112-646: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario , Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Field . The club traces its origins back to 1869 to the founding of Hamilton Football Club which adopted the nickname “tigers” a few years after its founding (although it had been informally called
224-428: A CFL record 17 games in one season, with just one win. The franchise has started to return to prominence after qualifying for the post-season in eight of the 10 years of the 2010s, including appearances in the 101st , 102nd , 107th and 108th Grey Cups , where they lost each time. Businessman Bob Young purchased the club on October 7, 2003. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario , and graduated from Victoria College at
336-500: A down . The offence must advance the ball at least ten yards towards the opponents' goal line within three downs or forfeit the ball to their opponents. Once ten yards have been gained the offence gains a new set of three downs (rather than the four downs given in American football). Downs do not accumulate. If the offensive team completes 10 yards on their first play, they lose the other two downs and are granted another set of three. If
448-502: A 27–24 overtime victory in week 14 keeping the declawed Tiger-Cats from having an imperfect season. Native Hamiltonian Bob Young has owned the Tiger-Cats since 2004, and although the team had a resurgence in home attendance, corporate sponsorship plus a brand new "Tiger Vision" scoreboard at Ivor Wynne stadium, it struggled with its on-field performance. Last place finishes both in 2005 (5–13) and 2006 (4–14), resulted in an overhaul of
560-676: A college or CFL game. Prince Edward Island , the smallest of the provinces, has also never hosted a CFL game. On 13 February 2023, the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and Football Canada announced in a joint statement that the Canadian Amateur Football Rulebook would be an accepted rules code for international play, but would not be a substitute for world championships or world championship qualification. "As Football Canada continues to work with IFAF, I believe this opens
672-750: A decade-long drought, the Hamilton Tigers won the Grey Cup championship game in 1928, 1929 and 1932. The 1941 season saw the Tigers suspend play for the remainder of World War II. The Hamilton Tigers folded, largely because a number of players had gone into the armed services. It is believed by some that the failure of the Tigers is what caused the IRFU to be dissolved, and the Eastern Rugby Football Union (ERFU) to be formed. Because of
784-409: A defender may not be impeded more than one yard past that line. Otherwise, any player may block another player's passage, so long as he does not hold or trip the player he intends to block. The kicker may not be contacted after the kick but before his kicking leg returns to the ground (this rule is not enforced upon a player who has blocked a kick). The quarterback may not be hit or tackled after throwing
896-411: A first down or moving the ball past the goal line, a first down is awarded. In most cases, the non-penalized team will have the option of declining the penalty; in which case the results of the previous play stand as if the penalty had not been called. One notable exception to this rule is if the kicking team on a 3rd down punt play is penalized before the kick occurs: the receiving team may not decline
1008-428: A half. A short break interval of 2 minutes occurs after the end of each quarter (a longer break of 15 minutes at halftime), and the two teams then change goals. In the first 27 minutes of a half, the clock stops when: The clock starts again when the referee determines the ball is ready for scrimmage, except for team time-outs (where the clock starts at the snap), after a time count foul (at the snap) and kickoffs (where
1120-412: A loss of down; penalties on the defence may result in a first down being automatically awarded to the offence. For particularly severe conduct, the game official(s) may eject players (ejected players may be substituted for), or in exceptional cases, declare the game over and award victory to one side or the other. Penalties do not affect the yard line which the offence must reach to gain a first down (unless
1232-637: A mile in 1981 with an 11–4–1 record under head coach Frank Kush , but were stunned by the Ottawa Rough Riders , who finished a distant second at 5–11, in the East final. The Tabbies' defence was very stout, talented and hungry that decade, led by standouts Grover Covington , Ben Zambiasi , Howard Fields and Mitchell Price . They were complemented very well on offence with quarterbacks Tom Clements and Mike Kerrigan throwing to Rocky DiPietro and Tony Champion leading to three straight trips to
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#17327733941541344-472: A pair of Grey Cup matchups. Corus Radio Hamilton was the official radio broadcast rights holder for the Tiger-Cats and had been the official voice for CFL football in the Greater Hamilton Area for over 40 years. AM900 CHML , together with sister station CJXY-FM, offered coverage of all Tiger-Cats games, including pre-season games. Hamilton Tiger-Cats games broadcast on CHML were anchored by
1456-408: A point. The ball has two one-inch-wide white stripes. At the beginning of a match, an official tosses a coin and allows the captain of the visiting team to call heads or tails. The captain of the team winning the coin toss is given the option of having first choice, or of deferring first choice to the other captain. The captain making first choice may either choose a) to kick off or receive the kick at
1568-534: A post-game show on TSN 1150 Hamilton. Ferguson was promoted to lead play-by-play announcer in 2016. Select Tiger-Cats games are simulcast on CKTB in St. Catharines (also owned by Bell Media) to extend the Tiger-Cats radio network listenership towards the Niagara region (CHML's coverage pattern already covered Niagara, whereas CKOC's is pointed more toward Toronto and does not cover Niagara as well). Bell Media announced it
