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126-585: The Montreal Alouettes have traditionally been given hosting duties for the opening game. This was originally started in 1997 to compensate for not being part of the Labour Day Classic festivities; Montreal and the various Ottawa franchises normally play on Labour Day when both franchises are active. The Alouettes' permanent hosting of Thanksgiving remained in place after Ottawa returned to the league in 2014. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats played CFL games annually in all but three years between 1958 and 1982, hosting

252-508: A massive collusion scandal that was rocking Major League Baseball . Eventually, Bronfman decided to focus on the Expos and made it clear he would not field a football team for the 1987 CFL season unless the Alouettes sold thousands of additional season tickets. Neither the necessary season ticket sales nor a viable ownership group willing to take the franchise off Bronfman's hands materialized. With

378-514: A 20-year career, including the last 16 with the Alouettes. On February 24, 2014, the Alouettes named former Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders coach Tom Higgins as the 21st head coach in franchise history. Higgins coached the Eskimos against the Alouettes in both the 90th and 91st Grey Cup games. The Alouettes finished with a .500 record, qualifying for the playoffs. After dismantling the BC Lions in

504-566: A berth in the Grey Cup against the visiting Calgary Stampeders led by Henry Burris . The Stampeders defeated the hometown Montreal Alouettes, 22–14, in front of over 66,000 fans. The 2009 season was a record breaking season for the Montreal Alouettes, as they set a team record for wins in a regular season, were a CFL best 15–3, and their defence was amazing, as they allowed only 324 points, second least in an 18-game season. Marc Trestman won

630-506: A better head-to-head record (having beaten the Concordes earlier in the year). The team returned to the playoffs in 1984, again doing so in a very weak East Division; only the defending champion Argos finished with a winning record. In 1985, they advanced all the way to the East Final. Their East Semifinal win over Ottawa that year was both their only home playoff game and only playoff win under

756-614: A bomber squadron operating out of North Africa and later Yorkshire, England. 425 Squadron was also the Royal Canadian Air Force's primarily French-Canadian squadron. They won their first Grey Cup championship in 1949, beating Calgary 28–15 led by quarterback Frank Filchock and running back Virgil Wagner . The 1950s were a productive decade for the Als, with quarterback Sam Etcheverry throwing passes to John "Red" O'Quinn , "Prince" Hal Patterson , and with Pat Abbruzzi carrying

882-516: A certain quota of Canadian "non-import" players on team rosters. For this reason, an expansion draft was held to help stock the Alouettes with the required number of Canadian players. Popp hired former Stallions assistant coach Bob Price to be the new head coach of the revived Alouettes. With the help of much of the core of the Stallions, the Alouettes were able to overcome a slow start to finish with their first winning record since 1979. They defeated

1008-534: A crossover match the Alouettes were beaten by the Tiger-Cats 40–24. On May 22, 2015, Michael Sam signed a two-year contract with the Alouettes. The signing made him the first openly gay player in the CFL's history. However, Michael Sam left after one game. On August 21, 2015, owner Robert Wettenhall announced he had relieved Tom Higgins of his head coaching responsibilities and that general manager Jim Popp would take over

1134-535: A crowd of 32,669. Led by quarterback Sonny Wade (who was named the game's most valuable player, and who would soon become a fan favourite in Montreal—not unlike the status his coach had enjoyed in the 1950s), halfback Moses Denson , receivers Gary Lefebvre and Tom Pullen , along with kicker George Springate , the team defeated the Calgary Stampeders 23–10 for the city's first Grey Cup since 1949, also against

1260-408: A death blow for the Alouettes. The franchise had lost at least $ 15 million under Bronfman's ownership. While Bronfman was far better financed than Skalbania, he was unwilling to spend millions of dollars underwriting his professional sports holdings indefinitely. Bronfman's overall situation was not helped by the then-emerging news that his other professional sports team, the Expos, were at the centre of

1386-488: A few other Skalbania signees to stay in Montreal. A nine-game losing streak to end the season doomed the 1982 Concordes to a 2–14 record – the worst record in franchise history (percentage points below the 1969 Als). The Concordes featured quarterback Luc Tousignant , the only Québécois quarterback to start a CFL game besides Gerry Dattilio . The club also featured star collegiate running back David Overstreet (a holdover from

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1512-469: A field large enough to accommodate the full 150-yard length and 65-yard width of a regulation CFL field. Even though they lacked an official name, the team finished second in the CFL East Division , with a 12–6 regular season record – more wins than any CFL expansion team before or since. In addition, the team was ranked third in the entire CFL in team scoring, and second in team defense. Mike Pringle

1638-458: A final score of 20–16. This would be the last game that the original Alouettes franchise would play. Skalbania was reported late in 1981 to be selling to oil magnate Pat Bowlen , who would later buy the NFL's Denver Broncos in 1984. Later in 1981, NFL coach George Allen obtained an option to purchase 51% of the club, and was named Alouettes' president. While holding both the option and the post, Allen

1764-482: A game-tying touchdown pass from Calvillo with a minute left in the game, giving Toronto a 27–20 win. Before the 2013 season, coach Marc Trestman left the Alouettes for the NFL, becoming the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Dan Hawkins , who had no pro experience, was hired as head coach. After starting the season with a 2–3 record, Jim Popp fired Hawkins, and coached the team for the rest of the year. Calvillo suffered

