The 1884 Canadian football season was the second season since the creation of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) in

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

and the first since the re-establishment of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU). The season was highlighted by the first ever Rugby Football Dominion Championship where the

Montreal Football Club The Montreal Football Club was a Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Quebec Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1915. The club was a founding member of ...

defeated the

Toronto Football Club Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

by a score of 30 to 0.

Canadian football news in 1884

On February 7, 1884, the Canadian Rugby Football Union was formed to provide a regulatory body for Rugby Football in Canada along with establishing a national championship game. The QRFU adopted a point based system this year, adopting the ORFU model, as opposed to the previous year where they recorded the number of tries and goals scored.

QRFU results

Quebec Challenge Cup

The Montreal Football Club and the Britannia Football Club played for the Quebec Challenge Cup. The teams proved evenly matched with Montreal only scoring one rouge in the entire game while the Brits did not score. Since Montreal did not record enough points, the game ended in a draw. Because Britannia was not able to defeat Montreal, Montreal retained their Quebec title and were declared the champions of Quebec.

ORFU results

At the beginning of the season, 14 Ontario rugby clubs were eligible to compete for the Ontario Challenge Cup. Five of these clubs either did not participate or forfeited immediately. The remaining nine teams competed in a series of sudden death matches until one undefeated team remained, being named the Ontario Rugby Challenge Cup champion.

Ontario Challenge Cup

Prior to the scheduled final between Toronto 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 ...

, Ottawa declared forfeit due to seven of their players being unable to make the trip to Toronto. Given the short notice, since the Toronto club received the telegram one day before the scheduled match, the integrity of the Ottawa club was questioned since they had at least 35 members and appeared reluctant to send a replacement team that would only lose. Since tickets had been paid for, Toronto attempted to schedule a match with

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, but were refused due to the justifiably short notice. Consequently, the Toronto Football Club were Ontario Challenge Cup champions due to Ottawa's forfeit.

Dominion Championship

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1884 In Canadian Football Canadian Football League seasons U Sports football seasons