1884 in Canadian football explained
The following is an overview of the events of 1884 in Canadian football, primarily focusing on the senior teams that played in this era. This includes news, standings, playoff games, and championships. This was the second season since the creation of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) in 1883 and the first since the re-establishment of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU).[1] The season was highlighted by the first ever Rugby Football Dominion Championship where the Montreal Football Club defeated the Toronto Football Club by a score of 30 to 0.[2] [3] [4]
Canadian football news in 1884
On February 7, 1884, the Canadian Rugby Football Union was formed to provide a regulatory body for Rugby Football in Canada along with establishing a national championship game.[1] [5] The QRFU adopted a point based system this year, adopting the ORFU model, as opposed to the previous year where they recorded the number of tries and goals scored.[6]
QRFU results
Quebec Challenge Cup
The Montreal Football Club and the Britannia Football Club played for the Quebec Challenge Cup. The teams proved evenly matched with Montreal only scoring one rouge in the entire game while the Brits did not score. Since Montreal did not record enough points, the game ended in a draw. Because Britannia was not able to defeat Montreal, Montreal retained their Quebec title and were declared the champions of Quebec.[10]
| QRFU Final |
|---|
| November 1, 1884 - Montreal, Quebec[11] |
|---|
| Montreal Football Club | 1–0 | Britannia Football Club | | Montreal retains the QRFU championship by draw | |
| |
ORFU results
At the beginning of the season, 14 Ontario rugby clubs were eligible to compete for the Ontario Challenge Cup.[12] Five of these clubs either did not participate or forfeited immediately.[12] The remaining nine teams competed in a series of sudden death matches until one undefeated team remained, being named the Ontario Rugby Challenge Cup champion.[13] [14]
| ORFU Second Round |
|---|
| October 18, 1884 - Hamilton, Ontario[16] |
|---|
| Hamilton Football Club | 6–4 | Strathroy Football Club | | October 18, 1884 - Toronto, Ontario |
|---|
| Toronto Football Club | 24–0 | Toronto University | | October 19, 1884 - Ottawa, Ontario[17] |
|---|
| Ottawa Football Club | 19–7 | Kingston, Queen's | |
| |
| ORFU Third Round |
|---|
| October 25, 1884 - Hamilton, Ontario[18] |
|---|
| Toronto Football Club | 24–4 | Hamilton Football Club | | Ottawa Football Club | Bye | |
| |
Ontario Challenge Cup
Prior to the scheduled final between Toronto and Ottawa, Ottawa declared forfeit due to seven of their players being unable to make the trip to Toronto.[19] Given the short notice, since the Toronto club received the telegram one day before the scheduled match, the integrity of the Ottawa club was questioned since they had at least 35 members and appeared reluctant to send a replacement team that would only lose.[19] Since tickets had been paid for, Toronto attempted to schedule a match with Hamilton, but were refused due to the justifiably short notice. Consequently, the Toronto Football Club were Ontario Challenge Cup champions due to Ottawa's forfeit.[13] [19]
| ORFU Final |
|---|
| Scheduled for November 1, 1884 - Toronto, Ontario |
|---|
| Toronto Football Club | | Ottawa Football Club (defaulted) | | Toronto won the ORFU championship by forfeit | |
| |
Dominion Championship
See main article: 1884 Dominion Championship.
Notes and References
- News: Canadian Rugby Football Union Formed in Montreal. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. November 7, 1884. July 11, 2020.
- Book: Brunt, Stephen. 100 Grey Cups. 20 September 2012. 9780771017445. July 11, 2020.
- News: The Rugby Championship of Canada Won by Montreal. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. November 7, 1884. July 11, 2020.
- News: Montreal Wins the Football Championship. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. November 7, 1884. July 11, 2020.
- Web site: 1884 . . Speers . Ian . July 11, 2020.
- Web site: The Quebec Rugby Football Union 1883-1906 – Part 1 . Pro Football Researchers . Sproule . Robert . July 11, 2020.
- News: Montreal and McGill College victors in football. The Montreal Gazette. 5 of 16. October 13, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: McGill Defeated by Montreal Football Team. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. October 20, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: The Cadets, Montreal and McGill Footballers Defeated. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. October 27, 1884. July 13, 2020.
- News: Montreal vs Toronto. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. November 5, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: Montreal vs Britannia. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. November 3, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: The contest for the Ontario Cup for 1884. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. November 4, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: The Ontario Union. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. November 6, 1884. July 11, 2020.
- Web site: 1884 season. cflapedia.com. July 11, 2020.
- News: Toronto defeats the Peterboro's by 29 points to 8. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. October 13, 1884. July 13, 2020.
- News: Victory of the champions by twenty-four points to nothing - good play all round. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. October 20, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: Ottawa too much for Queen's University. The Toronto Mail. 7 of 9. October 21, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: Victory of the Toronto fifteen by 24 points to 4. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. October 27, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: Note and comment. The Toronto Mail. 6 of 8. November 3, 1884. July 12, 2020.
- News: Football. The Montreal Gazette. 8 of 8. November 15, 1884. July 13, 2020.
