Toronto Eagles (Australian rules football)

Toronto

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Full name	Toronto Eagles
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1989
League	Ontario Australian Football League
Home ground	Humber North College
Head coach	Mark Block
Captain	Troy Marsh
Strip
Blue and gold based on West Coast Eagles

The Toronto Eagles are an amateur Australian rules football club based in Toronto, Canada.

History

In 1989, members of the local Australian community in Toronto congregated to play a number of Australian-Rules Football matches. Sighting some growing enthusiasm, two teams were soon formed. One, based in Mississauga, was close to a cricket pitch, providing a venue for games to be played. The other team was based in Toronto.

Soon after forming the Canadian-Australian Football Association (C.A.F.A.), the pioneers of the league formed an affiliation with teams from of the Australian Football Association (A.F.L.). Toronto’s first affiliation was with Australia’s Geelong Cats and in keeping with the motif, Toronto dawned the white with blue stripes and named themselves the Toronto Panthers.

1989 was a trying year for the Panthers as they lost every game that season until the inaugural Grand Final which saw the Toronto Panthers begin a legacy of winning football. The Panthers went on to win the next two Premierships, capturing three in a row amidst increasing difficult competition.

At the end of 1991, amongst pressures of league expansion, many core Panthers left the club to form another. During these years, the team was pressured to recruit Canadian born players and introduce them to the game. In the next three years, Toronto would fair well with one undefeated season, losing only by disqualification in the play-offs, and another, which saw the Panthers once again make it all the way to the Grand Final.

By 1994, the Panthers were attracting many traveling or newly resided Australian players of top quality. That, combined with an exceptional base of talented Canadians players completed the rebuilding of their Championship squad.

Their new membership brought a new affiliation with Australia’s West Coast Eagles and with the changing of colours to blue and yellow, Toronto’s high flying Eagles went on to capture the next five premierships in a row, firmly establishing themselves as the only true dynasty in C.A.F.A.’s history.

Premierships

• 1989
• 1990
• 1991
• 1995
• 1996
• 1997
• 1998
• 1999
• 2002
• 2006

External links

• Official Toronto Eagles website