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Canadian Football History

Tag: Hamilton Tigers

  • Tigers, Wildcats Merge to Form the Tiger-Cats

    Depending on the criteria chosen and who you ask (relax, Argo fans!) the city of Hamilton boasts Canada’s oldest football club. The Hamilton Foot Ball Club was founded on November 3, 1869. Yes, they spelled football with two words back then. The team played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union from 1893 to 1906 before joining the new Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907.

    A news article in the Hamilton Spectator announcing the founding of the Hamilton Foot Ball Club
    A news article announcing the founding of the Hamilton Foot Ball Club
    (The Hamilton Spectator, 4 November 1869, p 2.)

    The team wore black and orange and later black and yellow uniforms and were known as the Tigers. It was this Tigers team that played in the second Grey Cup in 1910.

    In 1941, the Tigers suspended play as a result of the Second World War. The IRFU itself shut down a year later. To fill the void, the Hamilton Wildcats were formed and played in the ORFU, winning the Grey Cup in 1943. Due to the high number of air force personnel playing for the team, the club was known as the Flying Wildcats during the war years.

    After the war ended, the IRFU and the Hamilton Tigers resumed play. Unfortunately, the Hamilton market couldn’t support two football teams. Both the Tigers and the Wildcats found themselves competing for business and facing financial challenges. After a dispute with the IRFU, the Tigers and Wildcats actually swapped leagues for a couple of seasons with the Tigers playing in the ORFU and the Wildcats joining the IRFU in 1948.

    Article announcing merger of the Hamilton Wildcats and Hamilton Tigers
    “Merger of Wildcats, Tigers, Completed.” The Hamilton Spectator, 31 January 1950, p 24.

    Finally, a group of Hamilton citizens pushed for the amalgamation of the Tigers and Wildcats. It was clear that Hamilton could sustain only one team, especially with the growing professionalization of the game of football.

    Thus, in 1950, the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats merged into one club and became the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

    1950 Hamilton Tiger-Cats team photo
    The 1950 amalgamated Hamilton Tiger-Cats
    (photo courtesy of the Canadian Football Research Society)

    This is the sixth 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 Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

  • The Blue Bombers of Western Football

    The Blue Bombers of Western Football

    The Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Boxing legend Joe Louis. Labatt Breweries. And the Toronto Blue Jays. Believe it or not there’s an interesting connection between these four entities spanning several decades.

    The Winnipeg Football Club was established in 1930. They were originally called the Winnipeg Rugby Football Club but dropped the “Rugby” from the team’s name not long after being formed. The team was unofficially known simply as the Winnipegs or the ‘Pegs for short. In the early days, the club wore green and white uniforms before quickly adopting blue and gold as their team colours. This colour choice plays an important part of the story as you will see.

    In 1935, Winnipeg travelled east to Hamilton and beat the hometown Tigers 18-12 in the Grey Cup. The victory gave the Winnipegs the distinction of becoming the first western team to win the Grey Cup championship. Enthusiastic crowds welcomed home the Winnipegs, and businesses lined up to congratulate the new champions of “Canadian rugby.”

    Hudson's Bay Company advertisement congratulating the Winnipegs on their 1935 Grey Cup victory
    Hudson’s Bay Company advertisement congratulating the Winnipegs on their 1935 Grey Cup victory (source: The Winnipeg Tribune, 10 December 1935, page 17)

    Around the same time, an African American by the name of Joe Louis was taking the professional boxing world by storm. He was given the racialized nickname “The Brown Bomber” by American media. The story goes that a local Winnipeg journalist named Vince Leah, catching wind of the “Brown Bomber” nickname, referred to the Winnipegs as the “Blue Bombers of Western Football.”

    The name stuck, and the football club became known as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers ever since.

    Winnipegs All Set to Open Campaign (1936)
    Media started referring to the Winnipegs as the “Blue Bombers” in 1936. (source: The Winnipeg Tribune, 5 September 1936, page 21.)
    Reference to the "Blue Bombers" as the name of Winnipeg's football team
    The Super Bombers (source: The Winnipeg Tribune, 31 October 1936, page 29.)

    In the 1950s, Labatt Breweries introduced a new brand of beer in the Manitoba market. With its colourful blue labelling, Winnipeg football fans referred to the beer as Labatt “Blue.” Labatt eventually adopted the name officially and became a sponsor of the Blue Bombers and the CFL.

    Fast forward a couple decades later. Toronto was awarded an expansion franchise in Major League Baseball. Labatt Breweries had a significant ownership stake in the new team and wanted to leverage its Labatt Blue brand. Toronto’s other two sports teams – the Argonauts and the Maple Leafs – both had blue as a team colour. The writing was on the wall. Toronto’s new sport team was also going to be blue. So, the Toronto Blue Jays were born.

    Further reading:

    Football in Winnipeg (Manitoba Museum)

    Labatt Blue origins (Labatt website)

    This is the fifth 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 Saskatchewan Roughriders.

  • Facts About the Final | 1910 Grey Cup

    Facts About the Final | 1910 Grey Cup

    Here’s an interesting snippet of some facts about the 1910 Grey Cup final held in Hamilton, including the team rosters for the Hamilton Tigers and the University of Toronto.

    1910 Grey Cup summary in the Hamilton Spectator
    Source: The Hamilton Spectator, November 25, 1910, page 12
  • Tigers and Rooters Ready For Action

    Tigers and Rooters Ready For Action

    Hamilton Tigers 1910 Grey Cup coverage in the Hamilton Spectator
    Source: The Hamilton Spectator, November 25, 1910, page 12

    The above article appeared in the Hamilton Spectator on the eve of the 2nd Grey Cup. The Hamilton Tigers were preparing to host the University of Toronto at the A.A.A. Grounds in Hamilton.

    Note the new cheer being introduced:
    O-S-K-E-W-A-W-A
    W-H-I-S-K-E-We-We
    H-O-L-Y M-A-K-I-N-A-W
    T-I-G-E-R-S E-A-T E-M R-A-W
    W-O-W!

    A variation of the Oskee Wee Wee cheer is still performed at Hamilton Tiger-Cat games today.