Concordes. Bulldogs. Hornets. Winged Wheelers. Indians. These are some of the names that have been used by Montreal’s football teams over the years. The Montreal Football Club was founded in 1872 and were a member of the Quebec Rugby Football Union. In 1907, Montreal joined Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton in forming the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the precursor to the CFL’s East Division.
(via sportslogos.net)
When the IRFU (also known as the Big Four) returned to play in 1945 following the Second World War, Montreal’s team was called the Hornets. Unfortunately, for Montreal football fans, the Hornets finished in last place. The following year, Montreal’s IRFU entry was reorganized, and the Montreal Alouettes were born.
The Montreal Alouettes were founded by Leo Dandurand and Lew Hayman among others. Hayman had led the Toronto Argonauts to several Grey Cups, bringing instant credibility back to Montreal football.
According to the Alouettes’ website, Messrs. Dandurand and Hayman decided to name the new football club the Alouettes after hearing men singing the Quebecois children’s song Alouette. Alouette is the French word for lark. As in the bird. Now, any Canadian school-aged child can easily recognise the popular song. It is often used to teach English-speaking students the names of various body parts in French and in my humble opinion is one of the catchiest songs around.
Check out the video below produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1944. It features the Alouette song along with an animated paper cutout presentation by Norman McLaren and René Jodoin.
There is a strong connection to the 425 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. This French-Canadian unit of the RCAF was active during the Second World War and was nicknamed the “Alouette Squadron.” Their motto? Je te plumerai, of course. It’s not surprising that Montreal adopted the Alouette moniker in honour of the Alouette Squadron following the conclusion of the war.
The Als – the oft-used abbreviation – represented professional football in Montreal through to the early 1980s. Then, after an ownership controversy in 1982 the team folded only to be quickly replaced by a new franchise called the Montreal Concordes. After playing as the Concordes for four seasons, the team readopted the Alouettes name for 1986. Sadly, the renaissance was short lived as the Alouettes ceased operations on the eve of the 1987 CFL season.
The Montreal Stallions
In the early 1990s, the Canadian Football League added several teams in the United States as part of an American expansion plan. While most of the expansion teams struggled on and off the field, one major exception was the Baltimore Stallions.
The Stallions were a dominant force and played in the Grey Cup in both years of their brief existence, winning the championship in 1995. The team also enjoyed great support from the fans in Baltimore and easily led the CFL in attendance. But in 1996 the National Football League announced it would return to Baltimore, causing the Stallions to look for new pastures.
Ultimately, that new home was to be Montreal. In February 1996, the Stallions left Maryland for Quebec. While the team was initially referred to as the Montreal Stallions, it was generally assumed that the team would be rebranded. And it was obvious to all what that “new” name should be. Thus, after a nine-year absence in the CFL the Montreal Alouettes were back in business.
This is the ninth of a series of posts that will explore the stories behind the names of the existing Canadian Football League teams. See the previous post on the Ottawa Redblacks.
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