1680-711: A room above George Lee's Fruit Store, when the Hamilton Football Club was formed. The Hamilton football club played their first game on December 18, 1869 against the 13th Battalion (now Royal Hamilton Light Infantry ). In 1872, the Hamilton Football club began play at the Hamilton AAA Grounds and they became officially known as the Tigers in 1873. Due to clubs colours, they were informally referred to as “the tigers” since their first game years before. The Hamilton Tigers began play in
1792-574: A sound financial level. Consequently, the Tigers absorbed the Wildcats in 1950 to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that would compete in the IRFU. Under the guidance of prominent and distinguished local leaders such as Ralph "Super-Duper" Cooper and F.M. Gibson, it was decided that the two teams should merge as one that would represent Hamilton. Cooper was named team president and Carl Voyles served as head coach and general manager. A contest
1904-627: A sport dominated by the IRFU and the Western Interprovincial Football Union , which had both become fully professional. Indeed, by then it was the only fully amateur union still challenging for the Grey Cup. Even so, it retained enough prestige that it played the WIFU champion for a berth in the Grey Cup final. The IRFU was reluctant to accept the WIFU as a full equal, even after the Calgary Stampeders won
2016-413: A team fails to gain ten yards in two downs they usually punt the ball on third down or try to kick a field goal (see below), depending on their position on the field. The team may, however use its third down in an attempt to advance the ball and gain a cumulative 10 yards. The ball changes possession in the following instances: There are many rules to contact in this type of football. The only player on
2128-399: A two-point conversion. The other team then scrimmages the ball at the opponent's 35-yard line and has the same opportunity to score. After the teams have completed their possessions, if one team is ahead, then it is declared the winner; otherwise, the two teams each get another chance to score, scrimmaging from the other 35-yard line. After this second round, if there is still no winner, during
2240-418: A two-point convert following a defensive penalty on a one-point attempt. Penalties may occur before a play starts (such as offside), during the play (such as holding), or in a dead-ball situation (such as unsportsmanlike conduct ). Penalties never result in a score for the offence. For example, a point-of-foul infraction committed by the defence in their end zone is not ruled a touchdown, but instead advances
2352-453: Is a sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide, attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's end zone . American and Canadian football have shared origins and are closely related, but have some major differences . Rugby football , from which Canadian football developed,
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#17327733941542464-451: Is dead, the quarter is extended for one more scrimmage. A quarter cannot end while a penalty is pending: after the penalty yardage is applied, the quarter is extended one scrimmage. The non-penalized team has the option to decline any penalty it considers disadvantageous, so a losing team cannot indefinitely prolong a game by repeatedly committing infractions. In the CFL, if the game is tied at
2576-487: The Alberta Football League . The Canadian Football Hall of Fame is in Hamilton, Ontario . The first documented football match was a practice game played on November 9, 1861, at University College, University of Toronto (approximately 400 yards or 370 metres west of Queen's Park). One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was Sir William Mulock , later chancellor of
2688-644: The Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU) founded June 12, 1880, which included teams from Ontario and Quebec. Later both the Ontario Rugby Football Union and Quebec Rugby Football Union (ORFU and QRFU respectively) were formed (January 1883), and then the Interprovincial (1907) and Western Interprovincial Football Union (1936) (IRFU and WIFU). The CRFU reorganized into an umbrella organization forming
2800-756: The Canadian Rugby Union (CRU), with a preference to use the snap-back system of play used in Ontario. When the CRU did not adopt the system, his motion was approved for the ORFU to adopt the CRU rules in 1906. In December 1906, The Gazette reported that a proposal originated from Ottawa for the ORFU and the Quebec Rugby Football Union to merge, which would allow for higher calibre of play and create rivalries. Hewitt helped organize
2912-454: The Grey Cup are completed by late November. In cities with outdoor stadiums such as Edmonton , Winnipeg , Calgary , and Regina , low temperatures and icy field conditions can seriously affect the outcome of a game. Amateur football is governed by Football Canada. At the university level, 27 teams play in four conferences under the auspices of U Sports ; the U Sports champion is awarded
3024-550: The Grey Cup , is one of Canada's biggest sporting events, attracting a large television audience. Canadian football is also played at high school , junior, collegiate , and semi- professional levels: the Canadian Junior Football League and Quebec Junior Football League are for players aged 18–22, post-secondary institutions compete in U Sports football for the Vanier Cup , and seniors in
3136-663: The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) in 1883 and won their first Canadian Dominion Football Championship in 1906 when the Tigers beat McGill University 29–3. The Tigers continued in the ORFU until 1907, when the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) was formed. The IRFU later became known as the Big Four and eventually, the BIg Four became the Eastern conference of the modern CFL in
3248-522: The University of Toledo and Ian Sunter , an 18-year-old kicker who booted the deciding field goal that gave Hamilton the cup on their home turf. During this era, the Tiger-Cats also became (and remain to this day) the only Canadian team to have ever defeated a current National Football League team; on August 8, 1961, they defeated the Buffalo Bills by a score of 38–21 (at the time, Buffalo
