Vanier Cup


The Vanier Cup is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, the former Governor General of Canada and was first awarded in 1965 to the winner of an invitational event contested between two teams that were selected by a panel. In 1967, the trophy was declared the official "CIAU National Football Championship" and a playoff system was instituted. From its creation until 1982, it was known as the Canadian College Bowl. The game typically occurs in late November, although it is occasionally played in December.
The Laval Rouge et Or have won the most Vanier Cups, while the Western Mustangs have the most appearances. Seventeen teams have won the Vanier Cup, while three others have played for the championship but never won. There are seven active teams that have never appeared in the championship game. The 55th Vanier Cup was played on November 23, 2019 at Stade Telus in Quebec City. The Calgary Dinos defeated the Montreal Carabins 27-13 to win their fifth championship.

History

The Vanier Cup was created in 1965 as the championship trophy of the Canadian College Bowl. For the first two years of competition, the Canadian College Bowl was an invitational event, with a national panel selecting two teams to play, similar to other U.S. collegiate bowl games. In 1967, the Canadian College Bowl was declared the national football championship of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union, later Canadian Interuniversity Sport and now U Sports, with a playoff system determining the two participants.
The Vanier Cup was played in Toronto, Ontario, from its inception in 1965 through 2003. However, after the CIS opened the game to host conference bids in 2001, the possibility arose to have games held outside Toronto. As of 2016, 41 of the 52 Vanier Cups have been played in Toronto, five in Québec City, four in Hamilton, one in Saskatoon, one in Vancouver and one in Montréal. No games have been staged in the Atlantic region. Four times, the game has been played in the same city and during the same weekend as the Grey Cup: 1973, 2007 and 2012 in Toronto and in 2011 in Vancouver at BC Place Stadium.
in Quebec City.
The Vanier Cup is played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. The Uteck and Mitchell Bowls, in turn, are contested by the Loney Bowl, Hardy Cup, Dunsmore Cup, and Yates Cup champions.
The Vanier Cup's most valuable player is awarded the Ted Morris Memorial Trophy. It was first awarded at the first championship in 1965 and named in honour of Teddy Morris, who died the same year. Morris, a Hall of Fame former Toronto Argonauts player and coach, was an organizer of the first bowl and champion for developing Canadian players.
The Bruce Coulter Award was first awarded in 1992 and is dependent on what position the winner of the Ted Morris Trophy played. If the winner is from the offence, then the Bruce Coulter Award winner will be the most outstanding defensive player or vice versa. It was named after Bruce Coulter, long-time Head Coach at Bishop's University and former offensive and defensive player with the Montreal Alouettes in the 1950s. Coulter was inducted as a builder in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
The Vanier Cup final game is regularly broadcast nationally. From 1965 though 1976 it was broadcast on CBC Television, from 1977 through 1988 it was broadcast on the CTV Television Network. In 1989, TSN acquired rights to the game, lasting through to 2012.
In November 2010, the rights to the Vanier Cup were purchased by sports marketing company MRX. The 2011 game was held in Vancouver, on the same weekend as the 99th Grey Cup and for the first time it was fully integrated into the Grey Cup Festival as a festival event.
In 2012, the 48th Vanier Cup, played between Laval and McMaster at Rogers Centre in Toronto became both the most attended and most watched Vanier Cup ever. Held the same weekend and in the same city as the 100th Grey Cup, the game was attended by 37,098. The previous record was set in 1989 at the 25th Vanier Cup, when 32,847 watched the game between Western and Saskatchewan that was also played at SkyDome. The game, broadcast on TSN and RDS was watched by 910,000.
In February 2013, the CIS terminated the option years on their agreement with MRX opting for an open bid process for the hosting of the game. Laval University, in Quebec City, was the only bidder for the game and won the right to host the 49th Vanier Cup. In May, CIS terminated its agreement with TSN, and entered into a six-year deal with Sportsnet to broadcast its championships, including the Vanier Cup.
The switch in venues, the decoupling of the Vanier Cup from Grey Cup week, and the change in broadcaster, led to a precipitous drop in attendance and viewership. A total of 301,000 viewers watched Laval defeat the Calgary Dinos 25-14 Saturday, November 23, which was a decline of 64 per cent from the previous year. A standing room crowd of 18,543 were on hand at the Telus Stadium which was a decline of 50 per cent from the previous year in Toronto. In 2019, after several more years of declines, the Vanier Cup returned to CBC.
On June 8, 2020, U Sports announced that all fall athletics championships for the 2020-21 season had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Championships

