Founded | January 24, 1945 |
---|---|
Based in | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
Home field | McMahon Stadium (1960–present) Mewata Park Stadium (1945–1959) |
Head coach | Dave Dickenson |
General manager | Dave Dickenson |
Owner(s) | Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation |
League | Canadian Football League |
Division | West |
Colours | Red, white, black [1] [2] [3] |
Nickname(s) | Stamps, Horsemen |
Mascot(s) | Ralph the Dog |
Grey Cup wins | 8 (1948, 1971, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2014, 2018) |
Website | stampeders.com |
Current uniform | |
The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the fifth oldest active franchise in the CFL. The Stampeders were officially founded in 1945, although there were clubs operating in Calgary since the 1890s. [4]
The Calgary Stampeders have won eight Grey Cups, most recently in 2018, from their appearances in 17 Grey Cup Championship games. They have won 20 Western Division Championships and one Northern Division Championship in the franchise's history. The team has a provincial rivalry with the Edmonton Elks, as well as fierce divisional rivalries with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the BC Lions.
Prior to the formation of the Stampeders in 1945, football in Calgary can be dated back as early as 1891, when Edmonton defeated Calgary 6–5 in the Alberta Total-point Challenge Series. [5] A team from Edmonton (actually the outlying community of Fort Saskatchewan) had a picture taken of themselves after they defeated a Calgary team (in Calgary,) declaring themselves Champions of Alberta; the picture has two dates on it, being taken in either 1893 or 1895. [6]
The Calgary Rugby Foot-ball Club played for the Alberta championship in 1907, became the Calgary Tigers and joined the Calgary Rugby Football Union in 1908 and the Alberta Rugby Football Union in 1911. The ensuing decades saw Calgary based teams come and go; including the Calgary Canucks, the 50th Battalion, the Tigers again, the Calgary Altomahs, and finally the Calgary Bronks of the Western Interprovincial Football Union. These teams were a dominant force in Alberta football, winning the AFRU championship 15 times over the next 25 years. World War II and 1940 brought a halt to football in Calgary, the final year for the Bronks.
None of these earlier Calgary based teams are part of the Stampeders official history or records. [7]
The WIFU returned to Calgary on September 29, 1945, with the formation of the Calgary Stampeders. In their first game played on October 20 at Mewata Stadium they beat the Regina Roughriders 12–0 before 4,000 fans in attendance. It was a taste of success to come that decade under the direction of head coach Les Lear and talented stars such as Woody Strode, Paul Rowe, Keith Spaith, Dave Berry, Normie Kwong and Ezzert "Sugarfoot" Anderson.
The year 1948 was perhaps the greatest season in Stamps history, achieving a perfect regular season of 12–0 and capping the year a 2-0-1 record in the playoffs including a Grey Cup victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders at Toronto's Varsity Stadium, memorable for the team's scoring a touchdown on a "sleeper play". It was also during that same Grey Cup festival that Calgary fans brought pageantry to the game and made it into a national celebration, featuring pancake breakfasts on the steps of City Hall, starting the Grey Cup parade and even riding a horse in the lobby of the Royal York Hotel.
They returned to the Grey Cup the following year (1949), with a 13–1 record but lost to the Montreal Alouettes 28–15 in the title game. It was 19 years until Calgary once again reached the Grey Cup, losing 24–21 to Ottawa in the 1968 final and not until 1971 when they were crowned champions, defeating the Toronto Argonauts 14–11. The Stampeders, like all the teams playing in the WIFU and IRFU, joined the newly formed Canadian Football League in 1958.
The year 1960 brought the Stampeders a new home, McMahon Stadium. Their first game in their new stadium was on August 15, 1960, a 38–23 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
From 1968 to 1971, the Stampeders made it to the Grey Cup game three out of those four years (missing in 1969), winning it in 1971.