3360-498: The University of Toronto . His fortune was earned in the software industry and he is currently the owner and CEO of Lulu , a self-publishing website. As of 2011, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Executive Committee consists of five people: Bob Young, Caretaker; Scott Mitchell, CEO; Doug Rye, Executive Vice President; President and COO Matt Afinec; and Vice Chairman Glenn Gibson. On January 2, 2022,
3472-537: The announcers team of Rick Zamperin, John Salavantis , and Matt Holmes. Zamperin, CHML's sports director, became the play-by-play announcer in 2007 after six seasons as sideline reporter. Colour commentator John Salavantis was a former football coach with the Tiger-Cats, Ottawa Rough Riders, Montreal Machine , and the Ottawa University Braves . CHML's Matt Holmes was the pre-game show host and sideline reporter. The post-game show, The Fifth Quarter ,
Hamilton Tiger-Cats - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-757: The return of the NFL to Baltimore prompted the end of Canadian football on the American side of the border. The CFL hosted the Touchdown Atlantic regular season game in Nova Scotia in 2005 and New Brunswick in 2010, 2011, and 2013. In 2013, Newfoundland and Labrador became the last province to establish football at the minor league level, with teams playing on the Avalon Peninsula and in Labrador City. The province however has yet to host
3696-404: The 1890s that Hamilton failed to win a national championship. On August 31, 2011, the Tiger-Cats announced plans to close Ivor Wynne Stadium at the end of the 2012 season and begin play in the long planned Pan American Stadium in 2014. Throughout the 2013 season, they played their home games at Guelph University's stadium because the new stadium was still under construction. On November 24, 2013,
3808-752: The 1950s. The Tigers faced stiff local competition with the ORFU's Hamilton Alerts who, in 1912 , won the City of Hamilton its first Grey Cup , the trophy that was now awarded to the Canadian Dominion Football Champions, by beating the Toronto Argonauts 11–4. In the following season (1913), the Tigers won their first of five Grey Cups when they beat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club by the lopsided margin of 44–2. The Alerts were refused entry into
3920-572: The 1986 Grey Cup by beating the Edmonton Eskimos 39–15; Ballard said it was worth every penny. Hamilton businessman David Braley bought the team on February 24, 1989, and he eventually sold the team to a community-based group in 1992 due to continued poor attendance figures (Braley later bought the B.C. Lions in 1997 and the Toronto Argonauts in 2010). Hamilton returned to the Grey Cup in 1989 (making their fifth appearance in
4032-570: The 2024 season when CHML suddenly closed on August 14, 2024. Affiliates also include CJOY /1460, & CKGL /570. Receivers Running backs Fullbacks Defensive linemen Defensive backs Special teams 6-game injured Suspended Head Coach Offensive Coaches Defensive Coaches Special Teams Coaches Strength and Conditioning → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs The Tiger-Cats have retired two jersey numbers in their franchise history, Bernie Faloney in 1999 and Angelo Mosca in 2015. T.C. and Stripes are
4144-648: The Alberta Football League becoming especially popular. The Northern Football Conference formed in Ontario in 1954 has also surged in popularity for former college players who do not continue to professional football. The Ontario champion plays against the Alberta champion for the "National Championship". The Canadian Major Football League is the governing body for the semi-professional game. Women's football has gained attention in recent years in Canada. The first Canadian women's league to begin operations
4256-487: The American stadiums. The Grey Cup was established in 1909, after being donated by Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey , Governor General of Canada, as the championship of teams under the CRU for the Rugby Football Championship of Canada. Initially an amateur competition, it eventually became dominated by professional teams in the 1940s and early 1950s. The ORFU, the last amateur organization to compete for
4368-475: The CFC became the modern Canadian Football League and formally took ownership of the Grey Cup, these earlier developments effectively heralded the start of the modern era of Canadian football. The ORFU ceased to operate as a true senior league after 1960, but continued play at the intermediate level. Eventually the word "senior" came to replace the word "intermediate." By 1974, the ORFU had ceased to exist. However,
4480-617: The Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891. The immediate forerunner to the current Canadian Football League was established in 1956 when the IRFU and WIFU formed an umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC). In 1958, the CFC left the CRU to become the "Canadian Football League" (CFL). The Burnside rules closely resembling American football (which are similar rules developed by Walter Camp for that sport) that were incorporated in 1903 by
4592-578: The Canadian and American games stem from rule changes that the American side of the border adopted but the Canadian side did not (originally, both sides had three downs, goal posts on the goal lines, and unlimited forward motion, but the American side modified these rules and the Canadians did not). The Canadian field width was one rule that was not based on American rules, as the Canadian game was played in wider fields and stadiums that were not as narrow as
Hamilton Tiger-Cats - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-409: The East semifinal 24–22 to Winnipeg. In 2001, Hamilton finished 11–7, and lost to Winnipeg in the playoffs for a second straight season, 28–13. In 2002, Hamilton finished 7–11 and missed the playoffs. The team reached their lowest ebb in 2003, having not only a franchise-worst season, but the worst record in CFL history, finishing 1–17 (and losing the most games in the CFL's 18-game schedule), with only
