| PRO LEAGUES |
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CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE |
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| 111th Grey Cup | |
| 2024 CHAMPIONS | HALL OF CHAMPIONS |
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 TORONTO ARGONAUTS (19) |
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (19) |
CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (CFL) or League de Football Canadien (LCF) and plays a version of Gridiron Football that is similar to American Football. The CFL plays Canadian Football and began in 1958, from a merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (founded 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded 1936), having formerly been a member of the Canadian Football Council (CFC),which it withdrew from to form the CFL. It traces its history back to the 1880s. It remains the only Football League in North America that has its teams solely based in Canada, having briefly hosted USA teams from 1993-1995.
It is currently made up of 9 teams with the Ottawa RedBlacks having joined in 2014.
Each team plays 2 pre-season games, in May-June, before competing in a 18-game/21-week regular season including 3 bye weeks,between June and November. The regular season is followed by the Grey Cup Playoffs, made up of the top 3 per division (cross-over method is used if the 4th placed team in one division has a better a record than the 3rd placed team in the other division) which end in November with the Grey Cup.
In 1995, the Baltimore Stallions became the only American team to win the 83rd Grey Cup, before the league returned to Canada-based teams in 1996 and has remained like that ever since.
| LINKS | |
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OFFICIAL WEBSITE  |
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| GREY CUP | |
| TEAMS | |
| EAST DIVISION | |
| WEST DIVISION | |
| CFL IN THE USA (1993-1995) | |
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WHAT IS CANADIAN FOOTBALL? |
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Unlike the NFL,Canadian Football is played by teams of 12 players. The field is 110 yards long and 65 yards with 20 yard end zones,compared to American Football which is 100 yards long by 53 1/3 yards wide and has 10 yard end zones. A team has 3 downs (not 4 like in American Football) to make 10 yards/score or they lose the ball and where the Offence becomes the Defence.
DEFUNCT TEAMS |
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SACRAMENTO GOLD MINERS (1993-1994) |
 HORNET STADIUM (SACRAMENTO,CA,USA) |
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LAS VEGAS POSSE (1994) |
 SAM BOYD STADIUM (LAS VEGAS,NV,USA) |
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BALTIMORE STALLIONS (1994-1995) |
 MEMORIAL STADIUM (BALTIMORE,MD,USA) |
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BIRMINGHAM BARRACUDAS (1995) |
 LEGION FIELD (BIRMINGHAM,AL,USA) |
| MEMPHIS MAD DOGS (1995) |
 LIBERTY STADIUM (MEMPHIS,TN,USA) |
| SAN ANTONIO TEXANS (1995) |
 ALAMODOME (SAN ANTONIO,TX,USA) |
| SHREVEPORT PIRATES (1994-1995) |
 INDEPENDENCE STADIUM (SHREVEPORT,LA,USA) |
| OTTAWA ROUGH RIDERS (OTTAWA,ON) (1876-1996) |
 TD BANK STADIUM (OTTAWA,ON) |
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OTTAWA RENEGADES (2002-2005) |
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PROPOSED TEAMS |
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ATLANTIC SCHOONERS (DARTMOUTH,NS) | |
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MIAMI MANATEES (MIAMI,FL) |
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EXPANSION HISTORY
| 1958-1986 | |
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| 9 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Ottawa Rough Riders Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| 1987-1992 | |
| 8 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Ottawa Rough Riders Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Montreal Alouettes (FOLDED) |
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| 1993 | |
| 9 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ottawa Rough Riders Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Sacramento Gold Miners (EXPANSION) |
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| 1994 | |
| 12 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ottawa Rough Riders Sacramento Gold Miners Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Baltimore CFLers (EXPANSION) Las Vegas Posse (EXPANSION) Shreveport Pirates (EXPANSION) |
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| 1995 | |
| 13 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ottawa Rough Riders Saskatchewan Roughriders Shreveport Pirates Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Baltimore CFLers > Baltimore Stallions |
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Birmingham Barracudas (EXPANSION) Memphis Mad Dogs (EXPANSION) San Antonio Texans (EXPANSION) |
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Las Vegas Posse (FOLDED) Sacramento Gold Miners (FOLDED) |
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| 1996 | |
| 9 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ottawa Rough Riders Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Montreal Alouettes (EXPANSION) |
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Baltimore Stallions (FOLDED) Birmingham Barracudas (FOLDED) Memphis Mad Dogs (FOLDED) San Antonio Texans (FOLDED) Shreveport Pirates (FOLDED) |
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| 1997-2001 | |
| 8 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Ottawa Rough Riders (FOLDED) |
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| 2002-2005 | |
| 9 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Ottawa Renegades (EXPANSION) |
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| 2006-2013 | |
| 8 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Ottawa Renegades (FOLDED) |
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| 2014-2019 | |
| 8 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Ottawa RedBlacks (EXPANSION) |
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| 2020-2021 | |
| 8 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Edmonton Eskimos > Edmonton Football Team |
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| 2021- | |
| 8 | British Columbia Lions Calgary Stampeders Hamilton Tiger-Cats Montreal Alouettes Saskatchewan Roughriders Toronto Argonauts Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
Edmonton Football Team > Edmonton Elks |
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CFL IN THE USA |
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In 1993,it added teams in North America split into North Division (Canadian teams) and South Division (American Teams) with the Baltimore Stallions being the only team to win the 83rd Grey Cup. In 1995,the league returned to Canada-based teams and has remained like that ever since.
Sacramento Goldminers and San Antonio Texans were added as the first US franchises with the Texans soon folding,due to financial problems,with the Goldminers going it alone for the 1993 season.
In 1994,Goldminers were joined by Las Vegas Posse,Shreveport Pirates and Baltimore CFL Colts (changed to Stallions,due to the NFL's Indianapolis Colts). Goldminers and Posse were placed in the West Division whereas the Pirates and the Stallions were put in the East Division. In that same year,the Stallions lost to the British Columbia Lions,by a mere three points,in that year's Grey Cup.
In 1995,the Goldminers became the San Antonio Texans. The Posse failed to move to relocate to Jackson,Mississippi,with their owners deciding to rename the team,the Miami Manatees. But after an exhibition game, it became apparent that it would not be possible as fans were finding it difficult to adapt to the new rules. Instead,Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs were added,and therefore the CFL introduced a new league alignment. The Canadian teams were put in the Northern Division and the American teams were placed in the Southern Division. Also that year,the Baltimore Stallions beat the Calgary Stampeders in the 1995 83rd Grey Cup by a score of 37-20 and becoming the first and last American team to win a Grey Cup.
It was apparent that the CFL's experiment was failing,and by 1996 the Barracudas and Mad Dogs had folded due to considerable financial losses. Pirates owner Glieberman tried to move the franchise to Norfolk,VA but failed and then admitted defeat. With the NFL being the bigger league,the 'defunct' Cleveland Browns would be moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens and would take away the crowds of the Stallions. Stallions owner tried to move the franchise to Houston,TX and Norfolk,VA before moving the franchise to become the Montreal Alouettes once more. This put an end to the CFL's expansion into the United States.