After having some great years at the end of the 1960s which culminated in their 1971 Grey Cup championship, 1972 started a long period of struggles for the Stampeders. In the 18 seasons from 1972 to 1989, the Stampeders made the playoffs only 7 times, and although they reached the Western Final in 1978 and 1979 under Jack Gotta (which were their only two playoff wins and appearances for the rest of the 1970s) losing both times to their provincial rivals in Edmonton, who were in the midst of an unprecedented five-year Grey Cup victory run at the time), the next decade was less than kind to the team. During the 1980s, the Stampeders were the only CFL team that did not win a playoff game (the team made five appearances during the decade, all but one of which came on the road and all resulting in losses in the West Semi-Final).
The Stampeders nearly folded after the 1985 season due to years of declining attendance, financial woes and a poor 3–13 record. However, a successful Save Our Stamps campaign in 1986 resulted in season ticket sales of 22,400, additional funds and stability that translated to improved on-field play which laid the groundwork for both their first playoff win since 1979 in 1990, and back-to-back Grey Cup berths in 1991 and 1992 when they won the title over Winnipeg.
Wally Buono took over the head coaching duties in 1990 (after having served as an assistant coach for the previous three years). Late in the 1991 season, the team, after being community-owned since its inception, went private when Larry Ryckman purchased the team. [8] The next 13 years were some of the most successful years in Stampeders history. Led by quarterbacks Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson, receivers Allen Pitts, Terry Vaughn and Dave Sapunjis, and a rock-steady defence led by Western All Stars Alondra Johnson, Stu Laird, and Will Johnson the Stampeders racked up a 153–79–2 record during these years. They reached the Grey Cup six times, winning in 1992, 1998, and 2001, losing in 1991, 1995, and 1999. In 1996, Ryckman was found by the Alberta Securities Commission to have run a stock manipulation scheme, was fined $492,000 and was forced to give up the Stampeders, who were subsequently purchased by Sig Gutsche via a receivership court for $1.6 million on April 3. [9] [10] Gutsche helped rectify the team's debts and made the team profitable again. [11] The team finished the 1990s having made the playoffs in every year that decade.
On October 8, 2001, Sig Gutsche sold the team to California businessman Michael Feterik. [12] Unlike previous owners, Feterik was intimately involved in the club's football operations. Feterik's most notorious move was to give the starting quarterback position to his son Kevin Feterik, angering both fans and Buono. Buono left to join the BC Lions after the 2002 CFL season.
After Wally Buono departed from the Stampeders, the team went through three different head coaches in three years. Jim Barker succeeded Buono in 2003, but was let go after a 5–13 season, and he was replaced by Matt Dunigan, who fared no better in his lone season in 2004, going 4–14. The coaching carousel ended with Tom Higgins taking over in 2005, who brought the team back to respectability led by Henry Burris at quarterback and Joffrey Reynolds at running back, but lost in three straight years in the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Western semi-final games in that span. During this time, the team lost money, and in January 2005, Feterik sold the team to a group led by Ted Hellard, Doug Mitchell and former Stampeder John Forzani, and the Calgary Flames Limited Partnership, the organization that represents the NHL's Calgary Flames. [13]
In 2008, one-time Stamps QB John Hufnagel took the coaching reins, and the Stampeders ended their playoff victory drought en route to winning the team's sixth Grey Cup 22–14 against the Montreal Alouettes. Burris was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player with DeAngelis being the top Canadian for their efforts. John Hufnagel had been interviewed by several NFL and college football teams, but is still the team's general manager to this day. Hufnagel was also the team's head coach until the end of the 2015 season, when he turned over the head coaching duties to former Stampeder and BC Lions star Dave Dickenson.
Between 2009 and 2014, the Stampeders reached the Western Final every year except 2011, when the team lost the semi-final game to the Eskimos in Edmonton, 33–19. The following year, the organization by now known as Calgary Sports and Entertainment became the majority owner of the team; the company previously only had a 5% stake in the team. They were able to reach the Grey Cup game that year only to come up short against the Argonauts, falling by a score of 35–22. Following another defeat in the Western Final in 2013, the Stampeders were once again able to reach the Grey Cup the following year. This time, they came out on top with the franchise's seventh championship, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 20–16.
