The Yates Cup (french: La Coupe Yates) is a Canadian sports

trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

, presented annually to the winner 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 ...

football conference of

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 ...

. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassing both 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 ...

and the Little Brown Jug in longevity. The Yates Cup was donated by Dr. Henry Brydges Yates of

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 ...

. Until 1971 it was awarded to the winner of the Senior Intercollegiate Football League regular season, with playoffs occurring only if there was a tie for first place, or the second-place team had defeated the first-place team in league play. Since 1971, it is awarded to the OUA football champion. The winner of the Yates Cup goes on to play in either the

Uteck Bowl The Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to f ...

or the

Mitchell Bowl The Mitchell Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the more westerly location of the two semifinal venues. The winner of this game ...

, depending on annual rotations. Asteroid '' (12447) YatesCup'' is named after the Yates Cup.

Yates Cup games

Notes: From 1915 to 1918, the trophy was not presented due to

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 ...

. From 1940 to 1945, the trophy was not presented due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From 1974 to 1978, due to a change in conference structure, the Yates Cup was presented to both an Eastern Division and a Western Division winner. In 1979 the Eastern and Western Division champions played each other in a

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, ...

semi-final game, which also determined the Yates Cup championship. In 1980, the Cup returned to a single winner when the Eastern Division formed the independent OQIFC.

Championship titles

1898_University_of_Toronto_Canadian_University_Football_Championship_team

Note*: McGill entered the Quebec Conference in 1971 and stopped competing for the Yates Cup. Instead, the conference championship ended in the

Dunsmore Cup The Dunsmore Cup (french: Coupe Dunsmore) is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the university-level football competition conducted by Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the governing body for all student sport ...

References

Past Champions
from

{{U Sports championships U Sports football trophies and awards