The Toronto Varsity Blues football team represents 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 ...

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 ...

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

. Dating back to 1877, the

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 ...

football program initially competed for the

Canadian Dominion Football Championship The Canadian Dominion Football Championship was awarded to the best amateur football team prior to the Grey Cup in 1909. Teams from the Ontario Rugby Football Union, Quebec Rugby Football Union, Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Div ...

and won six national titles, including the first

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 ...

game ever held in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

, as well as winning in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

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 ...

, and

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

. After intercollegiate teams no longer competed for the Dominion Championship, the team won the first

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, ...

ever held in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, and then again in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

as Canadian national football champions. The team has 25

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 ...

championship wins as champions of 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 ...

conference of the

, a total second only to the 31 won by the

Western Ontario Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and white. ...

Recent history

Hard times have fallen on the University of Toronto football team in recent years. The football program had not won a game since the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

season (a win that itself ended an 18-game

losing streak ''Losing Streak'' is the second studio album by ska punk band Less Than Jake, released on November 12, 1996 on Capitol Records. The album was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida and Mirror Image Studios in Gainesville, Florida, bo ...

). On October 13, 2007, they set the record for the longest losing streak in Canadian university history, at 49 losses in a row. This losing streak was snapped on September 1, 2008 when they defeated the

Waterloo Warriors The Waterloo Warriors are the athletic teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, and the Warrior ...

18-17 for their first win in almost seven years. The team last posted a winning record in 1995. The team was led by head coach Greg DeLaval who won his first game with the Blues when the team ended their record-setting losing streak in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, the Blues posted a remarkable 40-35 win over the second-ranked

Ottawa Gee-Gees The Ottawa Gee-Gees are the athletic teams that represent the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario. The Gee-Gees won the national football championship, the Vanier Cup, in 1975 and 2000, while also appearing in the game in the 1970, 1980, an ...

, which was their first win over a nationally ranked opponent since 1997 against the

. The Blues finished with a 3-5 record in 2010, which was their best since the 1996 season when they posted the same mark. The Blues hired Greg Gary as head coach 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 finished with another 3-5 record, once again finishing just out of the playoffs in seventh place. The team took a step back with a 2-6 record in

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 ...

, including home losses to fellow 2-6 teams

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. However, in 2013, they finished the season 4-4, the first time since 1993, but failed to make the playoffs. The team again regressed in 2014 with a 2-6 record, but rebounded in 2015 with a slightly improved 3-5 record. The program again failed to gain any momentum and won only two games the following season and then only one game in 2017 along with a last place finish. Gary resigned as head coach following the season's end and Greg Marshall was hired as his replacement. Marshall finished with a winless record in his first year, but the team showed progress in his second season where they finished with a 2-6 record. The Varsity Blues qualified for the playoffs in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

for the first time since 1995 and hosted a playoff game for the first time since 1992. In 2022, the Varsity Blues finished in seventh place with a 4-4 record and again qualified for the playoffs as the OUA expanded the number of playoff teams.

Season-by-season record

The following is the record of the Toronto Varsity Blues football team since 2000:

Head coaches

National award winners

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 ...

Mike Eben Michael Eben (born January 29, 1946) is a former wide receiver who played ten seasons in the Canadian Football League, mainly for the Toronto Argonauts. Eben also played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Ottawa Rough Riders and Edmonton Eskimos. Eben w ...

(1967), Mike Raham (1968), Dan Feraday (1981), Eugene Buccigrossi (1992) *

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 ...

: Chris Morris (1990) *

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 ...

: Lou Tiro (1993) *

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 ...

: David Hamilton (2008) *

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 ...

Ron Murphy Robert Ronald Murphy (April 10, 1933 – March 6, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins over the course of an 889-game National Hockey Le ...

(1974)

Varsity Blues in the CFL

As of the end of the

2022 CFL season The 2022 CFL season is scheduled to be the 68th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it will be the 64th season of the Canadian Football League. The regular season is scheduled to begin on June 9, 2022, and end on October 29, 2022, w ...

, three former Varsity Blues players were on CFL teams' rosters: * Albert Awachie,

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 ...

* Nick Hallett,

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 ...

* Llevi Noel,

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 ...

References

External links

* {{U Sports football Sports clubs established in 1877 1877 establishments in Ontario