4816-478: The Grey Cup game in the 1980s), but were on the losing end of a 43–40 thriller to Saskatchewan . The 1990s began on a sour note for the team, missing the playoffs for the first time in back-to-back years under the Tiger-Cats banner. By 1994, the team was in grave jeopardy; with the Buffalo Bills then in the midst of their run of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances and the Toronto Argonauts contending for
4928-473: The Grey Cup in 1984, 1985 and 1986, the latter resulting in winning the title over the Edmonton Eskimos by a score of 39–15. In 1986, Ballard publicly called the Tiger-Cats a bunch of overpaid losers. After the Tiger-Cats beat the Toronto Argonauts in the 1986 Eastern Final, Ballard said "You guys may still be overpaid, but after today, no one can call you losers." A few days later, the Tiger-Cats won
5040-625: The Grey Cup, almost all of the football attention in the Hamilton area had been sucked toward those two teams and away from the Tiger-Cats. Fewer than 6,000 season tickets were sold, prompting a threat from the CFL Commissioner Larry Smith to revoke the franchise if they did not both double the ticket sales for 1995 and raise CA$ 1 million in corporate sponsorship. Both thresholds were met and exceeded. The 1990s were marked by financial instability, and constant struggles on
5152-587: The Hamilton Flying Wildcats and Hamilton Alerts with one each). However, the CFL does not recognize these wins under one franchise, rather as the individual franchises that won them. If one includes their historical lineage, Hamilton football clubs won league championships in every decade of the 20th century. In their first 40 years after absorbing the Wildcats, the Tiger-Cats qualified for the playoffs in all but three of those years and won seven Grey Cup championships. They are one of six teams in
5264-625: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45–23 in the 101st Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field . The game had star appeal as actor Tom Hanks attended with comedian Martin Short , a Hamilton native. Early in the third quarter, Hanks was shown replacing a Ti-cats toque with a Riders hat, drawing a loud roar from the crowd. After construction of the new stadium fell behind schedule in 2014,
5376-744: The IRFU and the Hamilton Tigers resumed play while the Wildcats (no longer known as the Flying Wildcats) continued on in the ORFU. In 1948 the Hamilton Wildcats joined the IRFU to replace the Tigers who joined the Ontario Rugby Football Union. The Tigers and Wildcats switch of unions only lasted two years (1948–49) as both clubs struggled. At this time, the Tigers and Wildcats competed for fans, talent and bragging rights so vehemently that neither team could operate on
5488-504: The ORFU in 1913 with many of its players opting to join the Tigers, while the Alerts gradually faded from existence. The Alerts gave way to a team under the name Hamilton Rowing Club from 1913 to 1915, who also played in the ORFU. In 1914, the Alerts were absorbed by the Hamilton Tigers and the football club continued playing under the name "Tigers". In 1915, in the final pre-war season, the Hamilton Tigers won their second Grey Cup. After over
5600-408: The ORFU protested, the professional unions threatened to resign from the CRU and create their own national championship. Realizing this would leave them merely competing for a trophy of far diminished stature, the ORFU subsequently withdrew from Grey Cup competition in exchange for a promise that they would be permitted to challenge for the trophy again if their calibre of play improved. In reality there
5712-413: The ORFU, were an effort to distinguish it from a more rugby-oriented game. The Burnside Rules had teams reduced to 12 men per side, introduced the snap-back system, required the offensive team to gain 10 yards on three downs, eliminated the throw-in from the sidelines, allowed only six men on the line, stated that all goals by kicking were to be worth two points and the opposition was to line up 10 yards from
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#17327733941545824-465: The Steel City. Beginning in 1957 under coach Jim Trimble (who left the team after the 1962 season), the Tiger-Cats played in every national final through 1967, except for those of 1960 and 1966, winning 4 Cups (1957, 1963, 1965 and 1967). The Cats' 1972 Grey Cup win, 13–10 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders , was led by two sensational rookies, Chuck Ealey who had an outstanding college career at
5936-553: The Tigers since its first game). In 1950, the Tigers absorbed the cross-town upstart Hamilton Wildcats largely to eliminate the gate competition from the underfunded Wildcats. The Tigers adopted the name "Tiger-Cats". Since 1950, the team has won the Grey Cup championship eight times, most recently in 1999 . The Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club recognizes all Grey Cups won by Hamilton-based teams as part of their history, bringing their win total to 15 (the Hamilton Tigers with five,
6048-650: The Toronto club is still in continuous operation today. This rugby-football soon became popular at Montreal's McGill University . McGill challenged Harvard University to a two-game series in 1874 , using a hybrid game of English rugby devised by the University of McGill. The first attempt to establish a proper governing body and to adopt the current set of Rugby rules was the Foot Ball Association of Canada, organized on March 24, 1873, followed by
6160-571: The United States playing under Canadian rules in 1995. The Expansion was aborted after three years; the Baltimore Stallions were the most successful of the numerous Americans teams to play in the CFL, winning the 83rd Grey Cup . Continuing financial losses, a lack of proper Canadian football venues, a pervasive belief that the American teams were simply pawns to provide the struggling Canadian teams with expansion fee revenue, and
6272-456: The University of Toronto where the Argonauts defeated the Hamilton Football Club by a Goal and a Try to Nil. The biggest event of the rivalry is the annual Labour Day Classic , first held in 1948, with Hamilton holding a 31-15 lead. Hamilton has hosted the match almost continuously since 1996 , with a rematch held the following week in Toronto. There have been 17 playoff match-ups between
