December 4, 2024 • 7 mins
Step back to 1909 with Daily Sports History as we uncover the story of the inaugural Grey Cup game. Learn about the Hamilton Tigers' victory over the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, the origins of this Canadian football tradition, and how it became a symbol of sports culture in Canada. Discover the beginnings of a championship legacy that continues to captivate fans.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On December fourth, nineteen o nine, Toronto Varsity took on
the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union Championship.
But what made this championship more special than the previous
years was it was the first one being played for
the Gray Cup, which has now played for every year
(00:20):
and given to the winner of the Canadian Football League.
But it had its humble beginnings over one hundred years ago.
Today we're going to dive into this first game and
how the Great Cup got started today on Daily Sports History.
Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide
(00:40):
as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your
sports knowledge. As to day, we learn about the first
Gray Cup and the trivia question to listen out for
today is in what year was the first Canadian football
championship played? And the answer will be in the episode
and you can listen to all the way to the
end to make sure you don't miss it. Now, the
(01:03):
Gray Cup is not the very first championship in Canadian football.
This actually goes back to eighteen eighty four when the
Montreal Football Club took on the Toronto Argonauts at University
of Toronto where Montreal won thirty to zero, winning the
very first Canadian football championship. That time, it was kind
of a mixture. Rugby football is kind of a and
(01:24):
the game was different than it is now for Canadian
football rules. Now, remember this is Canadian football rules, which
are different than American football rules. There are similar games,
but there are subtle differences. But just like football is
the most popular sport in America, Canada, football is not
the most popular sport. But the Gray Cup is the
most watched Canadian event every single year. So if the
(01:46):
first championship was played in the eighteen eighty four, why
was it the first Gray Cup played until nineteen oh nine. Well,
the reason is because of Earl Gray. This has nothing
to do with Earl Gray. T No, this is Albert
Henry George Gray, who was the Earl Gray. And an
Earl is a title or rank in the United Kingdom's
nobility rankings. His goes King Duke and then Earl, then
(02:10):
Barren And we don't have that in America, and they
really don't have that in Canada. But Canada is more
closely aligned to Britain, as they were a British colony
a lot longer than America was and he was the
ninth Governor of Canada and he wanted to leave his
stamp and leave something for Canadians to remember him by.
(02:30):
And just like the Stanley Cup that has played for
for the hockey championship, the Great Cup was done for
the same reason. Lord Stanley gave the Stanley Cup and
Gray wanted to leave an award for hockey as well,
but Stanley beat him to it, so he left one
for football, and he was leaving it to the Senior
Amateur Football Championship of Canada and eventually made his way
(02:52):
into being the trophy for the Canadian Football League over time.
So he decided to leave this award for the teams,
and so they decided to have their normal playoff system
where the champions of the Interprovinical Rugby Football Union and
the champion from the Intercollegiate Football Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union
(03:12):
and the Ontario Rugby Football Union would face off against
each other in a playoff. And what's interesting is some
of these teams are still around today. The Hamilton Tigers,
the Ottawa rough Riders, the Toronto Argonauts. Those teams are
still around in the CFL to this day. So each
of them had their playoffs and there was a playing
game where the Ottawa rough Riders played the Hamilton Tigers
and the winner took on the University of Toronto and
(03:34):
that was the rough Riders where the University of Toronto
beat them thirty seven to seven. And then the Toronto
Parkdale took on the Toronto Amateur Athletic Club and the
Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club ended up winning. They would play
off against the University of Toronto. Now, even though it's
called a canoe club, it was more of an athletic club.
