1884 in Canadian football

The 1884 Canadian football season was the second season since the creation of the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) in 1883 and the first since the re-establishment of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU).[1] The season was highlighted by the first ever Rugby Football Dominion Championship where the Montreal Football Club defeated the Toronto Football Club by a score of 30 to 0.[2][3][4]

1884 in Canadian football
Playoffs
ORFU Champions	Toronto Football Club
QRFU Champions	Montreal Football Club
1884 Dominion Championship
Date	November 6, 1884
Site	Toronto, Ontario
Champions	Montreal Football Club
Canadian Football Seasons

Canadian football news in 1884

On February 7, 1884, the Canadian Rugby Football Union was formed to provide a regulatory body for Rugby Football in Canada along with establishing a national championship game.[1][5] The QRFU adopted a point based system this year, adopting the ORFU model, as opposed to the previous year where they recorded the number of trys and goals scored.[6]

QRFU results

QRFU First Round October 11, 1884 - Montreal, Quebec[7] Montreal Football Club 14–2 Britannia Football Club October 11, 1884 - Lennoxville, Quebec[7] McGill College 50–0 Bishop's College

QRFU Second Round October 18, 1884 - Montreal, Quebec[8] Montreal Football Club 21–0 McGill College

QRFU Friendly October 25, 1884 - Montreal, Quebec[9] Britannia Football Club 16–0 McGill College

Quebec Challenge Cup

The Montreal Football Club and the Britannia Football Club played for the Quebec Challenge Cup. The teams proved evenly matched with Montreal only scoring one rouge in the entire game while the Brits did not score.[10] Since Montreal did not record enough points, the game ended in a draw.[10] Because Britannia was not able to defeat Montreal, Montreal retained their Quebec title and were declared the champions of Quebec.[10][11]

QRFU Final November 1, 1884 - Montreal, Quebec[10] Montreal Football Club 1–0 Britannia Football Club Montreal retains the QRFU championship by draw[10]

ORFU results

At the beginning of the season, 14 Ontario rugby clubs were eligible to compete for the Ontario Challenge Cup.[12] Five of these clubs either did not participate of forfeited immediately.[12] The remaining nine teams competed in a series of sudden death matches until one undefeated team remained, being named the Ontario Rugby Challenge Cup champion.[13][14]

ORFU First Round[12][14] October 11, 1884 - Strathroy, Ontario[15] Strathroy Football Club 20–2 London Football Club October 11, 1884 - Peterborough, Ontario[15] Toronto Football Club 29–8 Peterborough Football Club October 11, 1884 - Kingston, Ontario[15] Kingston, Queen's 4–0 Kingston, R. M. C. Did not play, advanced to second round[12] Ottawa Football Club 1–0 Kingston Football Club (defaulted) Hamilton Football Club Bye Toronto University Bye

ORFU Second Round[12] October 18, 1884 - Hamilton, Ontario[16] Hamilton Football Club 6–4 Strathroy Football Club October 18, 1884 - Toronto, Ontario[16] Toronto Football Club 24–0 Toronto University October 19, 1884 - Ottawa, Ontario[17] Ottawa Football Club 19–7 Kingston, Queen's

ORFU Third Round October 25, 1884 - Hamilton, Ontario[18] Toronto Football Club 24–4 Hamilton Football Club Ottawa Football Club Bye

Ontario Challenge Cup

Prior to the scheduled final between Toronto and Ottawa, Ottawa declared forfeit due to seven of their players being unable to make the trip to Toronto.[19] Given the short notice, since the Toronto club received the telegram one day before the scheduled match, the integrity of the Ottawa club was questioned since they had at least 35 members and appeared reluctant to send a replacement team that would only lose.[19] Since tickets had been paid for, Toronto attempted to schedule a match with Hamilton, but were refused due to the justifiably short notice. Consequently, the Toronto Football Club were Ontario Challenge Cup champions due to Ottawa's forfeit.[13][19]

ORFU Final Scheduled for November 1, 1884 - Toronto, Ontario[12][14] Toronto Football Club 1–0 Ottawa Football Club (defaulted) Toronto won the ORFU championship by forfeit[12][19]

Dominion Championship

1884 Dominion Championship November 6, 1884 - University of Toronto Lawn - Toronto, Ontario Montreal Football Club 30–0 Toronto Football Club Montreal won the first ever Canadian Dominion Football Championship[3][4][20]

References

1. "Canadian Rugby Football Union Formed in Montreal". The Toronto Mail. November 7, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
2. Brunt, Stephen (20 September 2012). 100 Grey Cups. ISBN 9780771017445. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
3. "The Rugby Championship of Canada Won by Montreal". The Toronto Mail. November 7, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
4. "Montreal Wins the Football Championship". The Montreal Gazette. November 7, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
5. Speers, Ian. "1884" (PDF). Football Canada. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
6. Sproule, Robert. "The Quebec Rugby Football Union 1883-1906 – Part 1" (PDF). Pro Football Researchers. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
7. "Montreal and McGill College victors in football". The Montreal Gazette. October 13, 1884. p. 5 of 16. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
8. "McGill Defeated by Montreal Football Team". The Montreal Gazette. October 20, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
9. "The Cadets, Montreal and McGill Footballers Defeated". The Montreal Gazette. October 27, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
10. "Montreal vs Britannia". The Montreal Gazette. November 3, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
11. "Montreal vs Toronto". The Montreal Gazette. November 5, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
12. "The contest for the Ontario Cup for 1884". The Toronto Mail. November 4, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
13. "The Ontario Union". The Montreal Gazette. November 6, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
14. "1884 season". cflapedia.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
15. "Toronto defeats the Peterboro's by 29 points to 8". The Toronto Mail. October 13, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
16. "Victory of the champions by twenty-four points to nothing - good play all round". The Toronto Mail. October 20, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
17. "Ottawa too much for Queen's University". The Toronto Mail. October 21, 1884. p. 7 of 9. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
18. "Victory of the Toronto fifteen by 24 points to 4". The Toronto Mail. October 27, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
19. "Note and comment". The Toronto Mail. November 3, 1884. p. 6 of 8. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
20. "Football". The Montreal Gazette. November 15, 1884. p. 8 of 8. Retrieved July 13, 2020.