1890-590: A lower-case "a." As one might expect from a team that had won only two games in 1969, many new players were brought in. The changes paid immediate dividends. Although the team finished third in the East, they defeated the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the playoffs. The 1970 season culminated when the Alouettes won the 58th Grey Cup , played on November 28 at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium before

2016-604: A new South Division , while the Canadian teams would reside in the North Division. Just before the start of the 1995 season, a name-the-team fan poll was held to decide a new team name. After the team finished the first week of its second season still calling itself "the Baltimore Football Club", the fan poll ended; Speros publicly announced that Baltimore's team would be known as the "Baltimore Stallions" . The name change

2142-610: A new contract with a no-trade clause; as a result, Etcheverry was now a free agent. The deal was reworked and Patterson was traded for Paquette. Sam Etcheverry went on to play in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals for 2 years (1961 and 1962) followed by the San Francisco 49ers in 1963. Faloney remained in Hamilton, and teamed with Patterson to form one of the most deadly quarterback-receiver combinations in CFL history. This episode remains one of

2268-480: A nine-year hiatus of CFL football in the city. The current Alouettes franchise was established in 1996 by the owners of the Baltimore Stallions . The Stallions were disbanded at the same time as the Alouettes' re-establishment after having been the most successful of the CFL's American expansion franchises, culminating in a Grey Cup championship in 1995. Many players from the Stallions' 1995 roster signed with

2394-755: A popular NFL team that suddenly moved literally overnight to Indianapolis in 1984. The former Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL) nominally represented Baltimore in spring 1985. However, after being blocked from Memorial Stadium , the Colts' old home, due to objections from the Major League Baseball Baltimore Orioles , they were forced to play well outside the city bounds in College Park . The Stars had planned to move to Memorial Stadium in fall 1986, but

2520-514: A prominent sponsor of the Alouettes, Bombardier refused to have anything to do with a football team named for an aircraft built by one of its competitors, the French-based Aérospatiale . The Concordes inherited the franchise history and records of the 1946–1981 Alouettes, as well as the CFL rights of all Alouettes players. Bronfman retained most of the Alouettes' coaching staff, including recently hired head coach Joe Galat , and most of

2646-402: A replacement franchise on short notice if the Alouettes ceased operations. On May 14, 1982, a day after the original Alouettes franchise folded, the CFL granted the Montreal franchise rights to Bronfman. However, Skalbania continued to assert ownership of the Montreal Alouettes name, logos and related intellectual property even though he had given up the franchise. Rather than risk a lawsuit from

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2772-525: A season-ending concussion in Saskatchewan on a hit by Ricky Foley . Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith , Tanner Marsh and Josh Neiswander played at quarterback for the Alouettes for the remainder of the season. The team had an 8–10 record, and made the playoffs for an 18th straight year. They lost the East Semi-Final against the Tiger-Cats. Anthony Calvillo announced his retirement on January 21, after

2898-453: A stadium that was suitable even for temporary use. At the time, the CFL was lukewarm to the possibility of expanding or re-locating to U.S. markets (the CFL's U.S. expansion experiment did not come until six years later). The Alouettes played both of their two preseason games on the road. However, Bronfman was at the end of his tether and folded the new Alouettes on June 24, 1987, just a day before

3024-568: A streak of 4 straight losses in Grey Cups. The 2010 season was another good season for Montreal, as they went 12–6 and became the first team since the 1997 Toronto Argonauts to repeat as Grey Cup Champions. They played against the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the second straight year, and won the game, 21–18, repeating as champs. The 2011 season was another record breaking year for Anthony Calvillo, as he broke numerous records, all against

3150-510: A team from another league in the same city. The NFL would return to Houston in 2002 in the form of the Texans . In the end, under prodding from league commissioner and former Alouettes running back Larry Smith , Speros began talks with Montreal. Smith had been looking for a way to return the CFL to Canada's second-largest market and, at the same time, find a way out of the failing American expansion (which Smith had also presided over). He believed that

3276-525: A team in Houston would have been natural rivals for the San Antonio Texans , who were still planning to play the 1996 season had at least one other U.S. team survived. On the other hand, the proposed move to Houston was considered in some circles to be little more than a ploy to win concessions from the NFL, which presumably would not have wanted to risk the embarrassment of having one of its teams outdrawn by

3402-565: The "Baltimore CFL Colts" in its inaugural season) were a Canadian Football League team based in Baltimore, Maryland , in the United States, which played the 1994 and 1995 seasons . They were the most successful American team in the CFL's southern expansion into the United States , and by at least one account, the most winning expansion team in North American professional sports history at

3528-464: The 1987 regular season started. The league had been well-aware of this possibility for months, and immediately released a previously-drafted eight-team schedule. However, the Alouettes' demise came so late that the June 28 Washington Post still announced an ESPN broadcast of an Alouettes– Stampeders game, a game that would never be played. To balance out the divisions, the easternmost-West Division team,

3654-416: The 2006 season Matthews left his position as head coach near the end of the season because of health reasons, and Jim Popp took over for the rest of the season, leading the team to the Grey Cup, where they lost 25–14 to the B.C Lions. Popp stayed on to coach the team during the 2007 season , and the team suffered its first losing season since coming back to Montreal in 1996, with an 8–10 record, hindered by