But that I still think it's funny that Canoe cub
(03:55):
played for a football rugby championship. But things were very
different back in the day and this was a very
popular moment as almost four thousand people came to attend
this game and the game was held in Toronto at
Rosedale Field. And though many thought that the Toronto Varsity
Blues as they are known today, yes Varsity Blues just
like the movie but very different, would just blow out
(04:17):
the game, but they didn't because it started out as
a very sloppy game that many teams fumbled and there
was lots of changes going back and forth. It took
a while before there was the first score, which was
a single, which is when you kick the ball into
the end zone and no one kicks it out, and
that was the first score of the game done done
by the Toronto Varsity team, and then they would have
a ten score run and then at the end of
(04:39):
the first quarter it'd be six to zero Toronto with
Toronto Varsity being in the lead. Then in the second one,
the Canoe Club would actually return a fumble for conversion,
although their convert failed, so they ended up with a
score six to five heading into halftime, and that was
really when the Toronto Varsity really took over the return
to fumble and the league twelve to five, and then
(05:01):
they would have four singles for the rest of that
third quarter and the Canoe Club would only get one single,
and heading into the final quarter it was sixteen to
six and there were five more singles done by the
varsity team, and they exchanged the series and they ended
and the game ended really with a pass a fifty
yard run that would be the last score of the
game with the final score twenty six to six, and
(05:23):
they all celebrated and they were all excited to win
the championship. And they were excited because they kind of
knew a new trophy, but it wasn't there. See Earl Gray,
the one that was donating the Gray Cup forgot to
order it and so it didn't show up un till
the next year in March. So a very anti climactic win,
no trophy to hold up, but they got the championship
(05:43):
and they eventually did get that trophy in March of
nineteen ten. And that trophy is the same trophy as
they still use today and it's very The trophy is
very similar to the Standing Cup as it is a
tall trophy and they actually engrave each team and players
on the trophy and they have to continuously make it
larger and larger as there as more and more champions happened.
(06:03):
It's an interesting trophy and it goes well with the
other Canadian trophy in the Stanley Cup. And if you
want to learn more about the CFL, check out to
and out CFL Podcast, where the host Travis and Sheldon
take you on a focus from fantasy to football news
and everything in between to get you all ready for
(06:25):
everything you need to know about Canadian football. And we'll
put a link in the description below for you to
check them out. And if you enjoy today's episode of
Daily Sports History, please leave us a like review wherever
you're listening. It really helps raise our social proof that
when someone finds our show, they know it's a great
show to go listen to and come back tomorrow for
more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer
(06:47):
to today's trivia question? When was the very first Canadian
Championship actually held? Even though the Great Cup was given
out in nineteen oh nine, the first Canadian Championship happened
in eighteen eighty four. The payment pending when bringing pen
(07:10):
painted step
On December fourth, nineteen o nine, Toronto Varsity took on
the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union Championship.
But what made this championship more special than the previous
years was it was the first one being played for
the Gray Cup, which has now played for every year
(00:20):
and given to the winner of the Canadian Football League.
But it had its humble beginnings over one hundred years ago.
Today we're going to dive into this first game and
how the Great Cup got started today on Daily Sports History.
Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide
(00:40):
as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your
sports knowledge. As to day, we learn about the first
Gray Cup and the trivia question to listen out for
today is in what year was the first Canadian football
championship played? And the answer will be in the episode
and you can listen to all the way to the
end to make sure you don't miss it. Now, the
(01:03):
Gray Cup is not the very first championship in Canadian football.
This actually goes back to eighteen eighty four when the
Montreal Football Club took on the Toronto Argonauts at University
of Toronto where Montreal won thirty to zero, winning the
very first Canadian football championship. That time, it was kind
of a mixture. Rugby football is kind of a and
(01:24):
the game was different than it is now for Canadian
football rules. Now, remember this is Canadian football rules, which
are different than American football rules. There are similar games,
but there are subtle differences. But just like football is
the most popular sport in America, Canada, football is not
the most popular sport. But the Gray Cup is the
most watched Canadian event every single year. So if the
(01:46):
first championship was played in the eighteen eighty four, why
was it the first Gray Cup played until nineteen oh nine. Well,
the reason is because of Earl Gray. This has nothing
to do with Earl Gray. T No, this is Albert
Henry George Gray, who was the Earl Gray. And an
Earl is a title or rank in the United Kingdom's
nobility rankings. His goes King Duke and then Earl, then
(02:10):
Barren And we don't have that in America, and they
really don't have that in Canada. But Canada is more
closely aligned to Britain, as they were a British colony
a lot longer than America was and he was the
ninth Governor of Canada and he wanted to leave his
stamp and leave something for Canadians to remember him by.
