Author: Robert Finch

100 Yard Fields in Early Canadian Football

When CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston announced sweeping rule changes to the Canadian game last month, one modification that probably alarmed traditionalists the most was the change to the size of the CFL football field. In 2027, the field will shrink from 110 yards in length to 100 yards between the goal lines.

I can certainly sympathize with the “Save the 55” crowd. After all, we humans tend not to like change. Especially when it comes to changing something we cherish. But upon further review, it appears that 100-yard football fields are not new to Canadian football.

From the Rules of the Rugby Union Game of Football adopted by the Canadian Rugby Football Union, 14 September 1880

In fact, early Canadian football was played on 100 yard long fields. In 1880, the very first rule in the new Canadian Rugby Football Union rule book stated that “The Grounds shall be, as near as possible, 100 yards long by 50 yards broad.” Of course, it’s important to remember that the game around this time was more like rugby football than the gridiron game we are accustomed to today. But still, that’s a small field.

100 yard long field being adopted by the CRFU in November 1885. (Montreal Star, 14 November 1884)

100 yard long fields continued to be the norm for several years. While the 1884 CRFU Laws of the Game stated that the field of play should not exceed 110 yards in length, in 1885, the CRFU clarified that the field should be 100 yards long by 65 yards wide.
It appears the 110 yard by 65 yard standard was finally widely adopted by the 1890s. That is the size of the field mentioned in the rules when the new Canadian Rugby Union was formed in 1891.

The 110 x 65 field we are accustomed to (taken from the Canadian Rugby Football Union Constitution and Laws of the Game published in 1884).

So, what’s the point of this discussion? Well, nothing really except to reiterate that Canadian football is not static. The rules and regulations of the game have been evolving since the beginning. And in the case of the 100 yard long field coming in 2027, it can be equally argued that rather than moving the CFL closer to the American game, we are instead taking Canadian football back to its early years.

Sources:
Rules of the Rugby Union Game of Football adopted by the Canadian Rugby Football Union, 14 September 1880
Canadian Rugby Football Union Constitution and Laws of the Game, 1 July 1884
The Montreal Star, 14 November 1885

October 15, 2025
The Death of Earl Grey

On August 29, 1917, newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic reported that Earl Grey had died at the age of 65. How well do you know the man who donated the trophy that bears his name, that symbol of Canadian football supremacy?

Born Albert Henry George Grey in 1851 in London, England, he became the 4th Earl Grey upon the death of his uncle. He was a lawyer by profession and a former politician, serving as an MP in the British Parliament. He also briefly served as the administrator for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

In 1904, King Edward VII appointed Earl Grey as the Governor General of Canada. In those days, the vice regal not only represented the monarch in Canada but also acted as a representative for the British government. As such, the appointees were always a member of the British peerage and sometimes even a member of the Royal Family.

News of Earl Grey’s death as reported in the Ottawa Citizen on August 29, 1917.

By most accounts, Earl Grey was an immensely popular Governor General. He travelled the country intensively and was active in many areas of Canadian politics. Earl Grey was a strong supporter of national unity (he was largely responsible for the success of Quebec’s tercentenary celebrations!) and advocated for greater social justice for Canadians. Two of his other interests failed to gain traction, that being electoral reform and transforming the British Empire into an Imperial Federation.

As Governor General, Earl Grey lent his support to several Canadian arts and sports initiatives. In 1909, he donated a trophy to be awarded for the Amateur Rugby Football Championship of Canada. Soon, the trophy would become known as the Grey Cup.

Earl Grey’s death as reported in the Montreal Star on August 29, 1917.

Earl Grey’s death as reported in the Newcastle Journal (UK) on August 30, 1917.

Earl Grey’s tenure as Governor General ended in 1911, and he returned to England. Earl Grey died at his family home in Howick, England on August 29, 1917. He was remembered fondly by the press in both Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in countries around the world. He was survived by his wife Alice and three adult children.

One particular quote (attributed to Sir Hamar Greenwood) nicely sums up Earl Grey and his impact on and connection to Canada: “Earl Grey came to Canada an Englishman and returned to England as a keen Canadian.”