6384-675: The Vanier Cup. Junior football is played by many after high school before joining the university ranks. There are 19 junior teams in three conferences in the Canadian Junior Football League competing for the Canadian Bowl . The Quebec Junior Football League includes teams from Ontario and Quebec who battle for the Manson Cup. Semi-professional leagues have grown in popularity in recent years, with
6496-423: The WIFU. Although the Canadian Rugby Union constitution nominally prevented the professional unions from outright barring amateurs from challenging for the Grey Cup, they nevertheless came to a gentlemen's agreement to coordinate their schedules so that their respective championships would be awarded about a week before the Grey Cup, thus leaving no feasible date to contest an inter-union Grey Cup semifinal. When
6608-470: The absence of the Tigers, a new club called the Hamilton Wildcats were formed to play in the ORFU in 1941. The Wildcats were given permission to use players from the Hamilton Tigers, but not the traditional black and yellow colors of the Tigers. In 1943, the Hamilton Flying Wildcats, stocked with Royal Canadian Air Force personnel, won the 31st Grey Cup . Things returned to normal in 1945 when
6720-404: The ball to the one-yard line with an automatic first down. For a distance penalty, if the yardage is greater than half the distance to the goal line, then the ball is advanced half the distance to the goal line, though only up to the one-yard line (unlike American football, in Canadian football no scrimmage may start inside either one-yard line). If the original penalty yardage would have resulted in
6832-509: The ball, nor may he be hit while in the pocket (i.e. behind the offensive line) prior to that point below the knees or above the shoulders. Infractions of the rules are punished with penalties , typically a loss of yardage of 5, 10 or 15 yards against the penalized team. Minor violations such as offside (a player from either side encroaching into scrimmage zone before the play starts) are penalized five yards, more serious penalties (such as holding) are penalized 10 yards, and severe violations of
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#17327733941546944-400: The beginning of the half, or b) which direction of the field to play in. The remaining choice is given to the opposing captain. Before the resumption of play in the second half, the captain that did not have first choice in the first half is given first choice. Teams usually choose to defer, so it is typical for the team that wins the coin toss to kick to begin the first half and receive to begin
7056-415: The clock starts not at the kick but when the ball is first touched after the kick). In the last three minutes of a half, the clock stops whenever the ball becomes dead. On kickoffs, the clock starts when the ball is first touched after the kick. On scrimmages, when it starts depends on what ended the previous play. The clock starts when the ball is ready for scrimmage except that it starts on the snap when on
7168-539: The club reorganized its ownership under the newly announced Hamilton Sports Group, an entity that will also own Forge FC and the master licence for Tim Hortons Field . Bob Young continues to serve as chairman and the largest shareholder while also welcoming new investment from Hamilton-based steel company Stelco (represented by its chairman and CEO Alan Kestenbaum), club CEO Scott Mitchell, and Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson . The history of Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club can be traced back to November 3, 1869 in
7280-403: The coaching staff for 2007. The moves still did not immediately help, as the team continued to lag in last place in 2007 and 2008 despite numerous apparent upgrades. In 2009, their fortunes turned around when they finished in second place in the East, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in several years. However, they failed to win the Grey Cup, marking the 2000s as the first decade since
7392-487: The defenders on all kicks. The rules were an attempt to standardize the rules throughout the country. The CIRFU, QRFU, and CRU refused to adopt the new rules at first. Forward passes were not allowed in the Canadian game until 1929, and touchdowns, which had been five points, were increased to six points in 1956, in both cases several decades after the Americans had adopted the same changes. The primary differences between
7504-401: The distance in yards from and an arrow pointed toward the nearest goal line. Prior to the early 1980s, arrows were not used and all yard lines (in both multiples of 5 and 10) were usually marked with the distance to the goal line, including the goal line itself which was marked with either a "0" or "00"; in most stadiums today, only the yard markers in multiples of 10 are marked with numbers, with
7616-509: The door for international friendlies and tournaments to be staged in Canada employing the infrastructure communities have invested in for our sport from coast to coast," Football Canada president and IFAF General Secretary Jim Mullin said in the joint statement. Canadian football is played at several levels in Canada; the top league is the professional nine-team Canadian Football League (CFL). The CFL regular season begins in June, and playoffs for
7728-404: The down repeated. In addition, as noted previously, the referee can give possession to the defence for repeated deliberate time count violations on third down. The clock does not run during convert attempts in the last three minutes of a half. If the 15 minutes of a quarter expire while the ball is live, the quarter is extended until the ball becomes dead. If a quarter's time expires while the ball
7840-405: The end of regulation play, then each team is given an equal number of offensive possessions to break the tie. A coin toss is held to determine which team will take possession first; the first team scrimmages the ball at the opponent's 35-yard line and conducts a series of downs until it scores or loses possession. If the team scores a touchdown, starting with the 2010 season, it is required to attempt