(02:30):
And just like the Stanley Cup that has played for
for the hockey championship, the Great Cup was done for
the same reason. Lord Stanley gave the Stanley Cup and
Gray wanted to leave an award for hockey as well,
but Stanley beat him to it, so he left one
for football, and he was leaving it to the Senior
Amateur Football Championship of Canada and eventually made his way
(02:52):
into being the trophy for the Canadian Football League over time.
So he decided to leave this award for the teams,
and so they decided to have their normal playoff system
where the champions of the Interprovinical Rugby Football Union and
the champion from the Intercollegiate Football Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union
(03:12):
and the Ontario Rugby Football Union would face off against
each other in a playoff. And what's interesting is some
of these teams are still around today. The Hamilton Tigers,
the Ottawa rough Riders, the Toronto Argonauts. Those teams are
still around in the CFL to this day. So each
of them had their playoffs and there was a playing
game where the Ottawa rough Riders played the Hamilton Tigers
and the winner took on the University of Toronto and
(03:34):
that was the rough Riders where the University of Toronto
beat them thirty seven to seven. And then the Toronto
Parkdale took on the Toronto Amateur Athletic Club and the
Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club ended up winning. They would play
off against the University of Toronto. Now, even though it's
called a canoe club, it was more of an athletic club.
But that I still think it's funny that Canoe cub
(03:55):
played for a football rugby championship. But things were very
different back in the day and this was a very
popular moment as almost four thousand people came to attend
this game and the game was held in Toronto at
Rosedale Field. And though many thought that the Toronto Varsity
Blues as they are known today, yes Varsity Blues just
like the movie but very different, would just blow out
(04:17):
the game, but they didn't because it started out as
a very sloppy game that many teams fumbled and there
was lots of changes going back and forth. It took
a while before there was the first score, which was
a single, which is when you kick the ball into
the end zone and no one kicks it out, and
that was the first score of the game done done
by the Toronto Varsity team, and then they would have
a ten score run and then at the end of
(04:39):
the first quarter it'd be six to zero Toronto with
Toronto Varsity being in the lead. Then in the second one,
the Canoe Club would actually return a fumble for conversion,
although their convert failed, so they ended up with a
score six to five heading into halftime, and that was
really when the Toronto Varsity really took over the return
to fumble and the league twelve to five, and then
(05:01):
they would have four singles for the rest of that
third quarter and the Canoe Club would only get one single,
and heading into the final quarter it was sixteen to
six and there were five more singles done by the
varsity team, and they exchanged the series and they ended
and the game ended really with a pass a fifty
yard run that would be the last score of the
game with the final score twenty six to six, and
(05:23):
they all celebrated and they were all excited to win
the championship. And they were excited because they kind of
knew a new trophy, but it wasn't there. See Earl Gray,
the one that was donating the Gray Cup forgot to
order it and so it didn't show up un till
the next year in March. So a very anti climactic win,
no trophy to hold up, but they got the championship
(05:43):
and they eventually did get that trophy in March of
nineteen ten. And that trophy is the same trophy as
they still use today and it's very The trophy is
very similar to the Standing Cup as it is a
tall trophy and they actually engrave each team and players
on the trophy and they have to continuously make it
larger and larger as there as more and more champions happened.
(06:03):
It's an interesting trophy and it goes well with the
other Canadian trophy in the Stanley Cup. And if you
want to learn more about the CFL, check out to
and out CFL Podcast, where the host Travis and Sheldon
take you on a focus from fantasy to football news
and everything in between to get you all ready for
(06:25):
everything you need to know about Canadian football. And we'll
put a link in the description below for you to
check them out. And if you enjoy today's episode of
Daily Sports History, please leave us a like review wherever
you're listening. It really helps raise our social proof that
when someone finds our show, they know it's a great
show to go listen to and come back tomorrow for
more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer
(06:47):
to today's trivia question? When was the very first Canadian
Championship actually held? Even though the Great Cup was given
out in nineteen oh nine, the first Canadian Championship happened
in eighteen eighty four. The payment pending when bringing pen
(07:10):
painted step
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