In reading the many newspaper articles about Earl Grey’s death you will notice a glaring omission. Most of them make little to no reference to the Grey Cup or to Grey’s support for Canadian football. At first glance, this appears rather odd. But it’s important to remember the times. At the time of Earl Grey’s death, Canada was in the midst of the First World War. Meaningful football hadn’t been played in Canada since 1914. There had only been six previous Grey Cup games, so the tradition hadn’t yet taken hold. In some ways, the Grey Cup was largely forgotten during the war years. Finally, the game was resurrected in 1920, setting up Earl Grey’s greatest legacy to Canada: the Grey Cup.

Earl Grey was elected into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963, the year the hall was established.

Sources:

The Ottawa Citizen (29 August 1917)
The Montreal Star (29 August 1917)
The Newcastle Journal (30 August 1917)
Fediverse Reactions
October 8, 2025
Portland Hosts Fast Break CFL Football, Precursor to CFL USA Expansion

In 1992, the Canadian Football League was looking to grow. Larry Smith was appointed the CFL’s new commissioner with a mandate to expand the CFL. Of course, Montreal and Halifax were high on Smith’s list of potential sites. But so, too, were several cities south of the border. One of these cities was Portland, Oregon.

Located in the northwestern United States, Portland was a mid-sized city with a suitable stadium and a credible ownership group with the needed capital to both pay for and operate an expansion franchise. It was close enough to the border so that something “Canadian” didn’t sound too foreign. Heck, it was almost as if it could be a natural rival for the BC Lions. Paul Allen, the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team, was the man hoping to bring the CFL to Oregon.

To test the Portland market, the CFL played an exhibition game on Thursday, June 25, 1992 at Civic Stadium. The game was a rematch of the 1991 Grey Cup between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders. The Argos had Raghib “the Rocket” Ismail as their marquee player. Calgary had the recently acquired future Hall of Famer Doug Flutie as their new quarterback. The stage was set for a great exhibition of Canadian football for the American fans featuring the CFL’s two biggest stars.

In the lead up to the exhibition game, the Portland media seemed quite eager to welcome the CFL to town. Ads ran in the Oregonian newspaper promoting “fast-break,” “high flying” and “wide open” CFL football. Unsurprisingly, the Rocket was heavily promoted. Even the Trail Blazers’ Jerome Kersey was featured in advertising for the game.

A decent crowd of 15,362 fans turned out on a hot Thursday night to watch the game. All in all, reviews were positive despite a rather lacklustre game. Calgary won 20-1. Yes, Americans got to see a Canadian rouge scored. In the end, though, no CFL expansion team came to Portland. Instead, Sacramento was awarded the CFL’s first U.S.-based expansion team. After a few years the CFL’s foray into the United States was over. Despite lots of talk and speculation, the CFL-in-Portland story was limited to a single exhibition game only.

100 yard long fields are included in the Johnston Rules announced by CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston recently. The 1992 exhibition game in Portland was the last time the CFL played on a field that was 100 yards in length. The standard CFL field didn’t fit at Portland Civic Stadium without heavy modifications, so the game was played on an American length football field that included ten-yard end zones. Have a look at the screen shots below to get a taste of what Canadian football on 100 yards will (sort of) look like in the future.

You can watch the Toronto-Calgary exhibition game in Portland on the CFL Classics YouTube channel. The game was televised nationally on TSN.

Sources:
The Oregonian, 2 May 1992
The Oregonian, 26 June 1992
Fediverse Reactions
October 1, 2025
CFL Goes With Shorter End Zones

The Johnston Rules are coming to Canadian football. Proponents argue they will open up the Canadian game and lead to more exciting touchdowns. Opponents grumble they represent creeping Americanization of our unique brand of football. Others shrug their shoulders and wonder what all the fuss is about. Wherever you land on this spectrum one thing is clear: CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston has introduced sweeping changes to Canadian football.

Now, there are plenty of places online to discuss (or vent about) these changes. But here at Canadian Football History, we focus on the past. One of the changes featured in the Johnston Rules is the shrinking of the field length and end zones. So, I thought it would be timely to revisit the last time the CFL modified its field dimensions.

Once upon a time, the regulation Canadian football field was 110 yards long between the goal lines with two 25 yard end zones. If you watch older CFL games you will realize just how massive the end zones were. The extra deep end zones gave quarterbacks some good real estate to pass for touchdowns.