7952-454: The end zones are often cut off in the corners to accommodate the track. Until 1986, the end zones were 25 yards (23 m) deep, giving the field an overall length of 160 yards (150 m), and a correspondingly larger cutoff could be required at the corners. The first field to feature the shorter 20-yard end zone was Vancouver's BC Place (home of the BC Lions ), which opened in 1983. This
8064-595: The equal of the IRFU, and the Western union soon made it publicly known that a playoff with the ORFU was no longer desirable. Meanwhile, the IRFU had secured a contract with the National Broadcasting Company . Informed by NBC executives that the continued presence of amateur teams in Grey Cup competition was harmful to the image of Canadian football in the United States, the IRFU quickly reversed its stance and entered into informal discussions with
8176-421: The feet and hands, is forced to the ground (a tackle ); when a forward pass is not caught on the fly (during a scrimmage); when a touchdown (see below) or a field goal is scored; when the ball leaves the playing area by any means (being carried, thrown, or fumbled out of bounds ); or when the ball carrier is in a standing position but can no longer move forwards (called forward progress). If no score has been made,
8288-399: The field who may be legally tackled is the player currently in possession of the football (the ball carrier). On a passing play a receiver, that is to say, an offensive player sent down the field to receive a pass, may not be interfered with (have his motion impeded, be blocked, etc.) unless he is within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Prior to a pass that goes beyond the line of scrimmage,
8400-467: The field. Quarterback was a weak spot for the Ti-Cats, as the first half of the decade had names like Don McPherson , Damon Allen , Timm Rosenbach , Matt Dunigan , Lee Saltz and Todd Dillon taking their turns at the pivot. Despite the excellent play of Eastern All-Star Earl Winfield rewriting the team's record books for pass catching, Hamilton struggled to attract crowds to Ivor Wynne Stadium . It
8512-656: The founders of Milton, Massachusetts, devised rules based on rugby football . The game gradually gained a following, with the Hamilton Football Club (later the Hamilton Tiger-Cats ) formed on November 3, 1869. Montreal Football Club was formed on April 8, 1872. Toronto Argonaut Football Club was formed on October 4, 1873, and the Ottawa Football Club (later the Ottawa Rough Riders) on September 20, 1876. Of those clubs, only
8624-432: The gap during the suspension of play by the IRFU (Toronto Navy – H.M.C.S. York played out of Varsity Stadium , using the Toronto Argonauts ' equipment and uniforms.) The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes were the last amateur team to win the Grey Cup in 1942. Many from the ranks of the military teams in the ORFU became stars in the CFL after the war. With the return of peace, the ORFU found it increasingly difficult to compete in
8736-440: The goal line sometimes being marked with a "G". The centre (55-yard) line usually is marked with a "C" (or, more rarely, with a "55"). "Hash marks" are painted in white, parallel to the yardage lines, at 1 yard (0.9 m) intervals, 24 yards (21.9 m) from the sidelines under amateur rules, but 28 yards (25.6 m) in the CFL. On fields that have a surrounding running track , such as Molson Stadium and many universities ,
8848-414: The goal lines and end lines. Including the end zones, the total area of the field is 87,750 square feet (8,152 m ). At each goal line is a set of 40-foot-high (12 m) goalposts , which consist of two uprights joined by an 18 + 1 ⁄ 2 -foot-long (5.6 m) crossbar which is 10 feet (3 m) above the goal line. The goalposts may be H-shaped (both posts fixed in the ground) although in
8960-455: The higher-calibre competitions the tuning-fork design (supported by a single curved post behind the goal line, so that each post starts 10 feet (3 m) above the ground) is preferred. The sides of the field are marked by white sidelines , the goal line is marked in white or yellow, and white lines are drawn laterally across the field every 5 yards (4.6 m) from the goal line. These lateral lines are called "yard lines" and often marked with
9072-502: The kicking team who are not onside may not approach within five yards of the ball until it has been touched by the receiving team, or by an onside teammate. The methods of scoring are: Resumption of play following a score is conducted under procedures which vary with the type of score. The game consists of two 30-minute halves, each of which is divided into two 15-minute quarters. The clock counts down from 15:00 in each quarter. Timing rules change when there are three minutes remaining in
9184-576: The mascots for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Tiger-Cats also have employed an official hype man, named Pigskin Pete, since the 1920s. Pigskin Pete leads the Tiger-Cats fans in the traditional Oskee Wee Wee chant while wearing a custom number 6 Tiger-Cats jersey and a bowler hat . Pigskin Pete has been portrayed by creator Vince Wirtz (1926–67), Bill Wirtz (1967–76), Paul Weiler (1977–2006), Dan Black (2007–2018), and Geoff Connor (2019–present). Canadian football Canadian football , or simply football ,
9296-465: The meeting which established the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) in 1907. For most of the first half of the 20th century, the ORFU was one of the stronger unions in Canada, and its champion was a frequent fixture in the Grey Cup even as the game became increasingly professionalized in the 1930s. During World War II , the Ontario-based military teams played in the ORFU, filling
9408-421: The modern era to win the Grey Cup at home and were the first to accomplish this when they did it in 1972 . However, since 1990, they have missed the playoffs on eleven occasions and have won just one Grey Cup in 1999 . In addition to having the longest Grey Cup drought of all the CFL teams, they are the only team to have not won the Grey Cup in the 21st century. Their lowest point came in 2003 , when they lost
