1933 in Canadian football

Canadian Football News in 1933

The Toronto Argonauts lost their first two games of the season, only to storm back and win eight straight, including their first Grey Cup win in 12 years.

The Winnipeg St.John's were a no show at the annual meeting of the Manitoba Rugby Football Union. It was later learned that the St.John's had suspended operations for one season while they got their finances in order.

The MRFU made attempts to get another organization to take over the operations of the St.John's for the 1933 season. Although there was interest in taking over the team on a permanent basis, there was no interest in being custodian of the team for just one season.

In August, the players of the St.John's were dispersed between the Winnipegs and the Garrison. The Garrison was an Army team and only servicemen were eligible to play on the team. The Garrison claimed the only player who qualified (Alf Woods) and the remainder of the players ended up in the camp of the Winnipegs.

With an abundance of players available the Winnipegs operated two teams in 1933. The best players ended up on the Winnipegs who were wearing brand new blue jerseys (they weren't blue & gold until 1934). The remaining players wore the old green jerseys and they played under the name Shamrocks.^[1]

The Winnipeg St.John's failed to re-form in 1934.

Regular season

Final regular season standings

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

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union Team GP W L T PF PA Pts Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers 6 4 2 0 67 55 8 Toronto Argonauts 6 4 2 0 86 54 8 Ottawa Rough Riders 6 3 3 0 61 75 6 Hamilton Tigers 6 1 5 0 43 73 2

Ontario Rugby Football Union Team GP W L T PF PA Pts Sarnia Imperials 6 5 1 0 95 25 10 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers 5 3 2 0 52 64 6 St. Michael's College 5 1 3 1 26 46 3 Hamilton Tiger Cubs 6 1 4 1 36 74 3

Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union Team GP W L T PF PA Pts Varsity Blues 6 4 2 0 66 42 8 Queen's Golden Gaels 6 4 2 0 38 35 8 McGill Redmen 6 3 3 0 41 32 6 Western Ontario Mustangs 6 1 5 0 37 73 2

*Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.

Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Regina Roughriders	6	5	1	0	54	23	10
Moose Jaw Millers	6	5	1	0	60	15	10
University of Saskatchewan Huskies	6	2	4	0	26	19	4
Saskatoon Hilltops	6	0	6	0	3	86	0

*The Huskies defaulted the final game of the season to the Millers

Alberta Rugby Football Union

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Calgary Altomahs	4	3	1	0	38	14	6
University of Alberta Varsity	4	1	3	0	14	38	2

^[2][3]

League Champions

Football Union	League Champion
IRFU	Toronto Argonauts
WCRFU	Winnipegs
CIRFU	University of Toronto
ORFU	Sarnia Imperials
MRFU	Winnipegs
SRFU	Regina Roughriders
ARFU	Calgary Altomahs
BCRFU	Vancouver Meralomas

Grey Cup Playoffs

Note: All dates in 1933

SRFU Tie-Breaker

Date Away Home October 28 Moose Jaw Millers 0 Regina Roughriders 11

• Regina Roughriders win the SRFU championship^[4]

MRFU Playoff

Date Away Home October 9 Garrison 0 Winnipegs 39

• Winnipegs win the MRFU championship

CIRFU Final

Date Away Home November 18 Queen's Golden Gaels 3 Varsity Blues 10

• Toronto Varsity Blues quit the Grey Cup championship to focus on studies. ^[5]
• Sarnia received a bye to the Grey Cup

Semi-Finals

Western Semi Final 1 Date Away Home November 4 Regina Roughriders 1 Winnipegs 11

• Winnipeg advances to the Western Final.^[6]

Western Semi Final 2 Date Away Home November 4 Vancouver Meralomas 11 Calgary Altomahs 13

• Calgary advances to the Western Final.

FINALS

Date Away Home Western Final November 11 Calgary Altomahs 1 Winnipegs 15

• Winnipeg will face Toronto in the Semi-Final.^[7]

Date Away Home Eastern Final November 18 Toronto Argonauts 5 Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers 4 November 25 Toronto Argonauts 15 Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers 5

• Toronto won the total-point series by 20–9. Toronto advances to the Grey Cup Semi-Final.

Grey Cup Semi-Final

Date Away Home December 2 Toronto Argonauts 13 Winnipegs 0

• Toronto advances to the Grey Cup Final.^[8]

Playoff Bracket

Quarter Finals

Semi Finals

Grey Cup Final

ORFU

Sarnia Imperials

BYE

ORFU

Sarnia Imperials

EAST

CIRFU

University of Toronto

Forfeit

CIRFU

University of Toronto

10

CIRFU

Queen's University

3

ORFU

Sarnia Imperials

3

IRFU

Toronto Argonauts

4

IRFU

Toronto Argonauts

5–15

IRFU

Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers

3–5

IRFU

Toronto Argonauts

13

WEST

MRFU

Winnipeg St. John's

0

ARFU

Calgary Altomahs

1

MRFU

Winnipeg St. John's

15

Grey Cup Championship

December 9 21st Annual Grey Cup Game: Davis Field – Sarnia, Ontario Toronto Argonauts 4 Sarnia Imperials 3 The Toronto Argonauts are the 1933 Grey Cup Champions

1933 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.

1933 Canadian Football Awards

• Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (IRFU MVP) – Huck Welch (RB), Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers

References

Preceded by 1932 in Canadian football	Canadian football seasons	Succeeded by 1934 in Canadian football

Canadian Football League seasons 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015