1956 in Canadian football

From WikiProjectMed
(Redirected from 1956 CFL season)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Years in Canadian football
1956 in sports

The Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup game for the third consecutive year. And for the third consecutive year, the Edmonton Eskimos were Grey Cup champions. It was the first time in a Grey Cup that a touchdown was worth six points instead of five.

Canadian Football News in 1956

On Sunday, January 22, representatives of the two largest and most powerful leagues in the Canadian Rugby Union, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union, met in Winnipeg and formed the Canadian Football Council as an umbrella organization. G. Sydney Halter, QC, was named as commissioner of the CFC, which would evolve into today's Canadian Football League. The CFC introduced a national negotiation list.

Television rights for Canadian football games were sold for $101,000. The touchdown point value was increased from five to six points.[1]

The first East-West All-Star game was played at Vancouver's Empire Stadium on December 8. The day after the game, Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 crashed into Mount Slesse, killing five players and one official who were on their way from Vancouver to Calgary. The five players who died in the crash included four members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders: offensive linemen Mario DeMarco and Ray Syrnyk, centre/tight end Mel Becket, and defensive lineman Gordon Sturtridge, along with Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive lineman Cal Jones. The official killed in the crash was Ed Pettit, of Calgary.

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
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Edmonton Eskimos 16 11 5 0 358 235 22
Saskatchewan Roughriders 16 10 6 0 353 272 20
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 9 7 0 315 228 18
BC Lions 16 6 10 0 251 361 12
Calgary Stampeders 16 4 12 0 229 410 8
Interprovincial Rugby Football Union
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Montreal Alouettes 14 10 4 0 478 361 20
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 14 7 7 0 383 385 14
Ottawa Rough Riders 14 7 7 0 326 359 14
Toronto Argonauts 14 4 10 0 331 413 8
Ontario Rugby Football Union[2]
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen 11 8 3 0 299 170 16
Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 10 6 4 0 203 183 12
Sarnia Golden Bears 11 6 5 0 218 247 12
London Lords 10 3 7 0 124 177 6
X-Rochester Rockets 4 0 4 0 52 118 0
  • Bold text means the team clinched a playoff berth.
  • Edmonton and Montreal had first-round byes.
  • X – Rochester withdrew from the league.

Grey Cup playoffs

Source:[3]

Note: All dates in 1956

Semifinals

WIFU semifinals – game 1
Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Saskatchewan Roughriders
Date Away Home
November 3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 Saskatchewan Roughriders 42
WIFU semifinals – game 2
Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Date Away Home
November 5 Saskatchewan Roughriders 8 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19
  • Saskatchewan won the total-point series 50–26. The Roughriders moved on to play the Edmonton Eskimos in the WIFU Finals.
IRFU semifinals
Ottawa Rough Riders @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Date Away Home
November 7 Ottawa Rough Riders 21 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 46
  • The Tiger-Cats advanced to play the Montreal Alouettes in the IRFU Finals.

Finals

WIFU Finals – Game 1
Edmonton Eskimos @ Saskatchewan Roughriders
Date Away Home
November 10 Edmonton Eskimos 22 Saskatchewan Roughriders 23
WIFU Finals – Game 2
Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Edmonton Eskimos
Date Away Home
November 17 Saskatchewan Roughriders 12 Edmonton Eskimos 20
WIFU Finals – Game 3
Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Edmonton Eskimos
Date Away Home
November 19 Saskatchewan Roughriders 7 Edmonton Eskimos 51
  • Edmonton won the best of three series 2–1 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.
IRFU Finals – Game 1
Montreal Alouettes @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Date Away Home
November 10 Montreal Alouettes 30 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21
IRFU Finals – Game 2
Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Montreal Alouettes
Date Away Home
November 19 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 41 Montreal Alouettes 48
  • Montreal won the total-point series 78–62 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.

Playoff bracket

Quarterfinals Semifinals Grey Cup
         
IRFU Montreal Alouettes
IRFU BYE
IRFU Montreal Alouettes 30-48
EAST
IRFU Hamilton Tiger Cats 21-41
IRFU Hamilton Tiger Cats 46
IRFU Ottawa Rough Riders 21
IRFU Montreal Alouettes 27
WIFU Edmonton Eskimos 50
WIFU Edmonton Eskimos
WIFU BYE
WIFU Edmonton Eskimos 22-20-51
WEST
WIFU Saskatchewan Roughriders 23-12-7
WIFU Saskatchewan Roughriders 42-8
WIFU Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7-19

Grey Cup Championship

November 24

44th Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity Stadium – Toronto, Ontario

WIFU Champion IRFU Champion
Edmonton Eskimos 50 Montreal Alouettes 27
1956 Grey Cup Champions: Edmonton Eskimos

Canadian Football Leaders

1956 Eastern (Interprovincial Rugby Football Union) All-Stars

Offence

Defence

1956 Western (Western Interprovincial Football Union) All-Stars

Offence

Defence

1956 Canadian Football Awards

References

  1. ^ "Canadian Football Timelines (1860-2005)" (PDF). footballcanada.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 9, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=h0olAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uuMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1882%2C1062203 Ottawa Citizen – Nov 3, 1956
  3. ^ "1956 Details". www.cflapedia.com. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  4. ^ "CFLapedia".
Retrieved from "https://mdwiki.org/wiki/1956_in_Canadian_football"