After the 2015 season, Hufnagel stepped down from his dual responsibility as head coach and general manager, becoming purely a general manager and handing the coaching reins to former Stamps QB Dave Dickenson. The Stamps continued their success in 2016, winning the West Division again with a 15–2–1 record, but falling to the third-year Ottawa Redblacks in the 104th Grey Cup in overtime.
In 2017, the Stampeders finished 13-4-1 (with the league's best record for the season) and made their second straight Grey Cup appearance, but lost to the Toronto Argonauts again, just as they did five years earlier. [14]
In 2018, the Stampeders finished 13-5 and made a third straight Grey Cup appearance, winning the title over the Redblacks 27–16 in Edmonton. Bo Levi Mitchell won Most Outstanding Player at the 2018 CFL Awards as well as the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player. Lemar Durant was named the game's Most Valuable Canadian. [15] The Calgary Stampeders quest for a fourth consecutive Grey Cup appearance came to an abrupt end in 2019, as the team lost a step, finishing second in the West with a 12–6 record, falling to the eventual Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Semi-Final 35–14.
The CFL went on hiatus in 2020, but returned in 2021, and the Stampeders finished one game back of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the shortened 2021 season with an 8–6 record. The team met an early playoff exit at the hands of the Riders in the West Semi-Final in an overtime heartbreaker, 33–30. The team reached the playoffs again in 2022 with a 12–6 record, but fell to the second place BC Lions in the West Semi-Final 30–16. On December 12, 2022, it was announced that Dickenson had been named the team's new general manager in addition to retaining his head coaching duties. [16]
Year | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Title | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948 | Calgary Stampeders | 12–7 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 36th Grey Cup | Varsity Stadium, Toronto |
1971 | Calgary Stampeders | 14–11 | Toronto Argonauts | 59th Grey Cup | Empire Stadium, Vancouver |
1992 | Calgary Stampeders | 24–10 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 80th Grey Cup | SkyDome, Toronto |
1998 | Calgary Stampeders | 26–24 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 86th Grey Cup | Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg |
2001 | Calgary Stampeders | 27–19 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 89th Grey Cup | Olympic Stadium, Montreal |
2008 | Calgary Stampeders | 22–14 | Montreal Alouettes | 96th Grey Cup | Olympic Stadium, Montreal |
2014 | Calgary Stampeders | 20–16 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 102nd Grey Cup | BC Place, Vancouver |
2018 | Calgary Stampeders | 27–16 | Ottawa Redblacks | 106th Grey Cup | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton |
Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Players | ||||
No. | Name | Inducted | Position(s) | Tenure |
22 | Paul Rowe | 1964 | RB | 1945 - 1950 |
- | Dean Griffing | 1965 | C | 1945 - 1947 |
95 | Norman Kwong | 1969 | RB | 1948 - 1950 |
55 | Wayne Harris | 1976 | LB | 1961 - 1972 |
21 | Harvey Wylie | 1980 | DB | 1956 - 1964 |
27 | Earl Lunsford | 1983 | RB | 1956, 1959–1963 |
77 | John Helton | 1986 | DT | 1969 - 1978 |
62 | Don Luzzi | 1986 | OT / DT | 1958 - 1969 |
56 | Tony Pajaczkowski | 1988 | OG | 1955 - 1965 |
76 | Herman Harrison | 1993 | LB / TE | 1964 - 1972 |
15 | Larry Robinson | 1998 | DB / K | 1961 - 1975 |
10 | Willie Burden | 2001 | RB | 1974–1981 |
18 | Allen Pitts | 2006 | WR | 1990–2000 |
59 | Rocco Romano | 2007 | OG | 1987, 1992 - 2000 |
20 | Doug Flutie | 2008 | QB | 1992–1996 |
51 | Alondra Johnson | 2009 | LB | 1991 - 2003 |
15 | Dave Dickenson | 2015 | QB | 1996–2000, 2009 |
32 | Kelvin Anderson | 2017 | RB | 1996–2002 |
9 | Jon Cornish | 2019 | RB | 2007–2015 |
Coaches and Contributors | ||||
Name | Inducted | Position(s) | Tenure | |
Dean Griffing | 1965 | Coach, Owner | 1945 - 1947 | |
A.G. "Tony" Anselmo | 2009 | President | 1973–1974 | |
5 | Harry Hood |
10 | Willie Burden |
13 | Mark McLoughlin |
18 | Allen Pitts |
22 | Tom Forzani |
55 | Wayne Harris |
75 | Stu Laird |
The Presidents' Ring was established in 1967 by Calgary Stampeders Football Club team president George McMahon and general manager Rogers Lehew. Formerly presented to the team's most valuable player, [17] it is currently awarded to the player who best demonstrates leadership ability. [18] As of 2012 [update] , 29 players have won the award, including three-time winners Henry Burris, Danny Barrett and Stu Laird. [19]
The Stampeders Wall of Fame recognizes the greatest players and most important off-field contributors in Stampeders history; it was Instituted in 1985.