;Key
Note: All Ted Morris Trophy and Bruce Coulter Award winners played for the winning team, unless otherwise noted.
GameDateChampionScoreRunner UpStadiumCityTed Morris Memorial Trophy
Bruce Coulter Award
1stNovember 20, 1965Toronto14–7AlbertaVarsity StadiumTorontoGerry Sternberg—
2ndNovember 19, 1966St. F.X.40–14Waterloo LutheranVarsity StadiumTorontoTerry Gorman—
3rdNovember 25, 1967Alberta10–9McMasterVarsity StadiumTorontoVal Schneider—
4thNovember 22, 1968Queen's42–14Waterloo LutheranVarsity StadiumTorontoDon Bayne—
5thNovember 21, 1969Manitoba24–15McGillVarsity StadiumTorontoBob Kraemer—
6thNovember 21, 1970Manitoba 38–11OttawaVarsity StadiumTorontoMike Shylo—
7thNovember 20, 1971Western15–14AlbertaVarsity StadiumTorontoBob McGregor—
8thNovember 25, 1972Alberta 20–7Waterloo LutheranVarsity StadiumTorontoRoger Comartin
Andy MacLeod		—
9thNovember 24, 1973Saint Mary's14–6McGillExhibition StadiumTorontoKen Clark—
10thNovember 22, 1974Western 19–15TorontoExhibition StadiumTorontoIan Bryans—
11thNovember 21, 1975Ottawa14–9CalgaryExhibition StadiumTorontoNeil Lumsden—
12thNovember 19, 1976Western 29–13AcadiaVarsity StadiumTorontoBill Rozalowsky—
13thNovember 19, 1977Western 48–15AcadiaVarsity StadiumTorontoBill Rozalowsky—
14thNovember 18, 1978Queen's 16–3UBCVarsity StadiumTorontoEd Andrew—
15thNovember 17, 1979Acadia34–12WesternVarsity StadiumTorontoDon Ross—
16thNovember 29, 1980Alberta 40–21OttawaVarsity StadiumTorontoForrest Kennerd—
17thNovember 28, 1981Acadia 18–12AlbertaVarsity StadiumTorontoSteve Repic—
18thNovember 20, 1982UBC39–14WesternVarsity StadiumTorontoGlenn Steele—
19thNovember 19, 1983Calgary31–21Queen'sVarsity StadiumTorontoTim Petros—
20thNovember 24, 1984Guelph22–13Mount AllisonVarsity StadiumTorontoParri Ceci—
21stNovember 30, 1985Calgary 25–6WesternVarsity StadiumTorontoLew Lawrick—
22ndNovember 22, 1986UBC 25–23WesternVarsity StadiumTorontoEric Putoto—
23rdNovember 21, 1987McGill47–11UBCVarsity StadiumTorontoMichael Soles—
24thNovember 19, 1988Calgary 52–23Saint Mary'sVarsity StadiumTorontoSean Furlong—
25thNovember 18, 1989Western 35–10SaskatchewanSkyDomeTorontoTyrone Williams—
26thNovember 24, 1990Saskatchewan24–21Saint Mary'sSkyDomeTorontoDavid Earl—
27thNovember 30, 1991Wilfrid Laurier25–18Mount AllisonSkyDomeTorontoAndy Cecchini—
28thNovember 21, 1992Queen's 31–0Saint Mary'sSkyDomeTorontoBrad ElbergEric Dell
29thNovember 20, 1993Toronto 37–34CalgarySkyDomeTorontoGlenn McCauslandRob Schrauth
30thNovember 19, 1994Western 50–40 SaskatchewanSkyDomeTorontoBrent SchneiderXavier Lafont
31stNovember 25, 1995Calgary 54–24WesternSkyDomeTorontoDon BlairRob Richards
32ndNovember 30, 1996Saskatchewan 31–12St. F.X.SkyDomeTorontoBrent SchneiderWarren Muzika
33rdNovember 22, 1997UBC 39–23OttawaSkyDomeTorontoStewart ScherckMark Nohra
34thNovember 28, 1998Saskatchewan 24–17ConcordiaSkyDomeTorontoTrevor LudtkeDoug Rozon
35thNovember 27, 1999Laval14–10Saint Mary'sSkyDomeTorontoStéphane LefebvreFrancesco Pepe Esposito
36thDecember 2, 2000Ottawa 42–39ReginaSkyDomeTorontoPhill CôtéScott Gordon
37thDecember 1, 2001Saint Mary's 42–16ManitobaSkyDomeTorontoRyan JonesKyl Morrison
38thNovember 23, 2002Saint Mary's 33–21SaskatchewanSkyDomeTorontoSteve PanellaJoe Bonaventura
39thNovember 22, 2003Laval 14–7Saint Mary'sSkyDomeTorontoJeronimo Huerta-FloresPhilippe Audet
40thNovember 27, 2004Laval SaskatchewanIvor Wynne StadiumHamiltonMatthew LeblancMatthieu Proulx
41stDecember 3, 2005Wilfrid Laurier 24–23SaskatchewanIvor Wynne StadiumHamiltonRyan PyearDavid Montoya
42ndNovember 25, 2006Laval 13–8SaskatchewanGriffiths StadiumSaskatoonÉric MarandaSamuel Grégoire-Champagne
43rdNovember 23, 2007Manitoba 28–14Saint Mary'sRogers CentreTorontoMike HowardJohn Makie
44thNovember 22, 2008Laval 44–21WesternIvor Wynne StadiumHamiltonJulian Féoli-GudinoMarc-Antoine L. Fortin
45thNovember 28, 2009Queen's 33–31CalgaryStade du PEPSQuébec CityDanny BrannaganChris Smith
46thNovember 27, 2010Laval 29–2CalgaryStade du PEPSQuébec CitySébastien LevesqueMarc-Antoine Beaudoin-Cloutier
47thNovember 25, 2011McMaster41–38 LavalBC PlaceVancouverKyle QuinlanAram Eisho
48thNovember 23, 2012Laval 37–14McMasterRogers CentreTorontoMaxime BoutinArnaud Gascon-Nadon
49thNovember 23, 2013Laval 25–14CalgaryStade TelusQuébec CityPascal LochardVincent Desloges
50thNovember 29, 2014Montréal20–19McMasterMolson StadiumMontrealRegis CibasuAnthony Coady
51stNovember 28, 2015UBC 26–23MontréalStade TelusQuébec CityMichael O'ConnorStavros Katsantonis
52ndNovember 26, 2016Laval 31–26CalgaryTim Hortons FieldHamiltonHugo RichardCédric Lussier-Roy
53rdNovember 25, 2017Western 39-17LavalTim Hortons FieldHamiltonChris MerchantFraser Sopik
54thNovember 24, 2018Laval 34-20WesternStade TelusQuebec CityHugo RichardAdam Auclair
55thNovember 23, 2019Calgary 27-13MontréalStade TelusQuebec CityAdam SinagraRedha Kramdi

