1943 in Canadian football

Last updated
Years in Canadian football

1943 in sports

The Winnipeg RCAF Bombers faced the Hamilton Flying Wildcats in the Grey Cup. Hamilton proved to be the better team, returning the coveted trophy to Steeltown for the first time since 1932. [1]

Contents

Canadian Football News in 1943

The WIFU and the IRFU suspended operations for the duration of World War II. [2]

Regular season

Final regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points

Western Interprovincial Football Union

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union

Ontario Rugby Football Union
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Hamilton Flying Wildcats 108112237117
Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 108201487416
Toronto RCAF Hurricanes 107211336715
Ottawa Combines 9270681294
Toronto HMCS York Bulldogs10280731604
Toronto Indians 9180361802
Quebec Rugby Football Union
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Lachine RCAF108201615920
Verdun Grads10730905418
St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy 10640614316
McGill*413024206
Huntington Army100100301630

(*) McGill played six-point games

Western Canada Armed Services Rugby Football Union
TeamGPWLTPFPAPts
Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 66001023712
Regina All-Services Roughriders624046964
Winnipeg United Services Combines615034492

Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1943

Eastern Finals

Hamilton Flying Wildcats @ Lachine RCAF
DateAwayHome
November 20 Hamilton Flying Wildcats 7Lachine RCAF 6

Playoff Bracket

Union FinalsSemi & Union FinalsGrey Cup Final
         
ORFU Hamilton Flying Wildcats 7
ORFU Toronto Balmy Beach 2
ORFU Hamilton Flying Wildcats 7
EAST
QRFU Lachine RCAF 6
QRFU Lachine RCAF 14
QRFU Montreal Navy 2
ORFU Hamilton Flying Wildcats 23
WCASFL Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 14
WCASFL No Game
 
WCASFL Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 1-11
WEST
WCASFL Regina All-Service All Stars 0-0
WCASFL No Game
 

[3]

Grey Cup Championship

November 27

31st Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity Stadium - Toronto, Ontario

Hamilton Flying Wildcats 23Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 14
The Hamilton Flying Wildcats are the 1943 Grey Cup Champions

1943 Western Canada Armed Services Rugby Football League All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.

1943 Ontario Rugby Football Union All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.

1943 Canadian Football Awards

Related Research Articles

The Toronto Argonauts won the Grey Cup for the second time in five years.

For the second consecutive season the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers met for the Grey Cup. The Argonauts won the game.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played in their third consecutive Grey Cup final. A last-second rouge gave Winnipeg its second title in five years.

The only two-game total point series in Grey Cup history was played between the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers. It was Ottawa's first Grey Cup championship since the Senators won back-to-back titles in 1925 and 1926. It was Balmy Beach's fourth and final appearance at a Grey Cup, winning two times in four opportunities.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were once again permitted to challenge for the Grey Cup following a rule dispute a year earlier. In a meeting of the previous two Grey Cup champions, the Blue Bombers prevailed, sending the coveted mug west for the third time.

With Canadians serving on battlefields across Europe and the Pacific, the first ever non-civilian Grey Cup took place in 1942. The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes defeated the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers on an icy field at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.

The Hamilton Flying Wildcats were trying to defend their championship, but the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy team finished off a Cinderella season by returning the Grey Cup back to Montreal for the first time since 1931.

Football returned to relative normal in 1945 following the conclusion of World War II. Two rivals from the pre-war years met once again in the annual Grey Cup, but on this occasion, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were no match for the Toronto Argonauts. For Winnipeg, it was the worst loss by a western team in the Grey Cup since 1923 when Queen's University routed the Regina Roughriders 54-0.

For the first time in Grey Cup history, the same two teams challenged for the trophy for the third consecutive year. But unlike the previous two years, the Toronto Argonauts needed some late game heroics to win their third consecutive title.

The Calgary Stampeders had an opportunity to defend their Grey Cup title in 1949, but the Montreal Alouettes returned the trophy to Quebec for just the third time in its history.

After a 17-year absence, the Saskatchewan Roughriders returned to the Grey Cup final. Their losing streak in the big game continued, however, as it was the other Rough Riders that took home the prize.

The Toronto Argonauts faced the Edmonton Eskimos in the Grey Cup. Although the Argos would hold on to win the game and their 10th Grey Cup championship, an Argo would not sip from the silver mug again until 1983.

The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt the Burnside rules, from which the modern Canadian football code would evolve.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the annual Grey Cup in 1953.

The Edmonton Eskimos upset the Montreal Alouettes to send the Grey Cup trophy back west for the first time since 1948.

The Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the first Grey Cup held in the west. This was also the first year that the Grey Cup was open to professional teams only, as the amateur Ontario Rugby Football Union was not invited to compete in an inter-union playdown, leaving only the Eastern Canadian Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Canadian Western Interprovincial Football Union to compete for the Canadian championship.

References

  1. "Grey Cup Memories: 1943". CFL.ca. 2005-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  2. "CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005)" (PDF). footballcanada.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. "Airmen whip Navy to win QRFU Title".