Category: Canadian Football League

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
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
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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)
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September 24, 2025
Five Canadian Football Players Lost in 1956 Plane Crash Part II

The 1956 plane crash that claimed the lives of five Canadian football players garnered widespread newspaper coverage across Canada and parts of the United States.

Melvin Becket, Mario DeMarco, Gordon Sturtridge, and Ray Syrnyk of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calvin Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were aboard Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 when it crashed into a remote area of British Columbia.

Here is a sampling of news articles about the tragedy:

Front page of the Regina Leader-Post on December 10, 1956.

Heart-breaking article in the Regina Leader-Post (December 10, 1956) expressing hope that Mario DeMarco and Melvin Becket would somehow survive the disaster.

Front page of the Iowa City Press-Citizen (December 10, 1956) with a focus on Calvin Jones, who was a standout college player at the University of Iowa before joining the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Front page of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix on December 10, 1956.
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September 12, 2025
Five Canadian Football Players Lost in 1956 Plane Crash

On Sunday, December 9, 1956, tragedy struck Canadian football when five professional players lost their lives in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 left Vancouver that evening bound for Calgary with 62 passengers and crew onboard. Among the passengers were four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Melvin Becket, Mario DeMarco, Gordon Sturtridge, and Ray Syrnyk) and Calvin Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They were returning from Vancouver, where the 1956 Canadian Football Council all-star game was played the previous day.

About an hour after takeoff, the plane crashed into Mount Slesse, near Chilliwack, BC. All 62 people aboard the aircraft died. The crash site is in a remote area of British Columbia, which made recovery efforts virtually impossible. The remains of both the plane and the victims remain at the site to this day.

Here is a closer look at the five players who were lost in the disaster:

Melvin Becket was a native of Chicago, Illinois. He was drafted by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers but opted to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. His wife was expecting their child just after Christmas.

Mario DeMarco was an American from New Jersey. He and Melvin Becket were not only teammates; they were also business partners of a local gas station in Regina. The DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in the CFL’s West Division.

Calvin Jones was an African-American from Ohio who came to Canada to play professional football with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after a standout college career at the University of Iowa. He missed an earlier flight out of Vancouver so was instead put on the ill-fated TCA Flight 810.

Gordon Sturtridge was a native of Winnipeg, where he started his professional football career. He was a three-time western all-star and played four seasons with Saskatchewan. His wife Mildred was also aboard the flight. They left behind three young children.

Ray Syrnyk was a native of Saskatoon and played on the 1953 Saskatoon Hilltops junior championship team. He was the youngest (22) of the five players lost.

Find A Grave Memorial for Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 810 Victims

Sources:
The Province, 10 December 1956
The Regina Leader-Post, 10 December 1956
The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 10 December 1956

September 10, 2025