as ...

(1989), Curt McLellan (2003), Curtis Carmichael (2015) *

Frank Tindall Trophy The Frank Tindall Trophy is presented to the U Sports Football Coach of the Year. The award is dedicated in honour of the former U Sports head coach of the Queen's Golden Gaels (29 years, 106-74-2, 8 league and 1 national title). The Selection Commi ...

(1983), Pat Sheahan (2008), Steve Snyder (2021)

Queen's Gaels in the CFL

As of the end of the 2022 CFL season, six former Gaels players are on CFL teams' rosters: * Peter Adjey,

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 ...

* Konner Burtenshaw,

Winnipeg Blue Bombers 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. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

* Anthony Federico,

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

Cameron Lawson Cameron Lawson (born October 7, 1998) is a professional Canadian football defensive tackle for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Amateur career Lawson played U Sports football for the Queen's Gaels from 2016 to 20 ...

, Winnipeg Blue Bombers * Chris Osei-Kusi, Edmonton Elks * Derek Wiggan,

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 ...

Notable team alumni

One notable Queen's player was

Carl Voss Carl Potter Voss (January 6, 1907 – September 13, 1993) was an American ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League. He played for several teams between 1926 and 1938. He would later become a referee, and was inducted into the Hockey Hal ...

, who was both an excellent football and hockey player. While attending university, he played four football seasons (1924–1927), which included the

12th Grey Cup The 12th Grey Cup was played on November 29, 1924, before 5,978 fans at Varsity Stadium at Toronto. Queen's University defeated the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, O ...

in 1924. Voss has his name engraved on the

for this season. Voss also scored the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

winning goal for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

in the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals. He was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

. Along with

Lionel Conacher Lionel Pretoria Conacher, MP (; May 24, 1900 – May 26, 1954), nicknamed "The Big Train", was a Canadian athlete and politician. Voted the country's top athlete of the first half of the 20th century, he won championships in numerous sports. ...

, Voss is one of only two players to have their name engraved on both the

and the

. Chris Patrician, player on the 2011-14 Queen's football teams, was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.

References

External links

Official website
{{U Sports football U Sports football teams Sport in Kingston, Ontario Golden Gaels Queen's Golden Gaels football