9520-401: The national title in 1948. While the IRFU would go on to win the next five Grey Cups after that, it generally triumphed in close contests against WIFU opposition who had consistently outclassed ORFU champions in successive Grey Cup semifinals. Following the unexpected triumph of the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1954 Grey Cup , it was increasingly apparent that the WIFU's quality of play had become
9632-472: The next play starts from scrimmage . Before scrimmage , an official places the ball at the spot it was at the stop of clock, but no nearer than 24 yards from the sideline or 1 yard from the goal line. The line parallel to the goal line passing through the ball (line from sideline to sideline for the length of the ball) is referred to as the line of scrimmage. This line is similar to " no-man's land "; players must stay on their respective sides of this line until
9744-415: The offence and the team defending is referred to as the defence. Play begins with a backwards pass through the legs (the snap) by a member of the offensive team, to another member of the offensive team. This is usually the quarterback or punter, but a "direct snap" to a running back is also not uncommon. If the quarterback or punter receives the ball, he may then do any of the following: Each play constitutes
9856-413: The penalty and take over on downs. After the kick is made, change of possession occurs and subsequent penalties are assessed against either the spot where the ball is caught, or the runback. Canadian football distinguishes four ways of kicking the ball: On any kicking play, all onside players (the kicker, and teammates behind the kicker at the time of the kick) may recover and advance the ball. Players on
9968-417: The penalty results in a first down being awarded); if a penalty against the defence results in the first down yardage being attained, then the offence is awarded a first down. If the defence is penalized on a two-point convert attempt and the offence chooses to attempt the play again, the offence must attempt another two-point convert; it cannot change to a one-point attempt. Conversely, the offence can attempt
10080-401: The play has begun again. For a scrimmage to be valid the team in possession of the football must have seven players, excluding the quarterback, within one yard of the line of scrimmage. The defending team must stay a yard or more back from the line of scrimmage. On the field at the beginning of a play are two teams of 12 (and not 11 as in American football). The team in possession of the ball is
10192-489: The previous play: During the last three minutes of a half, the penalty for failure to place the ball in play within the 20-second play clock, known as a "time count violation" (this foul is known as "delay of game" in American football), is dramatically different from during the first 27 minutes. Instead of the penalty being 5 yards with the down repeated, the base penalty (except during convert attempts) becomes loss of down on first or second down, and 10 yards on third down with
10304-498: The regular season the game ends as a tie. In a playoff game, the teams continue to attempt to score from alternating 35-yard lines, until one team is leading after both have had an equal number of possessions. In U Sports football, for the Uteck Bowl , Mitchell Bowl , and Vanier Cup , the same overtime procedure is followed until there is a winner. Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union ( ORFU )
10416-402: The rules (such as face-masking [grabbing the face mask attached to a player's helmet]) are typically penalized 15 yards. Depending on the penalty, the penalty yardage may be assessed from the original line of scrimmage, from where the violation occurred (for example, for a pass interference infraction), or from where the ball ended after the play. Penalties on the offence may, or may not, result in
10528-853: The school. A football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear. The first written account of a game played was on October 15, 1862, on the Montreal Cricket Grounds. It was between the First Battalion Grenadier Guards and the Second Battalion Scots Fusilier Guards resulting in a win by the Grenadier Guards 3 goals, 2 rouges to nothing. In 1864, at Trinity College , Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, Frederick A. Bethune, and Christopher Gwynn, one of
10640-415: The second. Play begins at the start of each half with one team place-kicking the ball from its own end of the field: the 35-yard line in the CFL, the 45-yard line in amateur play. Both teams then attempt to catch the ball. The player who recovers the ball may run while holding the ball, or lateral throw the ball to a teammate. Play stops when the ball carrier's knee, elbow, or any other body part aside from
10752-453: The stadium was renamed in honour of Ivor Wynne . The team played there until 2012. During construction of Tim Hortons Field in 2013, the Tiger-Cats played at Alumni Stadium in Guelph , Ontario. The artwork for the original "leaping tiger" was designed by Jake Gaudaur , a former Tiger-Cat player, President, and CFL Commissioner. The Princeton University Tigers athletic logo for many years
10864-445: The team moved the first few games of its 2014 season to Ron Joyce Stadium . Tim Hortons Field opened in time for the 2014 Labour Day Classic, which coincided with the Tiger-Cats going on a long run that propelled the team from 1–6 prior to that game to 9–9 (in a year when the East was particularly weak, this was enough to win the division) and two further playoff wins, propelling the team to its second straight Grey Cup appearance, which
10976-485: The trophy, withdrew from competition after the 1954 season. The move ushered in the modern era of Canadian professional football, culminating in the formation of the present-day Canadian Football League in 1958. Canadian football has mostly been confined to Canada, with the United States being the only other country to have hosted high-level Canadian football games. The CFL's controversial " South Division " as it would come to be officially known attempted to put CFL teams in