3780-434: The 2019 CFL season . If the proposal had taken effect, Thanksgiving Day weekend would have overlaped with the CFL's division championship games. While this change was not implemented and the season schedule remained the same, the league did not schedule any Thanksgiving Day games in 2019. The league has indicated that such a schedule change would have needed to be negotiated in the league's collective bargaining agreement with

3906-687: The Baltimore area and appearing in the Grey Cup in both its seasons, losing in 1994 and winning in 1995. To date, they are the only American-based team to play for and win the Grey Cup. Only a week before the Stallions won the Grey Cup, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to relocate his NFL club to Baltimore. Support for the Stallions dried up almost overnight. With no reasonable prospect of successfully competing with an NFL team, and unwilling to have his club effectively reduced to "minor-league" status in Baltimore, Speros decided to move

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4032-531: The Canadian Football League during their American expansion of the early-mid 1990s. After the NFL's Indianapolis Colts (who had moved from Baltimore in 1983) blocked attempts to name the new team the Baltimore CFL Colts, owner Jim Speros eventually settled on Stallions as a nickname. The Stallions were by far the most successful of the CFL's American teams, garnering strong fan support in

4158-462: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East semifinal before being defeated by the Argos 43–7 in the East Final. In 1997, Speros sold the team to developer and investor Robert Wetenhall , who owned the team until he officially transferred ownership to the league on May 31, 2019. Smith stepped down as league commissioner and became president of the Alouettes. Bob Price left the Alouettes to head south and coach in

4284-608: The National Football League , (NFL) to move his franchise to Baltimore for the 1996 season. The Stallions ownership group knew they had no reasonable prospect of successfully competing with the overwhelmingly more popular brand in their home country. Even before the agreement with Modell became official within a month of the Stallions' Grey Cup triumph, Stallions owner Jim Speros was actively seeking to re-locate his team elsewhere. Speros ultimately chose to move his football organization to Montreal , reconstituting itself as

4410-518: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers , moved to the East Division to take the Alouettes' place (along with this, the "cross-over rule" for the playoffs was scrapped until 1997). The CFL held a dispersal draft for the Alouettes players. Some of the players left out of work by the team's demise (both on the Alouettes and players on other CFL teams who were cut to make room for former Alouettes) played in

4536-480: The players' association . The CBA at the time expired in 2019; at the same time, the league renewed its existing agreement with ESPN , making a schedule change unnecessary, and the new CBA approved that year made no provision for a change. Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes ( French : Les Alouettes de Montréal ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal , Quebec . Founded in 1946,

4662-527: The 1850s. The Alouettes were first formed in 1946 by Canadian Football Hall of Famer Lew Hayman along with businessmen Eric Cradock and Léo Dandurand . They named themselves after "Alouette" , a work song about plucking the feathers from a skylark , which had become a symbol of the Québécois . The origin of the team's name also comes from the Second World War-era No. 425 "Alouette" Squadron ,

4788-535: The 1970s; appearing in six Grey Cup Finals through that decade, they won in 1970, 1974 and 1977, while losing in 1975, 1978 and 1979 (all against the Edmonton Eskimos). After their collapse in 1982, they were immediately reconstituted under new ownership as the Montreal Concordes. After playing for four years as the Concordes, they revived the Alouettes name for the 1986 season. A second folding in 1987 led to

4914-494: The 1981 Alouettes) who rushed for 190 yards in six games before ending his season on the injured reserve list. Other stars on the club included quarterback Johnny Evans, quarterback Turner Gill , slot back Nick Arakgi , running back Lester Brown , wide receiver Brian DeRoo, local kick returner Denny Ferdinand , defensive tackle Glen Weir , safety Preston Young , defensive end Gordon Judges , kicker-punter Don Sweet , and linebacker William Hampton . The team slowly rebounded on

5040-545: The 1995 season, the CFL decided to disband three of its five American franchises and return to its traditional East– West divisional alignment for the 1996 season. The two remaining American teams, Baltimore and San Antonio, were to be placed in the CFL's East Division. However, this strategy collapsed on the week of the South Division final, when longtime Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced he would be moving his team to Baltimore . Speros had initially not believed

5166-419: The Alouettes and formed the core of the team's 1996 roster. For record-keeping purposes, the CFL considers all clubs that have played in Montreal as one franchise dating to 1946, and considers the Alouettes to have suspended operations in 1987 before returning in 1996. Although the Alouettes' re-establishment in 1996 is often considered a relocation of the Stallions, neither the league nor the Alouettes recognize

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5292-560: The Alouettes started to change during the 1998 season , when they acquired a young free agent quarterback from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Anthony Calvillo , and they drafted slotback Ben Cahoon . Tracy Ham and Mike Pringle led the team to a second-place finish, but they suffered a last-second loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final. The Alouettes finally broke through in 1999, under new head coach Charlie Taaffe , winning their first division title since 1979. However, for

5418-454: The Alouettes' front office personnel. In an effort to bring the team's expenses under control, Bronfmam released the former NFL players signed by Skalbania. While many players returned to the U.S., one factor working in Bronfman's favour was that a players' strike was looming in the NFL (which would last 57 days from September to November), which helped persuade star quarterback Johnny Evans and