Builders:
Builders honoured as of 2012
Front Office
Head Coaches
Offensive Coaches
| Defensive Coaches
Special Teams Coaches
Strength and Conditioning
|
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place.
David Dickenson is a Canadian-American professional football head coach and general manager for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played as a quarterback with the Stampeders and the BC Lions, where he won the 2006 Grey Cup and was named the game's MVP. Dickenson played college football for the Montana Grizzlies, where he led the team to the 1995 NCAA Division I-AA college football championship.
Pasquale "Wally" Buono is a Canadian ex-football coach currently working as the vice president of football operations, alternate governor and the former head coach of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and one of the most successful head coaches in league history. He spent 22 years as head coach of the Calgary Stampeders and the Lions, which is tied for the most seasons coached all-time. On September 19, 2009, Buono became the CFL's all-time winningest coach when his Lions beat the Toronto Argonauts 23–17, giving him 232 regular-season victories, passing Don Matthews. He retired in 2011 with a CFL record 254 regular-season wins as head coach, to focus on duties as general manager for the Lions. In 2016, Buono came out of retirement to coach the Lions again through the 2018 season. In the final home game of the 2018 season, Buono was honored with the Bob Ackles Award as he was retiring from football with the most wins as a coach.
Henry Armand Burris Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback, and a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He is currently the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Florida A&M. Burris played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1998 to 2016. He won three Grey Cup championships, two with the Calgary Stampeders, in 1998 and 2008, having spent 10 years of his career with them, and one with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2016. He was also a sports broadcaster and football analyst at TSN, appearing as a panel member on the network's CFL on TSN broadcasts.
The 2006 CFL season is considered to be the 53rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 49th Canadian Football League season.
The Annis Stukus Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy, which is presented annually by the Edmonton Eskimos Alumni Association to the Coach of the Year, as determined by the members of the Football Reporters of Canada. The Trophy is named after former player, coach, and general manager Annis Stukus.
John Coleman Hufnagel is an American special advisor for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has previously served as the Stampeders' President, General Manager, Head Coach, and Offensive Coordinator. He played quarterback for fifteen professional seasons in the CFL and National Football League (NFL). Prior to his hiring to the Stampeders on December 3, 2007, he was the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants of the NFL.
The 2007 Calgary Stampeders season was the 50th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 69th overall. After promising second-place finishes in the West Division in 2005 (11–7) and 2006 (10–8) they finished third in the West Division in 2007, with a disappointing 7–10–1 record, their first losing record in three seasons. They were defeated in the Western Semi-Final 26–24 by the eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. The season was the last in which the team recorded more than two consecutive losses in the regular season in 10 years, recording three consecutive losses to close out the 2017 Calgary Stampeders season.
The 2008 Calgary Stampeders season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 70th overall. The Stampeders finished in first place in the West division, won the West Final and played in the 96th Grey Cup in Montreal. The Stampeders defeated the hometown Montreal Alouettes to win their 6th Grey Cup championship.