11088-699: The two teams, with Toronto holding a 10-7 edge. Hamilton and Toronto are merely 51 km apart along the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway and, for relatively brief periods of time, were the only CFL teams in Ontario as there was no Ottawa team from 1997-2002, and again from 2006-2013. Other Tiger-Cats rivals include the Montreal Alouettes , the Ottawa Redblacks, and recently the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after
11200-438: Was a mirror image of the Hamilton logo, except in orange. Both logos have since been revised or replaced. The colours of the logo are the clubs traditional colours for well over 100 years: black, yellow, and white. The red tongue is the last remaining nod to the upstart red-clad Hamilton Wildcats. Since 1873, the arch-rivals of the Tiger-Cats have been the Toronto Argonauts . The first meeting took place on October 18, 1873 at
11312-472: Was also its second straight Grey Cup loss, as the Calgary Stampeders held off a late comeback effort from the Tiger-Cats to win 20–16. The team went undefeated at Tim Hortons Field in its inaugural season at the stadium. The Tiger-Cats have played home games at Tim Hortons Field since 2014. The stadium is located in downtown Hamilton at the former site of Ivor Wynne Stadium. The team played at Civic Stadium from 1950 until 1970. Renovations were done, and in 1971
11424-529: 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. W. A. Hewitt was vice-president of the ORFU for the 1905 and 1906 seasons, and a representative of the Toronto Argonauts . He sought for ORFU to have uniform rules of play with
11536-495: Was demolished and replaced with a new stadium on the same site, Tim Hortons Field , in 2014. The Ti-Cats had great success throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in the 1950s and 1960s the club appeared in ten Grey Cups. They finished first in the East thirteen times from 1950 to 1972. During that same time span, they appeared in eleven Grey Cup finals winning the championship six times. Players, such as Angelo Mosca , Bernie Faloney , Joe Zuger and Garney Henley became football icons in
11648-437: Was dropping TSN Radio from CKOC on February 9, 2021, and the Tiger-Cats responded that it was ending the partnership with Bell shortly thereafter and had begun working on alternate ways to distribute the broadcasts. It announced the launch of the "Ticats Audio Network" on August 3, 2021, with game broadcasts returning to CHML and other audio content moving to a podcast format. Radio broadcasts relocated to CJXY-FM midway through
11760-433: Was first recorded in Canada in the early 1860s, taken there by British immigrants, possibly in 1824. Both the Canadian Football League (CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football Canada , the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1880 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union . The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league. Its championship game,
11872-533: Was held among the fans to determine the colors for the newly formed football club; the result was a combination of the two clubs' colors: yellow, black, red, and white. However, the black and gold of the Tigers were largely adopted (the red tongue on the logo is only remaining nod to Wildcats red) and remain to this day. In 1950, the newly christened Hamilton Tiger-Cats began playing in Civic Stadium (renamed Ivor Wynne Stadium in 1971) until 2012 after which it
11984-417: Was hosted by Ted Michaels. (CHML continued to carry The Fifth Quarter as an unofficial postgame show, with Rick Zamperin as host, until the station's closure.) In May 2015, the Tiger-Cats left CHML for CKOC , where the team operates a joint venture with TSN Radio . Through the 2015 season, former McMaster Marauders quarterback Marshall Ferguson offered sideline analysis of all Tiger-Cats games, along with
12096-429: Was not until 1998 with the arrival of head coach Ron Lancaster and the pitch-and-catch duo of Danny McManus and Darren Flutie plus the pass rush abilities of Joe Montford that led Hamilton back to the CFL's elite, reaching the Grey Cup finals in 1998 and winning the cup the following year . However, the Ti-Cats then suffered a slow decline. In 2000, Hamilton finished 9–9, losing 4 of their last 5 games, as well as
12208-429: Was particularly common among U.S.-based teams during the CFL's American expansion, where few American stadiums were able to accommodate the much longer and noticeably wider CFL field. The end zones in Toronto's BMO Field are only 18 yards instead of 20 yards. Teams advance across the field through the execution of quick, distinct plays, which involve the possession of a brown, prolate spheroid ball with ends tapered to
12320-548: Was still a part of the American Football League ). In 1978, Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard assumed ownership of the Tiger-Cats. Ballard claimed to be losing a million dollars a year. The Tiger-Cats contended on and off during the rest of the 1970s and 1980s (reaching the playoffs in every year of the latter decade), reaching the Grey Cup game again in 1980 and winning the East Division by
12432-532: Was the Maritime Women's Football League in 2004. The largest women's league is the Western Women's Canadian Football League . The Canadian football field is 150 yards (137 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide, within which the goal areas are 20 yards (18 m) deep, and the goal lines are 110 yards (101 m) apart. Weighted pylons are placed on the inside corner of the intersections of
12544-482: Was virtually no chance of this occurring since the only practical means of improving their quality of play would have been for the ORFU to become a professional union, an arrangement its clubs lacked the financial resources to sustain. The professional unions would go on to create the Canadian Football Council and effectively assummed control of organizing Grey Cup competition from the CRU. Although amateurs would not be formally locked out of Grey Cup play until 1958 when
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