1936 in Canadian football

Canadian Football News in 1936

Teams were restricted to a maximum of five imports and only players who had lived in Canada for a full year could compete in the Grey Cup game.^[1] When Regina won the West, five of their imports were declared illegal by the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU). Regina offered to drop the players for the Grey Cup, but the CRU would not allow them to play for the cup. Instead, the Grey Cup was a contest between the Sarnia Imperials of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Sarnia won their second and last Grey Cup with a powerful line-up that included future Hall of Famers Hugh (Bummer) Stirling and Ormond Beach.^[2]

The Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) was formed in August with the Winnipegs, Calgary Bronks, and the Regina Roughriders.^[1]

The IRFU and WIFU adopted a two-game point series format for the playoffs. The series was played between first and second place teams.^[1]

A white ball was used in games that was being played underneath floodlights in Western Canada.^[1]

Intercollegiate teams stopped competing for the Grey Cup.^[1]

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
Winnipegs	8	5	2	1	104	37	11
Regina Roughriders	6	3	2	1	52	42	9
Calgary Bronks	6	1	5	0	17	94	4

Calgary-Regina games are worth 4 points.

**Interprovincial Rugby Football Union**
Team	GP	W	L	PF	PA	Pts
Toronto Argonauts	6	4	2	74	37	8
Ottawa Rough Riders	6	3	3	49	63	6
Hamilton Tigers	6	3	3	62	71	6
Montreal Indians	6	2	4	45	59	4

Ontario Rugby Football Union
Team	GP	W	L	PF	PA	Pts
Sarnia Imperials	4	3	1	102	27	6
Toronto Balmy Beach	4	3	1	62	35	6
Hamilton Tiger Cubs	4	0	4	5	117	0

Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.

Alberta Rugby Football Union
Team	GP	W	L	PF	PA	Pts
Calgary Bronks	8	6	2	121	42	12
University of Alberta Golden Bears	5	4	1	30	20	8
Edmonton Hi-Grads	5	1	4	23	39	2
Lethbridge Bulldogs	6	1	5	14	87	2

Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union
Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Moose Jaw Millers	4	2	1	1	14	23	5
Saskatoon Hilltops	4	2	2	0	26	11	4
Regina Roughriders	4	1	2	1	15	21	3

Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1936

Division semi-finals

**WIFU Semi-Finals**
Game	Date	Away	Home
1	October 24	Winnipegs 7	Regina Roughriders 4
2	October 31	Regina Roughriders 20	Winnipegs 5

Regina won the total-point series 24–14 after Winnipeg started the series with a 2-0 lead.

**IRFU Semi-Finals**
Date	Away	Home
November 14	Ottawa Rough Riders 3	Hamilton Tigers 2

Division finals

**WCRFU Finals**
Date	Away	Home
November 11	Regina Roughriders 8	Calgary Bronks 1

Regina started the game with a 5-0 lead.

**ORFU Finals**
Date	Away	Home
November 21	Sarnia Imperials 11	Toronto Balmy Beach 7

Sarnia advanced to the Grey Cup game.

**IRFU Finals**
Game	Date	Away	Home
1	November 21	Ottawa Rough Riders 5	Toronto Argonauts 1
2	November 28	Ottawa Rough Riders 17	Toronto Argonauts 5

Ottawa won the total-point series 22–6 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.

Grey Cup Championship

December 5 24th Annual Grey Cup Game: Varsity Stadium – Toronto, Ontario
Sarnia Imperials (ORFU) 26	Ottawa Rough Riders 20
The Sarnia Imperials are the 1936 Grey Cup Champions

1936 Eastern (Combined IRFU & ORFU) All-Stars selected by Canadian Press

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.

1st Team

QB – Bob Coulter, Toronto Argonauts
FW – Ormond Beach, Sarnia Imperials
HB – Hugh Welch, Hamilton Tigers
HB – Ab Box, Toronto Argonauts
DB – Ted Morris, Toronto Argonauts
E – Wes Cutler, Toronto Argonauts
E – Seymour Wilson, Hamilton Tigers
C – Fred Wigle, Montreal Indians
G – Charles "Tiny" Herman, Ottawa Rough Riders
G – George Pigeon, Montreal Indians
T – Dave Sprague, Ottawa Rough Riders
T – Pete Joktus, Montreal Indians

2nd Team

QB – Arnie McWatters, Sarnia Imperials
FW – Abe Eliowitz, Ottawa Rough Riders
HB – Andy Tommy, Ottawa Rough Riders
HB – Mike Hedgewich, Sarnia Imperials
DB – Hugh Sterling, Sarnia Imperials
E – Jack Holden, University of Toronto
E – Syd Reynolds, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
C – George Willis, University of Western Ontario
G – Pat Butler, Sarnia Imperials
G – George Hornig, McGill University
T – Ernie Hempey, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
T – Gus Greco, University of Toronto

1936 Canadian Football Awards

Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (IRFU MVP) – Arnie Morrison (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
Imperial Oil Trophy (ORFU MVP) - Syd Reynolds - Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005)" (PDF). footballcanada.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
^ "Year: 1936". www.cflapedia.com. Retrieved 2019-10-11.

[timeline-1] "CANADIAN FOOTBALL TIMELINES (1860 – 2005)" (PDF). footballcanada.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

[2] "Year: 1936". www.cflapedia.com. Retrieved 2019-10-11.

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