Tag: 1970s in Canadian Football

  • Northmen condemned by health minister

    Tariffs, protectionism, and the Manifest destiny are all the talk this week following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Of course, Canada-United States relations is a centuries old subject that will likely always be a matter of discussion for Canadians.

    What the heck does this have to do with football? Well, any CFL fan over the age of forty will remember the league’s foray into the United States in the early 1990s. But, those a bit older will also recall the time when a new U.S.-based league was about to set up shop here in the Great White North.

    In 1973, the fledging World Football League was established, and the Toronto Northmen were going to be one of their flagship franchises. They were owned by John Bassett Jr., who just happened to be the son of Toronto Argonauts owner John Bassett Sr. Yes, there were plenty of accusations of conflict of interest.

    Here is an article that appeared in the Vancouver Sun where the Minister of Health at the time Marc Lalonde denounced the new WFL and the Northmen.

    Source: The Vancouver Sun, 22 February 1974, page 21.

    A foreign football league coming to Canada was perceived as a real threat to the CFL. And, maybe it was, but we will never truly know. In response, the federal government moved rather quickly. The Minister introduced the Canadian Football Act in Parliament. This act would have given a monopoly over professional football in Canada to the CFL.

    Toronto Northmen logo (SportsLogos.net)

    Seeing the writing on the wall, Bassett decided to move his Northmen to Memphis, Tennessee and rebrand them as the Southmen. The American gridiron invasion was halted.

    In the aftermath, the Canadian Football Act ultimately wasn’t passed into law. John Bassett Sr. sold the Argos. And, the World Football League played just two years before folding during its second season in 1975.

  • Presenting Hamilton’s New Ivor Wynne Stadium

    New Ivor Wynne Stadium ad in the Hamilton Spectator
    Source: The Hamilton Spectator, June 21, 1971 page 22.

    In 1970-71, Hamilton’s Civic Stadium was heavily rebuilt to meet the needs of a modern professional football stadium. Originally built in 1928 for the British Empire Games (the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games), the stadium was dated and considered one of the worst stadiums in the country.

    A new north grandstand was built, bringing the capacity to about 35,000. New lights were added – much to the delight of television broadcasters. And, all-season AstroTurf was installed, the first stadium in Canada to have it.

    In 1971, the stadium was renamed Ivor Wynne Stadium in honour of the former chairman of the Hamilton parks board and athletics director at McMaster University. Ivor Wynne had died a year earlier.

    The new state of the art stadium would host the 1972 Grey Cup the following year and continued to be Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ home until it was replaced by Tim Horton’s Field in 2014.