Lawrence G. Ryckman is a Canadian music industry executive known for his knowledge of audio production and mastering and the development of patented audio and video technologies used in the music and entertainment industries. He is president and CEO of AfterMaster Audio Labs and Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, part of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Aftermaster, Inc. In November 2014, recording artist Justin Timberlake joined Ryckman as a co-owner of AfterMaster.
Marc Mueller is the offensive coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a two-time Grey Cup champion as an assistant coach with the Calgary Stampeders. In university, he played quarterback for the Regina Rams of the CIS from 2007 to 2012.
Craig Dickenson is a professional football coach who is a senior consultant for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also served as the head coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for four seasons. He has coached professional football since 2000 and won a Grey Cup championship with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders in 2008 and with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2015.
Rick Campbell is an American-Canadian professional football coach who was most recently the head coach and co-general manager for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the Calgary Stampeders' defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2013 and was also an assistant coach with the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He then served as the head coach for the Ottawa Redblacks for six seasons. He is a three-time Grey Cup champion, once as the special teams coordinator with the Eskimos in 2003, again with the Eskimos as the defensive coordinator in 2005, and once as the head coach of the Redblacks in 2016. He attended Washington State University.
The 2015 Calgary Stampeders season was the 58th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 81st overall. The Stampeders finished in second place in the West Division with a 14-4 record in John Hufnagel's last year as head coach before he hands over the reins to offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson in 2016.
The Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award was first awarded in 2006. It is awarded to an individual who has demonstrated great leadership and made significant contributions to the Canadian Football League. This award has not been given out each year since it was created. It is awarded to honour Hugh Campbell's years of service to Canadian football as a player, coach, and executive.
The 2017 Calgary Stampeders season was the 60th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 83rd overall. This season is also Dave Dickenson's second season as head coach and John Hufnagel's tenth season as general manager.
The 2018 Calgary Stampeders season was the 61st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 84th overall. The Stampeders qualified for the playoffs for the 14th straight year and finished in first place in the West Division for the third straight year. They also appeared in the Grey Cup for the third consecutive season, but after two championship losses, the Stampeders claimed victory in the 106th Grey Cup game, the franchise's eighth victory overall. This season was Dave Dickenson's third season as head coach and John Hufnagel's 11th season as general manager.
The 2019 Calgary Stampeders season was the 62nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 85th overall. The Stampeders finished with a 12–6 record and hosted the West Semi-Final game in a year where they were also hosting the 107th Grey Cup. Having lost to the Blue Bombers team in the aforementioned playoff game, however, the Stampeders failed to repeat as Grey Cup champions in 2019, marking the first time since 2011 where the Stampeders failed to reach the West Division Final and only the second time since their 2008 Championship-Winning Season. Despite the loss in the opening round of the postseason, the Stampeders qualified for the playoffs for the 15th consecutive year with a week 15 win over the Toronto Argonauts coupled with a loss by the Ottawa Redblacks, the playoff berth being clinched on September 21, 2019. It is the longest playoff streak in franchise history and tied for the fifth-longest streak in CFL history. The 2019 season marked Dave Dickenson's fourth season as head coach and John Hufnagel's 12th season as general manager.
Mark Kilam is a professional Canadian football coach who is the former special teams coordinator and assistant head coach for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a three-time Grey Cup champion as an assistant coach with the Stampeders, having won in 2008, 2014, and 2018.
Brent Monson is a Canadian football coach, most recently as the defensive coordinator for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite press release}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Here are some key points of the Red and White's schedule
On Oct. 23, 1991, with the threat of the franchise's extinction still looming menacingly, the Stamps were privatized under the ownership of Larry Ryckman.
Calgary businessman Sig Gutsche, through a successful bid, became the club's second private owner.
In Calgary, Larry Ryckman left the scene. Sid Gutsche purchased the Stampeders on April 3, 1996. Ryckman had been penalized by the Alberta Securities Commission for stock manipulation, fined $492,000 and banned for 18 years from trading in stock in Albert and "prohibited from being an officer of any Province-based company which would presumably include the Stampeders."
Jim Finks as 1960 interim coach: Toronto Globe and Mail, Saturday 20 August 1960, p. 21, "Calgary Coach Resigns".