5544-504: The Argonauts. During their first meeting Calvillo broke the CFL all time touchdown passes record of 394 TD passes on a pass to Eric Deslauriers , Damon Allen was at the game at Molson Stadium and personally congratulated him on breaking his record. He tied Allen's record in Regina the week before with the only touchdown pass ever caught by Tim Maypray . During the teams' second meeting, he broke

5670-494: The Autostade and into Olympic Stadium midway through the 1976 season and attendance shot up. In 1977 , the Als had a very successful year both on the field and at the box office, winning the Grey Cup at their home field before a Grey Cup-record 68,318 fans (a CFL record that still stands as of 2023). They also averaged 59,595 fans per game at the "Big O" during the regular season, a league record that also still stands. However,

5796-793: The Baltimore Colts' great Johnny Unitas . Speros's approach to building the team was simple. He knew Canadian football was very different from the American game , so he made a point of hiring personnel and players with CFL experience. In contrast, the other American CFL teams stocked their rosters with former NFL players, former college football players, and locally-known players. Speros hired career CFL assistant Jim Popp as general manager, and named longtime CFL coach Don Matthews as head coach. Popp and Matthews, in turn, brought in experienced CFL players like QB Tracy Ham , RB Mike Pringle , LB O. J. Brigance , DT Jearld Baylis , DE Elfrid Payton . One of

5922-444: The Baltimore franchise, or its records, as part of the Alouettes' official team history. The latest incarnation of the Alouettes were arguably the best CFL team of the 2000s; they acceded to every Grey Cup Finals of the decade (except in 2001, 2004 and 2007) taking home three Grey Cups in the process and bringing the franchise total to seven. The Alouettes had from 1996 to 2014 the CFL's longest active playoff streak, only having missed

6048-446: The CFL out of resentment towards the NFL, or even just as a means of pressuring the NFL to return. Whatever the case, the loss of support was so dramatic that the Stallions were forced to basically give away tickets for the South Division final. Even the Grey Cup victory celebration at Inner Harbor went almost unnoticed in the local media and the press, despite a few local dignitaries such as Mayor Kurt Schmoke attending. Even after

6174-646: The Classic for the 2020 CFL season , with one game being played on Thanksgiving Day. However, due to financial issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada , the entire 2020 CFL season was cancelled and this game was not played. Despite Canadian Thanksgiving being a legal holiday in the United States ( Columbus Day at the time), none of the CFL's American teams ever played the Thanksgiving Day Classic during

6300-492: The Concordes banner; 1984 and 1985 were the only playoff appearances for the franchise from 1982 to 1986. However, as in 1984, they made the playoffs in an extremely weak East Division; the Concordes and Ti-Cats both finished with identical 8–8 records, with the Ti-Cats getting the division title by virtue of sweeping the season series. No other team in the division even managed a .500 record. However, attendance did not keep pace with

6426-491: The Lions (due to the CFL's recently re-established 'cross-over' playoff rule), the team decided to move the game to Molson Stadium , where they had played from 1954 to 1967. Interest in the team soared and the game was sold out, prompting the team to relocate permanently to the smaller venue beginning with the 1998 season. At the time of the Alouettes' return to Molson, the stadium's capacity was 20,202. Prior to every Sunday home game,

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6552-512: The Lions' faithful; however, the Lions came back in the second half, winning by a score of 26–23 on a last-second Lui Passaglia field goal. After the 1994 season, the CFL announced that the League's five U.S. teams—Baltimore, the San Antonio Texans (the former Sacramento Gold Miners ), the Shreveport Pirates and the expansion Memphis Mad Dogs and Birmingham Barracudas —would be placed in

6678-546: The NCAA. Popp hired former B.C. Lions head coach and Concordes defensive line coach Dave Ritchie as his successor. The revived Alouettes franchise played their first two seasons at Olympic Stadium, but attendance in the cavernous domed stadium was very poor at first. The future of the franchise was very much in doubt until a twist of fate revitalized the floundering club. When a scheduled November 1997 U2 concert at Olympic Stadium conflicted with an unexpected home playoff game against

6804-485: The NFL as replacement players during another players' strike later that year. During the period that the Alouettes were inactive, professional gridiron football would return to Montreal in the form of the NFL-created World League of American Football 's Montreal Machine , who played two seasons in 1991 and 1992 under American rules. The Baltimore Football Club was granted an expansion franchise for 1994 by

6930-472: The NFL's return to Baltimore became certain, Schmoke and other city leaders claimed that the Stallions could coexist with Modell's team, which was eventually reconstituted as the Baltimore Ravens . However, Speros and CFL officials soon realized that no matter how successful the Stallions had been, they had no realistic prospect of competing head-to-head with an NFL team. As the team's successful Grey Cup run

7056-648: The Ravens and announced plans to move the franchise. He was actually very close to moving the franchise to Houston, Texas , to take advantage of the pending departure of the NFL's recently departed Houston Oilers from the Astrodome , with then- Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane as a minority partner. However, under prodding from CFL officials who believed the American experiment was a lost cause, Speros began talks with officials in Montreal . CFL commissioner Larry Smith believed

