Toronto, ON – It’s not often that I get inspired to write something off of just one tweet but something interesting popped up on my Twitter feed after the Montréal Alouettes 28-24 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup last Sunday.
It’s an interesting question, with one U SPORTS football program in Vancouver, two in Toronto, three in Montréal, one in Winnipeg, two in Ottawa, one in Hamilton, one in Regina, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton, the odds are that it has had to happen a few times that the Grey Cup and Vanier Cup have been won by the same city….right?
The answer is actually a lot less than you might think.
Just nine times previous times in the history of the two top prizes in Canadian football (not including this season), have there been representatives from the same city in the Vanier Cup and the Grey Cup. The most recent example coming in 2016 when the Calgary Dinos dropped a 31-26 decision in the Vanier Cup to Laval while the Calgary Stampeders dropped a 39-33 game in overtime to the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
There have been numerous examples of one side winning and the other losing, Manitoba took the 2007 Vanier Cup over Saint Mary’s but watched the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lose in the Grey Cup to Saskatchewan. Two years later Calgary took the Grey Cup over Montréal but saw the Dinos lose to Queen’s in the Vanier Cup.
There exists just one example in the 58 years of the Vanier Cup being played along with the Grey Cup where a city won both titles,
It came back in 1980 in Edmonton with the then Edmonton Eskimos and the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
The 1980 Edmonton Eskimos
Back in 1980, the Edmonton Eskimos were the team to beat in the CFL. In the middle of their five year dynasty run of consecutive Grey Cup title between 1978 and 1983, the Eskimos cruised through the Western Division with a 13-3 record. Edmonton fans will remember the names. All-time great Warren Moon led the offence at quarterback, throwing 25 touchdown passes and 3127 yards. Six-time CFL All Star Brian Kelley was the man out wide and back-to-back in 1979 and 1980 Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Michael Wilson provided protection.
Defensively it was the era of the famed “Alberta Crude” defence with players like Dave “Dr. Death” Fennell and Dan Kepley helping the Eskimos to a league low 281 points on the season.
In the playoffs the Eskimos got a bye to the divisional finals where they easily dispatched the Winnipeg Blue Bombers setting up a date with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1980 Grey Cup.
The 1980 Grey Cup – Edmonton 48, Hamilton 10
On the field at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Edmonton started early and did not let up. After an early Dave Cutler field goal opened the scoring for the Eskimos, five minutes later Jim Germany punched in a one-yard run to make it 10-0 for Edmonton.
A pair of Hamilton field goals cut it to 10-6 by the middle of the second quarter but Germany punched in his second rushing touchdown of the night before Warren Moon found Brian Kelly for a 75-yard connection for the major to make it 24-6. Hamilton added one more field goal to make it a 15 point game at halftime.
Into the third, the Tiger-Cats grabbed an early rouge but Moon found Tom Scott for a 19-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-10 with 10:20 to go in the third before Cutler added another field goal late to make it 34-10 after three quarters.
In the fourth it was more of the same as Moon found Scott early for his second TD of the night to make it 41-10 before backup Tom Wilkinson came in and found Scott late for a 17 yard pass to make it 48-10.
The 38 point difference in the result marked one of the largest differences in a Grey Cup until 10 years later when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers downed Edmonton 50-11 in the 1990 Grey Cup.
1980 Alberta Golden Bears
A week after the Eskimos won at Exhibition Stadium, a little farther northeast at Varsity Stadium in Toronto the Alberta Golden Bears played in the 16th Vanier Cup.
It was a surprise for most observers to see Alberta in the Vanier Cup in 1980 as it meant taking down a powerful Western Mustangs team in the Western Bowl. Powered by their future head coach but current running back and Hec Crighton Trophy winner Greg Marshall, the Mustangs looked set to overpower the Golden Bears but Alberta’s defence held Western to just four points in a 14-4 win.
That set Alberta up to face the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the Vanier Cup in Toronto. Led by 5 foot 5 quarterback Forrest Kennerd the Golden Bears dominated the Vanier Cup, ending the first half up 35-0 and eventually taking the easy 40-21 win.
Kennerd’s 316 passing yards marked a Vanier Cup record at the time, while Peter Eshenko led the way for the Golden Bears with three touchdown catches.
Their win in the 1980 Vanier Cup marks the last time the Alberta Golden Bears took the spot in Canadian university football. They got back to the final a season later but fell 18-12 to the Acadia Axemen.
So that’s a quick trip down memory lane.
It’s probably not the most important reason for why they would want to win but on Saturday thanks to the Alouettes win, the Montréal Carabins have a unique opportunity to add themselves into a a little bit of Canadian football lore if they can pull off a win over UBC in the 58th Vanier Cup.
The action kicks off at 12pm from Richardson Memorial Stadium in Kingston and can be watched here.