A. Bob McGregor, Ted Morris Trophy winner in 1971, played for the runner-up team.

B. In the 1972 game, the Vanier Cup Committee and Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union officials decided to crown co-winners from the same school.

C. Rob Schrauth, Bruce Coulter Award winner in 1993, played for the runner-up team.

D. Brent Schneider, Ted Morris Trophy winner in 1994, played for the runner-up team.

Vanier Cup appearances

AppearancesTeamHometownConferenceWinsLossesWin %Most Recent Appearance
14Western MustangsLondon, OntarioOUA77.5002018
12Laval Rouge et OrQuebec City, QuebecRSEQ/OQIFC102.8332018
11Calgary DinosCalgary, AlbertaCanWest56.4552019
9Saint Mary's HuskiesHalifax, Nova ScotiaAUS36.3332007
9Saskatchewan HuskiesSaskatoon, SaskatchewanCanWest36.3332006
6UBC ThunderbirdsVancouver, British ColumbiaCanWest42.6672015
6Alberta Golden BearsEdmonton, AlbertaCanWest33.5001981
5Queen's Golden GaelsKingston, OntarioOUA/OQIFC41.8002009
5Wilfrid Laurier Golden HawksWaterloo, OntarioOUA23.4002005
5Ottawa Gee-GeesOttawa, OntarioOUA/OQIFC23.4002000
4Manitoba BisonsWinnipeg, ManitobaCanWest31.7502007
4Acadia AxemenWolfville, Nova ScotiaAUS22.5001981
4McMaster MaraudersHamilton, OntarioOUA13.2502014
3Toronto Varsity BluesToronto, OntarioOUA21.6671993
3McGill RedmenMontreal, QuebecRSEQ/OQIFC12.3331987
3Montréal CarabinsMontreal, QuebecRSEQ12.3332019
2St. Francis Xavier X-MenAntigonish, Nova ScotiaAUS11.5001996
2Mount Allison MountiesSackville, New BrunswickAUS02.0001991
1Guelph GryphonsGuelph, OntarioOUA101.0001984
1Concordia StingersMontreal, QuebecRSEQ/OQIFC01.0001998
1Regina RamsRegina, SaskatchewanCanWest01.0002000

E. The Wilfrid Laurier record includes three games played as Waterloo Lutheran.
Six active teams have never played for the Vanier Cup: Bishop's Gaiters, Carleton Ravens, Sherbrooke Vert-et-Or, Waterloo Warriors, Windsor Lancers, and York Lions/Yeomen.