7182-465: The Rough Riders and the original Alouettes). The Alouettes, however, do briefly mention the Stallions on their history page. While all of the Stallions players were released from their contracts, general manager Jim Popp , who followed the team from Baltimore, was able to re-sign many of them. However, as with all the other U.S.-based CFL teams, the Stallions had been exempt from CFL rules that mandated

7308-540: The Stallions defeated the Texans 21–11 in the South final in what is (as of the 2024 season) the last meaningful CFL game played in the United States. This vaulted them to the Grey Cup final for the second straight season. They traveled to Regina 's Taylor Field to face the 15–3 North Division champion Stampeders, who were led by coach Wally Buono , QB Doug Flutie , and his two top receivers, Allen Pitts and Dave Sapunjis . During

7434-499: The Stallions elsewhere. At one point, Speros was very close to moving the team to Houston, Texas . Although Houston at the time was still home to the NFL's Oilers , fan support for that team had collapsed due their pending relocation to Nashville (to later become the Titans). Speros had reason to believe a CFL team there could repeat the success that had been enjoyed in Baltimore. In addition,

7560-436: The Stallions franchise after the 1995 season and reclaimed the dormant Alouettes franchise. Consequently, when Speros moved the team to Montreal, all of the Stallions players were released from their contracts, though Popp managed to re-sign many of them. The current Alouettes claim the history of the 1946–1986 Alouettes as their own, and the CFL has recognized the Alouettes as having suspended operations from 1987 to 1995. As of

7686-519: The Stallions franchise and reconstitute his organization as the third and current incarnation of the Montreal Alouettes . Speros kept the Alouettes for only one year before selling the franchise to Robert C. Wetenhall in 1997. Sixteen former Baltimore Stallions players earned tryouts for NFL teams in 1996. The CFL does not officially consider the Stallions to be part of the Alouettes' history. According to official league records, Speros canceled

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7812-472: The Stallions were moving to Montreal in January. According to at least one Canadian outlet, at the same time Speros had already begun deciding whether to retain the Stallions moniker or "revive" the Alouettes. He ultimately chose the latter course, reconstituting his organisation as the third incarnation of the Alouettes. While Speros was able to reclaim the history of the 1946–86 Alouettes/Concordes franchise, he

7938-435: The Stallions. Optimism became reality as Baltimore continued their on-field dominance from the previous season. They started the season 2–3, but did not lose another game for the rest of the season. They ultimately finished with a 15–3 regular season record – first place in the South Division, and tying the Calgary Stampeders for the best record in the CFL. Quarterback Tracy Ham with Mike Pringle and Robert Drummond were

8064-536: The Stamps. That 1970 victory would herald the beginning of arguably the greatest decade in franchise history. During Berger's tenure as owner, the team played for six Grey Cups and won three (meeting both Alberta teams all of those times, and the Edmonton Eskimos in five of those six games). In 1974, the team changed their colours to match the other Montreal pro sports teams- red, white and blue. They finally moved out of

8190-538: The ball, Montreal fielded the most dangerous offence in all Canadian football. From 1954 to 1956, they reached the Grey Cup in three consecutive seasons, but questionable defensive units led the Alouettes to defeat versus the Edmonton Eskimos each time. The team was purchased in 1954 by Ted Workman . Like all teams playing in the WIFU and IRFU, the Alouettes joined the newly-formed Canadian Football League in 1958. While

8316-415: The club in late April after Skalbania was unable to resolve 1981 debts. With the franchise in collapse, Berger tried to force Skalbania to relinquish the team to him as payment for debt. Skalbania returned from a business trip to Hong Kong in late April and was able to regain control of the team. However, Skalbania's highly leveraged business interests collapsed a month later. Unable to meet his obligations, he

8442-620: The club plays " Sunday Bloody Sunday " over the PA system in tribute to the unintended role U2 played in saving the franchise. The team did not completely abandon the Olympic Stadium, and used it for one home game per year, from 2001 to 2009, and playoff games from 2001–2012. The Montreal Alouettes got off to a good start, winning 25 games and losing 11 in their first two seasons, and reaching the East Division Finals both times. The fortunes for

8568-403: The coach of the year. The Alouettes earned a 28–27 comeback victory in the 2009 Grey Cup, thanks to the great play of Anthony Calvillo, Ben Cahoon, and Jamel Richardson . The Alouettes trailed the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 27–11, with 8 minutes to play in the game, when they started their comeback. It all came down to the foot of field goal kicker Damon Duval , who after missing a 43-yard field on

8694-440: The collapse of the league's television deal leaving several other franchises in serious distress, the league was not in a position to take over operating the team. Re-location was not an option either even though several Canadian cities had expressed interest in acquiring a CFL team (with London, Ontario being briefly considered). Even notwithstanding the logistical challenges of moving a team on short notice, no prospective city had

8820-487: The completions record with a completion to Brandon London . In the teams' third meeting, Anthony Calvillo became pro football's all-time career passing yards leader, on a Jamel Richardson touchdown pass to end the third quarter. The play was stopped as his family joined him along with Mark Cohan for a special on field presentation and video tribute. NFL greats Warren Moon and Dan Marino, ESPN's Chris Berman , and Damon Allen each sent video messages congratulating him on breaking

