December 4, 1909: The 1st Grey Cup

December 4, 1909: The 1st Grey Cup football game is held, for the Canadian Dominion Football Championship.

As with hockey's Stanley Cup, 16 years earlier, the trophy is donated by the man who was then the Governor-General of Canada, the British monarch's representative in the country. This was Albert Grey, the 4th Earl Grey (1851-1917, held the office 1904-1911).

His grandfather, Charles, the 2nd Earl Grey, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1830 to 1834, and was the namesake of Earl Grey tea, which had been presented to him as a diplomatic gift from China.

The game is held at Rosedale Field, about 3 miles north of downtown Toronto. Attendance was a full house, 3,807. It was between the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, Champions of the Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, Champions of the Ontario Rugby Football Union. Essentially, they were, respectively, the best college and professional rugby teams in the country. (Canadian football came out of rugby, and the Canadian Football League, the CFL, would become the successor to the Canada Rugby Union, the CRU.)

At the time, though, much like in American football, the professional game was semi-pro at best. Most of the men had real jobs they had to work, and didn't really have time to dedicate to improving their game through organized practices. The Blues, on the other hand, were considerably better organized and, under head coach Harry Griffith, better prepared. It was no contest: UT won, 26-6.

The 1909 Varsity Blues. The trophy at the right

is the original version of the Grey Cup.

The Varsity Blues would repeat in 1910, beating the Hamilton Tigers at the Amateur Athletic Association Grounds in Hamilton, Ontario; and in 1911, beating the Toronto Argonauts at UT's new on-campus home, Varsity Stadium, at which the Argos had begun to "groundshare," helping to making it the most successful location in the history of Canadian football. These games drew 12,000 and 13,687 fans, respectively, showing that the sport was already growing.

The Varsity Blues would win a 4th Grey Cup in 1920, before the professional teams began to catch up. Varsity Stadium went on to host 30 Grey Cups, sometimes as a neutral site, though the Argos would end up winning it there 9 times.

By the early 1930s, things had consolidated, and only professional teams were playing for the Grey Cup. Through the 2022 season, here are the totals of the current teams in the CFL: The Toronto Argonauts 18, the Edmonton Elks (formerly the Edmonton Eskimos) 14, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 8, the Calgary Stampeders 8, the Montreal Alouettes 7, the Vancouver-based BC Lions 6, the Regina-based Saskatchewan Roughriders (1 word) 4, and the Ottawa Redblacks (formerly the Senators and the Rough Riders, 2 words) 1.

And here are the totals won by the various cities, including teams that no longer compete for the Cup (and, in some cases, no longer even exist): Toronto 25, Hamilton 15, Edmonton 14, Winnipeg 12, Ottawa 10, Montreal 9, Calgary 8, Vancouver 6, Regina 4, Kingston (Ontario) 3, Sarnia 2, Baltimore 1.

(Yes, you read that right: Baltimore 1. I'll get to this.)

The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association won it in 1931, making them the 1st team from outside Ontario to win it. The Blue Bombers (then known simply as the 'Pegs, for Winnipeg) won it in 1935, making them the 1st team from west of Ontario to win it. The Stampeders won it in 1948, making them the 1st team from Western Canada to win it.

In 1993, the CFL was in trouble, and so it tried to expanded to the U.S., adding teams in Sacramento, Las Vegas, Shreveport, Birmingham, Memphis, San Antonio, and Baltimore. The Baltimore Stallions, wearing blue like the old Colts, taking on a horse name like the Colts, and playing in Memorial Stadium like the Colts, reached the Final in 1994, but lost to BC. In 1995, the Stallions won it, beating the Stampeders. In other words, since 1993, no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup, but an American team has won the Grey Cup

With the Baltimore Ravens arriving in 1996, the Stallions moved to Montreal, becoming the 2nd edition of the Alouettes. The CFL ended its American experiment.

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December 4, 1909 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. There were 2 college football games on this day, but only 1 of the 4 teams involved is now thought of as being in a "Power Five" Conference. Colorado School of Mines beat St. Vincent's College, 16-0 at Fiesta Park in Los Angeles. Colorado Mines now playin NCAA Division II. St. Vincent's went through several name changes before becoming Loyola Marymount University in 1973. But they dropped football after the 1951 season.

And the University of Denver beat Washington State College, 11-6 at Recreation Park in Spokane, Washington. "Wazzu" was renamed Washington State University in 1959. Denver scrapped its football program after the 1961 season.

December 4, 1909 is also recognized as the founding date of the greatest of all hockey franchises, the Montreal Canadiens, by Canadian silver magnate John Ambrose O'Brien, who had also owned the Renfrew Creamery Kings, west of Ottawa. The Canadiens then co-founded the National Hockey Association, and were co-founders of the National Hockey League in 1917, on their way to 24 Stanley Cups. O'Brien had played hockey, but not football, at the University of Toronto, winners of the 1st 3 Grey Cups.