This is the third part of an ongoing series of articles looking back at some of Canadian football’s quirky playoff formats. Today, we’re going to go west and examine a rather peculiar set up for the 1906 season of the Manitoba Rugby Football Union.
The MRFU was founded in 1892 and included a number of teams over the years. In 1906, four teams competed in the league’s senior competition: the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club (known as the Winnipegs), the St. John’s Rugby Football Club, the Winnipeg Rowing Club, and the Brandon Football Club.
Financial constraints led to an unbalanced schedule. For instance, Brandon – being the only team from outside of Winnipeg – was allowed to play just four games. On the other hand, St. John’s and the Rowing Club were scheduled to play five games each. The Winnipegs were originally scheduled to play six games.
To compensate for the unbalanced schedule, the MRFU devised a somewhat complicated but rather ingenious points system to provide some equity in the standings. Teams could receive a total of 30 points maximum on the season (if they won all their games). A value for a team’s win would be weighted depending on how many games they were to play. The formula used was 30 divided by the number of games played. In summary, Brandon would receive 7-1/2 points for each win (30 divided by four games played), St. John’s and the Rowing Club would receive 6 points for a win (30 divided by five games played), and a Winnipeg win would be worth five points (30 divided by six games played).
Here is how the Winnipeg Tribune explained the schedule and points system:
The team with the most points in the standings was determined the champion. The Winnipegs picked up one win but lost two games and defaulted three of their remaining games after pulling out of the competition, finishing with a 1-5 record and five points.
Here is the article published in the Winnipeg Tribune about the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club ceasing operations during the 1906 MRFU season:
The top two teams – Winnipeg Rowing Club and Brandon – squared off on Sunday October 28th in a game that ultimately determined the championship. The “Oarsmen” (as the rowing club was nicknamed) defeated Brandon by a score of 20-1. The win gave the Winnipeg Rowing Club an undefeated 4-0 record and 24 points in the standings. Brandon ended the season 3-1 with 22-1/2 points.
The Rowing Club had one more game to play versus St. John’s, but the game was cancelled as it had no meaning in the standings, the Oarsmen having already earned the highest number of points to win the 1906 MRFU championship.
Of course, the MRFU wasn’t a member of the Canadian Rugby Union, so the Manitoba champion wasn’t eligible to compete in any playoff for the Dominion championship.
Sources:
Winnipeg Tribune (14 September 1906)
Winnipeg Tribune (19 October 1906)
Winnipeg Tribune (29 October 1906)
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