8946-414: The defending CFL champions would be a better vehicle for bringing the CFL back to Montreal rather than what would have essentially been an expansion team. At a league meeting on February 2, 1996; Speros was granted permission to move the Stallions to Montreal, effectively ending the American experiment. Although Speros seriously considered whether to keep the Stallions name, he ultimately decided to give up

9072-432: The defending Grey Cup champions would be a better vehicle for reviving football in Montreal than what would have effectively been an expansion team. At a league meeting on February 2, 1996; Speros formally requested permission to move the Stallions to Montreal. The request was granted, officially ending the CFL's American experiment. However, talks had been so far advanced that at least one Baltimore outlet reported that

9198-411: The division's third and final playoff spot, a respectable crowd of 41,157 converged to watch the Concordes play what was effectively a playoff game. These fans left heartbroken after Hamilton kicker Bernie Ruoff made a last minute field goal to tie the game 21–21. Since overtime would not be introduced in the CFL regular season until 1986, the Tiger-Cats won the final Eastern playoff berth on account of

9324-465: The duties of head coach. The 2015 season was a difficult one for the Alouettes, due to injuries to starting QB Jonathan Crompton , the Alouettes went through five different quarterbacks including two rookies Rakeem Cato , and Brandon Bridge , before trading for veteran Kevin Glenn . By that time the quarterback shuffle had taken its toll on the team and they finished the year with a 6–12 record and missed

9450-474: The end of the 2016 season, team president Mark Weightman is the only remaining link between the Stallions and Alouettes. General manager Jim Popp followed the team to Montreal as general manager and guided the franchise to 8 Grey Cup Finals, winning 3 of them – giving him a total of 10 Grey Cup Finals appearances and 4 Grey Cups with the Stallions/Alouettes organization. Popp resigned as general manager at

9576-486: The expansion effort failed, entrepreneur and former Washington Redskins assistant Jim Speros was granted a CFL expansion franchise for Baltimore that would play in Memorial Stadium. Attempting to trade on the city's love for its long-lost Baltimore Colts, Speros adopted a color scheme that added silver to the Baltimore Colts' traditional colors of blue and white, as well as a stylized horse's head logo. He also invited

9702-432: The field over the next three years. The Concordes won five games in 1983. While still well below .500, the East Division was so weak that year (only the eventual Grey Cup champion Argos finished with a winning record) that the Concordes were still in playoff contention on the season's final weekend. The Concordes' final game of the season was at Olympic Stadium against the Tiger-Cats. With Hamilton and Montreal tied at 5–10 for

9828-453: The field was one obvious factor. However many fans were motivated to support the CFL out of antipathy towards the NFL, which had not only backed the re-location of the NFL Colts to Indianapolis, but had subsequently spurned several attempts to return an NFL franchise to the city. Another major factor in Baltimore's success at the gate was the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike , which wiped out

9954-400: The field, financial losses mounted and the team's attendance tumbled to 10,127 a game, including only 9,045 at the final home game (a contest against the BC Lions drew only 5200 fans, the smallest crowd at any CFL game since 1951). Just before the 1987 season, Carling O'Keefe tore up its deal to serve as the CFL's presenting television sponsor. The collapse of the CFL's television deal proved

10080-467: The field, finishing with a dismal 3–13 record while attendance plummeted to under 30,000 per game. However, the East was so weak that year (Hamilton was the only team in the East to finish with a winning record) that they actually made the playoffs, finishing third in the East ahead of the 2–14 Toronto Argonauts . In the East Semi-Final, they made a fairly good showing against the second-place (and eventual East Division champions) Rough Riders before losing by

10206-443: The fourth consecutive season they lost the East Final match in a close game against the Tiger-Cats, 27–26. Tracy Ham retired after the 1999 season , and Anthony Calvillo took over as the full-time starting quarterback, he led the team to their first Grey Cup final since 1979, losing to BC in a close game, as they came within a missed two point convert of sending the game into overtime. After the season Charlie Taaffe resigned to become

10332-471: The franchise's use of any version of "Colts" in their name just hours before the team was to play its first game. Speros not only had to discard tons of purchased merchandise and souvenirs along with an advertising campaign, but also had to quickly change the franchise's official name to the "Baltimore Football Club" (which some just called the "Baltimore CFL's" ) while keeping the team's distinctive horse's head logo. Local fans tended to continue referring to

10458-433: The game, 34–15. After the semifinal game, Baltimore ended up defeating the favored Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Winnipeg Stadium 14–12 to become the first (and only) American and expansion team to make it to the Grey Cup . In the Grey Cup game, Baltimore was up against the B.C. Lions at BC Place Stadium in what amounted to a road game. Baltimore had the upper hand against the Lions, leading 17–10 at halftime and silencing

10584-461: The game, the winds at Taylor Field were particularly strong and gusted up to 85 km/h (52.8 mph). That did not slow down the Stallions, as they defeated the Stampeders, 37–20 to become the first American team to win the Grey Cup, with Tracy Ham becoming the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player . Counting the playoffs, the Stallions ended the season on a 16-game winning streak. In addition to being

10710-466: The head coach of the Maryland Terrapins . The next season started under new coach Rod Rust at 9–2, but after Calvillo separated his shoulder, the team started struggling and after losing all their remaining games, GM Jim Popp fired Rust, led them into the playoffs, where they lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Semi-Final. During the off-season, the Alouettes signed Don Matthews to lead