CFL rule changes, including shortening the end zones from 25 to 20 yards, in 1986. (Regina Leader-Post)

Then in 1983, Vancouver opened BC Place Stadium, the first domed stadium in Canada. The 60,000-seat stadium was a state-of-the-art facility that rivalled Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in terms of capacity and amenities. The trouble was that a full-length Canadian football field wouldn’t fit in the new stadium. So, the BC Lions played on a field that had only 20 yard end zones.

Other CFL stadiums couldn’t quite fit the full 25 yard end zones, either. So, they would clip the corners of the end zone and make do the best they could. Finally in 1986, the Canadian Football League officially adopted 20 yard end zones as the new standard.

A post card showing the 25 yard clipped end zones at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.
(photo: Canadian Football Research Society)

The CFL’s long end zones posed a problem during the league’s brief foray into the United States. Most American football stadiums could not accommodate the longer Canadian field, particularly the 20 yard end zones. So, we ended up with a mishmash of end zones in the CFL’s U.S.-based stadiums. Without question the worst set up was in Memphis where the end zones were only seven yards in length near the sidelines; at most they were less than 15 yards deep in the centre.

The CFL used a heavily modified end zone in Memphis in 1995.

Whenever a sports league makes a rule change – especially if it’s a significant one – there will no doubt ensue a passionate debate amongst the fanbase. That’s probably healthy in the grand scheme of things; after all, apathy is a very difficult thing to overcome. So, if people are talking and you are in the conversation, that means people care. This week was certainly no different. CFL fans have proven they are some of the most passionate sports fans around. I thought I’d end with a selection of fan suggestions for the CFL published in the Toronto Star in 1986.

Rule changes suggested by CFL fans published in the Toronto Star.

Sources:
The Toronto Star (13 February 1986)
The Regina Leader Post (24 June 1986)
Fediverse Reactions
September 24, 2025
Ottawa Downs Las Vegas 54-50 in 1994 Labour Day Weekend Shootout

Labour Day weekend is arguably the biggest deal in the Canadian Football League outside the Grey Cup. The end-of-summer holiday features games between the CFL’s fiercest rivalries. Saskatchewan versus Winnipeg. Calgary versus Edmonton. Hamilton versus Toronto. Now back in 1994 one of the CFL’s Labour Day weekend matchups included the Ottawa Rough Riders playing host to the Las Vegas Posse. How’s that for an anomaly?

On Saturday, September 3, 1994, the Rough Riders were looking to snap a four-game losing streak. They were under new ownership and desperately trying to reinvigorate a fickle Ottawa football market. The Posse were the second U.S.-based team in the CFL and were struggling on and off the field by the time they made it to the Nation’s Capital.

Great headline in the Ottawa Citizen

Las Vegas was led by a young rookie quarterback named Anthony Cavillo. He was one of the few bright spots on an inexperienced Posse team coached by Ron Meyer, who himself had no coaching experience in Canadian football.

Calvillo completed an 81 yard touchdown pass to Curtis Mayfield right out of the gate to give Las Vegas an early lead. The two teams went on a scoring shootout, lighting up the scoreboard the rest of the night. A total of over 1300 yards of offence was produced collectively.

Down 44-41 with no time left on the clock, Ottawa’s Terry Baker kicked a field goal to tie the game 44-44. 88 points and 60 minutes of football just wasn’t enough to decide a winner. Overtime awaited.

In those days, the CFL overtime format consisted of two additional five-minute halves. Neither team scored in the first OT half. In the second OT half, each team scored a touchdown. But Meyer opted to go for a two-point conversion with a minute to go in overtime. The gamble failed and Las Vegas was down 51-50. Baker cemented Ottawa’s win with a field goal in the waning seconds of overtime. Final score. Ottawa 54 Las Vegas 50.

Final stats in the Ottawa Citizen

The Posse would cease to exist by the end of the season, and their roster was divvied up amongst the other teams in a dispersal draft. The rest of the American teams would shut down the following year. The Ottawa Rough Riders themselves would fold two years later.

Anthony Calvillo would go on to have a stellar career becoming one of the most outstanding quarterbacks in CFL history, leading to an induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

You can view this game on the CFL Classics YouTube channel.

Sources:

The Ottawa Citizen, 4 September 1994
Fediverse Reactions
September 17, 2025