Alberta Rugby Football Union

The Alberta Rugby Football Union was formed on September 25, 1911, and governed the newly emerging and evolving sport of football in the province for over 2 decades before it was disbanded in 1936.^[1] First the Calgary Rugby Football Union (CRFU) was created on September 29, 1908.^[2]^[3] The CRFU would play the champion from Edmonton to determine the winner of the Alberta Rugby Football League for 4 seasons from 1907 to 1910. After that the Alberta Rugby Football Union was formed in 1911. It joined the Manitoba Rugby Football Union and the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union to form the Western Canada Rugby Football Union (WCRFU) in 1911.^[3]^[4]

Alberta Rugby Football Union teams won three WCRFU championships and lost two Grey Cup games in 22 years of competition.

With the formation of the WCRFU in 1911, the ARFU Champion would compete in a playoff with the winners of the other Western Canadian unions to determine the WCRFU Champion. After reaching an agreement with the Eastern Canadian based Canadian Rugby Union in 1921, the WCRFU was able to compete in the Grey Cup Championship game. That year, the AFRU champion Edmonton Eskimos (no relation to the modern team) won the WCRFU championship to become the first ever western team to compete for the Grey Cup.^[5]

Teams

Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club + Edmonton Esquimaux + Eskimos + Elks - 1911 to 1913 & 1920 to 1924 & 1928 to 1929
Calgary Rugby Foot-ball Club + Calgary Tigers + 50th Battalions + Altomahs - 1911 to 1914 & 1919 to 1920 & 1928 to 1934
Calgary Canucks - 1915 & 1919 to 1920
University of Alberta Varsity + Polar Bears + Golden Bears - 1913 to 1921 & 1923 & 1925 to 1926 & 1928 to 1930 & 1932 to 1936
Calgary Bronks - 1935 to 1936
Calgary YMCA - 1908 to 1910 & 1912
Calgary Rough Riders - 1911
Hillhurst Hornets - 1908 to 1909
Calgary Rugby Club - 1921
Edmonton YMCA - 1911
Edmonton Civics - 1914
Edmonton Canucks - 1919
Edmonton Harlequins - 1922
Edmonton Boosters - 1930 to 1932
Edmonton Hi-Grads - 1936
Lethbridge Bulldogs - 1934 to 1936

Champions

1891 Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club
1896 Calgary City Rugby Football Club
1899 Edmonton Rugby Football Club
1907 Alberta Rugby Football League - Edmonton City Rugby Foot-Ball Club
1908 Alberta Rugby Football League - Edmonton Esquimaux
1909 Alberta Rugby Football League - Calgary Tigers
1910 Alberta Rugby Football League - Calgary Tigers
- Start of Alberta Rugby Football Union
1911 Calgary Tigers - WCRFU Champions
1912 Calgary Tigers
1913 Edmonton Eskimos
1914 University of Alberta Varsity
1915 Calgary Canucks
1916 ARFU season suspended (World War I)
1917 ARFU season suspended (World War I)
1918 ARFU season suspended (World War I)
1919 Calgary Canucks
1920 Calgary Tigers
1921 Edmonton Eskimos - 9th Grey Cup
1922 Edmonton Elks - 10th Grey Cup
1923 Edmonton Eskimos
1924 Calgary 50th Battalion
1925 University of Alberta Polar Bears
1926 University of Alberta Polar Bears (declared provincial champions)
1927 No senior football played in Alberta
1928 Edmonton Eskimos^[5]
1929 Calgary Tigers
1930 Calgary Tigers
1931 Calgary Altomah-Tigers
1932 Calgary Altomahs
1933 Calgary Altomahs
1934 University of Alberta Golden Bears
1935 Calgary Bronks
1936 Calgary Bronks "B" side^[6]

TOTALS

9 - Calgary Tigers + 50th Battalions + Altomahs
5 - Edmonton Esquimaux + Eskimos + Elks
4 - University of Alberta Varsity + Polar Bears + Golden Bears
2 - Calgary Bronks + Bronks "B" side
2 - Calgary Canucks

References

^ The Alberta Rugby Football Union: CFLdb
^ "Rugby Union in History". On This Day.com. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
^ ^a ^b News: Alberta Rugby Football Union http://iphone.fairelaissez.com/news/Alberta-Rugby-Football-Union.html^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2012-01-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ ^a ^b "HISTORY OF THE EDMONTON ESKIMOS". Canadian Football League. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
^ The Calgary Daily Herald - Oct 26, 1936