10836-464: The last play, got a second chance, when the Roughriders were called for having too many players on the field (The 13th Man), which was a ten-yard penalty, so kicking from the 33 yard line, Duval nailed it through the uprights, giving Montreal an improbable Grey Cup victory, after trailing the entire game. The game turned into a Grey Cup classic, thanks to the great play of the Alouettes veterans, and broke

10962-465: The last two months of the Orioles' season. Baltimore was also a significantly more heavily populated market than the other CFL American markets and the only one to have previously hosted an NFL team, giving the Stallions a larger base from which to draw fans. Finally, the Stallions did not have to compete with college football for an audience to nearly the same extent as the other U.S. CFL franchises. After

11088-582: The league failed before this could happen. In the years after the Colts left, Baltimore made two serious bids to get another NFL team. It heavily wooed the St. Louis Cardinals football team owned by the Bidwill family, but they ultimately moved to Phoenix, Arizona as the Phoenix (later Arizona) Cardinals . In 1993, an ownership group failed to win an NFL expansion franchise, the Baltimore Bombers . Soon after

11214-546: The league's presence there in the mid-1990s. In late 2017, a proposal emerged to move the start of the CFL season to five or six weeks earlier than it begins in the present day, so that the Grey Cup would have been held on the third weekend of October, as opposed to the fourth Sunday in November as it stands as of 2024. The change, designed to accommodate a potential U.S. television agreement with NFL Network , had support among CFL owners and would have, if approved, taken effect for

11340-582: The loss of starting quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who left the team near the end of the season to be with his wife who was sick. The team lost the East Semi-Final, 24–22, to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with backup quarterback Marcus Brady behind center. With Montreal hosting the 2008 Grey Cup , the Alouettes wanted to be there, so they hired an experienced NFL assistant coach in Marc Trestman , and head coach Trestman helped lead them to an 11–7 record and

11466-423: The more prominent NFL castoffs was K Donald Igwebuike ; the team also offered a tryout to former Super Bowl XXII champion, Timmy Smith , who had been out of football several years by that point, but Smith failed to make the regular season roster. It also helped that Memorial Stadium had been originally built to accommodate baseball as well as football. Using Memorial Stadium's baseball seating configuration gave it

11592-546: The most lopsided trades ever made in the Alouettes history, and it ushered in a dark decade for the team. During that time, they failed to register a single winning season. From 1968 to 1976 the team played in the Autostade stadium—which had been built as a temporary stadium for Expo 67 . The stadium's less-than-desirable location on Montreal's waterfront near the Victoria Bridge led to dismal attendance, putting more strain on

11718-408: The most potent backfield in the CFL. Chris Armstrong became the team's top receiver and the defense continued dominating opponents by allowing only 369 points-against, ranking the squad third in team defense. Mike Pringle had a slight drop-off from his 1994 numbers by rushing for 1,791 yards, being named the CFL's Most Outstanding Player . After defeating Winnipeg 36–21 in the divisional semifinals,

11844-451: The most successful of the U.S. CFL teams on the field, Baltimore was far and away the most successful of the CFL's American teams at the box office. It had significant fan support and strong attendance – averaging 37,347 in 1994 (best in the CFL), and 30,112 in 1995 (second best). Fan support in Baltimore was driven by a number of factors not present in the CFL's other U.S. markets. Their success on

11970-437: The nickname for its reconstituted USFL / UFL franchise in the 2020's). Despite the changes to their name and team re-alignment, the Stallions returned with virtually the same roster for their next season. The exception was the signing of former Posse kicker Carlos Huerta to replace Igwebuike, who moved on to play with Memphis. With essentially the same team from the 1994 season, optimism and Grey Cup expectations were high for

12096-522: The notoriously litigious Skalbania, and unwilling to negotiate with him, Bronfman chose to operate his team under another aviation-inspired name, the Concordes. The new name was not only a reference to the then-revolutionary Concorde supersonic passenger jet, but appeared to be an appeal to both anglophones and francophones, Concorde was an Anglo - French joint venture. Unfortunately, the new name angered management at one of Montreal's most prominent corporations, aviation manufacturer Bombardier . After being

12222-422: The old Baltimore Colts Marching Band , which had stayed together along with the old team's uniformed cheerleaders for over a decade, to play at his games. He recruited the remaining Baltimore Colts football fan clubs ("Colt Corrals") to follow and support the new CFL franchise. He initially called the team the " Baltimore CFL Colts ". However, the NFL went to court and successfully obtained a legal injunction against

12348-444: The permanent coach on December 13, 2016. Kavis Reed took over duties as the team's new general manager. 2016 was also another dismal year for the team, finishing with another losing record of 7–11. After a 3–8 start to the 2017 season , Chapdelaine was fired on September 13, 2017. The Alouettes ended the season with their worst record since reactivation, 3–15. On December 20, 2017, former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Sherman

12474-407: The playoffs for the first time since both 1986 and their 1996 re-activation, their last year before folding on the eve of the 1987 season . The following season on September 19, 2016, Popp was relieved of his coaching duties, while remaining as the team's general manager. Jacques Chapdelaine was named interim head coach, becoming the first Quebec-born head coach in Alouettes' history. He was named

