Wikipedia

1961 CFL season

The 1961 CFL season is considered to be the eighth season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the fourth Canadian Football League season.

1961 CFL season
DurationJune – October, 1961
East championsHamilton Tiger-Cats
West championsWinnipeg Blue Bombers
49th Grey Cup
DateDecember 2, 1961
VenueExhibition Stadium, Toronto
ChampionsWinnipeg Blue Bombers
CFL seasons
← 1960
1962 →
Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
1000km
620miles
Alouettes
Rough Riders
Argonauts
Tiger-Cats
Blue Bombers
Roughriders
Eskimos
Stampeders
.
Lions
Canadian Football League team locations: West, East

The season was notable for being the first in which all CFL teams played each other during the regular season. In the previous three seasons the Eastern and Western sections, despite being formally unified in a single "League," they had maintained separate regular season schedules and playoff schedules.

CFL News in 1961

edit

The Western Canada Intercollegiate Rugby Union merged with the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union.

The WIFU changed its name to become the Western Football Conference.

The CFL season schedule was partially interlocked to allow teams of the Eastern Football Conference to play regular season games against the teams of the Western Football Conference. Beginning this season, teams played opponents in their own conference three times and opponents in the other conference once, meaning the length of the regular season remained unchanged in both conferences (i.e. sixteen games for Western teams and fourteen games for Eastern teams). The format remained as such until 1974 when the Eastern Conference extended its schedule to sixteen games.

A third consecutive year of interleague exhibition matches were scheduled with teams in the National Football League. As in 1959 and 1960, both CFL teams lost, with the Toronto Argonauts falling to the St. Louis Cardinals, 36–7, on August 2, and the Montreal Alouettes losing to the Chicago Bears, 34–16, on August 5). The Hamilton Tiger-Cats had a better idea for success: challenge the nascent American Football League to a duel. The Tiger-Cats faced off against their cross-border "rivals", the Buffalo Bills, on August 8. The Tiger-Cats defeated the Bills, 38–21, giving the Canadian league its first win over an American team since 1941. The AFL, embarrassed over the loss, declined to play another international game, and with the CFL consistently losing to NFL teams, the CFL ended international competition.

The 49th edition of the Grey Cup went to overtime for the first time at Toronto's CNE Stadium. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers won championship over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 21–14.

The CFL made rule changes for the 1962 season, permitting four defensive backs per team to have unlimited blocking during rushing plays, as long as they are lined up outside the ends. Additionally the tackle-eligible play became illegal.

Regular season standings

edit

Final regular season standings

edit

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

Western Football Conference
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 13 3 0 360 251 26
Edmonton Eskimos 16 10 5 1 334 257 21
Calgary Stampeders 16 7 9 0 300 311 14
Saskatchewan Roughriders 16 5 10 1 211 314 11
BC Lions 16 1 13 2 215 393 4
Eastern Football Conference
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 14 10 4 0 340 293 20
Ottawa Rough Riders 14 8 6 0 359 285 16
Toronto Argonauts 14 7 6 1 255 258 15
Montreal Alouettes 14 4 9 1 213 225 9
  • Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
  • Winnipeg and Hamilton have first round byes.

Grey Cup playoffs

edit

Note: All dates in 1961

Conference Semi-Finals

edit
Western Semi-Finals
Edmonton Eskimos vs Calgary Stampeders
Game Date Away Home
1 November 11 Edmonton Eskimos 8 Calgary Stampeders 10
2 November 13 Calgary Stampeders 17 Edmonton Eskimos 18
Calgary won the total-point series by 27–26
Eastern Semi-Finals
Toronto Argonauts @ Ottawa Rough Riders
Date Away Home
November 11 Toronto Argonauts 43 Ottawa Rough Riders 19

Conference Finals

edit
Western Finals
Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Calgary Stampeders
Game Date Away Home
1 November 18 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 14 Calgary Stampeders 1
2 November 22 Calgary Stampeders 14 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 43
Winnipeg wins the best of three series 2–0
Eastern Finals
Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs Toronto Argonauts
Game Date Away Home
1 November 18 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 7 Toronto Argonauts 25
2 (OT) November 25 Toronto Argonauts 2 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 48
Hamilton won total-point series by 55–27

Playoff bracket

edit
Division Semifinals Division Finals 49th Grey Cup
         
E1 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 55
(7+48)
East
E3 Toronto Argonauts 27
(25+2)
E2 Ottawa Rough Riders 19
E3 Toronto Argonauts 43
E1 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 14
W1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 21 (OT)
W1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 2
(14,43)
West
W3 Calgary Stampeders 0
(1,14)
W2 Edmonton Eskimos 26
(8+18)
W3 Calgary Stampeders 27
(10+17)

[1]

Grey Cup Championship

edit
December 2

49th Annual Grey Cup Game: Exhibition Stadium – Toronto

Western Champion Eastern Champion
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 21 (OT) Hamilton Tiger-Cats 14
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the 1961 Grey Cup Champions

The 1961 Grey Cup was the first CFL championship game to be decided in overtime. The 2005, 2016, and 2021 Grey Cups were also decided in overtime. It also marked the fourth time in five years that the championship was decided between the Blue Bombers and Tiger-Cats.[2]

CFL Leaders

edit

1961 Eastern All-Stars

edit

Offence

edit

Defence

edit

1961 Western All-Stars

edit

Offence

edit

Defence

edit

1961 CFL Awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "1961".
  2. ^ "1961 Grey Cup Classic". CBC. November 8, 2002.
  3. ^ "CFLapedia".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1961_CFL_season&oldid=1242370336"