12600-404: The playoffs three times since returning to the league. The streak came to an end in 2015. They have hosted a playoff game every year except 2001, 2007, 2013, and from 2015 to 2018. Their five losing seasons came in 2007, 2013 and from 2015 to 2018. The 2015 through 2018 Alouettes' seasons marked the first time the team missed the playoffs in consecutive years since their re-activation. Major stars of

12726-497: The recent era include Mike Pringle , the CFL career leader in rushing yards, and quarterback Anthony Calvillo , who led all of pro football in career passing yards before Drew Brees took over in late 2020. In 2019 the CFL purchased the team from American businessman Robert Wetenhall , who could not find a buyer. Later that year the Alouettes were acquired by Crawford Steel executives Sid Spiegel and his son-in-law Gary Stern (through their subsidiary S and S Sportsco), who took over

12852-465: The record. Calvillo was presented with a special plaque, with the number 72382, the new pro football all-time yardage mark. The team lost an overtime thriller in the East Semi-Final at the Olympic Stadium 52–44 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The 2012 season was another good year for the Alouettes, but after an 11–7 season they lost the East final to the Toronto Argonauts after Brian Bratton dropped

12978-505: The rumors of Modell courting Baltimore when they cropped up in September. However, when it emerged that Modell was in talks with state and local officials, Speros began scouting out cities for a possible move. This proved prescient; as soon as the move was announced, local support for the Stallions dried up almost overnight, with fans switching virtually en masse to the NFL. It quickly became apparent that most Stallions fans had only supported

13104-411: The success ended with Berger's retirement in 1981. He sold the team to Vancouver businessman Nelson Skalbania . The flamboyant Skalbania set about signing two first-round picks from the 1981 National Football League draft and NFL name players such as Vince Ferragamo , James Scott , David Overstreet , Keith Gary and Billy "White Shoes" Johnson . Even with all that talent, the Alouettes suffered on

13230-434: The team announced that Red O'Quinn and Sam Etcheverry were returning to the organization, this time as the team's new general manager and head coach, respectively. The team also unveiled new uniforms—their home jerseys were now predominantly green, with red and white trim. The white helmets with the red "wings" used during the 1960s also disappeared, replaced by a white helmet with a stylized green and red bird's head that formed

13356-407: The team as the "Baltimore Colts" anyway, and team officials tacitly encouraged this. For example, for most of the 1994 season, Memorial Stadium's public address announcer, Jack Taylor, would announce the team as "your Baltimore CFL..." – followed by a pause, during which time the crowd shouted "COLTS!" – after which he would conclude, "...football team." Number 19 was never issued out of respect to

13482-409: The team attempted to embrace its predecessor's history and regenerate flagging fan interest by rebranding itself the "new" Montreal Alouettes. This would not prove to be successful, on or off the field. On the field, the team posted a 4–14 record, missing the playoffs in spite of once again finishing third in the East on account of the new "cross-over rule" the CFL had implemented for the 1986 season. Off

13608-458: The team continued to enjoy success for the rest of the 1950s, that all changed at the end of the 1960 season. To be more specific, the team was shaken by an announcement on November 10 – namely the trade of Hal Patterson and Sam Etcheverry to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for Bernie Faloney and Don Paquette . Workman had concluded the deal without consulting with general manager Perry Moss . The deal quickly fell apart because Etcheverry had just signed

13734-522: The team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and last won the Grey Cup in 2023, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 110th Grey Cup Game in 2023 . Their home field is Percival Molson Memorial Stadium for the regular season and as of 2014 also home of their playoff games. The original Alouettes team ( 1946 – 1981 ) won four Grey Cups and were particularly dominant in

13860-438: The team in the future. They came all the way back in 2002, finishing with the best record (13–5) in the CFL and winning their first Grey Cup since 1977, by defeating one of their oldest rivals, and Matthews' former team, the Edmonton Eskimos , 25–16. The Alouettes had the best record in the CFL during the 2004 season at 14–4 and looked liked a sure bet to play for the Grey Cup, but in the East Final, Anthony Calvillo got hurt, and

13986-464: The team on January 6, 2020. In February 2023, the ownership was passed back to the league, which subsequently agreed to sell the team to Quebec media mogul and former Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau in March of that year. On November 19, 2023, the Alouettes won their eighth Grey Cup in their first season under Péladeau's ownership. Canadian football has a long history in Montreal, dating to

14112-473: The team's finances. Workman sold half the team to Joe Atwell in 1965. Atwell bought the remaining shares in 1967. The change in ownership failed to reverse the Als' slide. They finally bottomed out in 1969, finishing 2–12. After that season, Atwell sold the team to the highly capable Sam Berger , a former part-owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders . Berger made immediate changes to the team. On December 9,

14238-472: The team's performance. The Concordes' 1983 season finale against Hamilton was the only game to attract a crowd surpassing even 30,000 under Bronfman's ownership. Moreover, the 1985 East Semifinal was a disaster at the box office due in part to poor weather conditions and haphazard facility preparations. Only 11,372 fans attended what would turn out to be the team's last home game played under the Concordes name. After quietly coming to terms with Skalbania, in 1986

14364-399: The team's reestablishment in 1996 with a stylized "M", designed to resemble a bird and plane, and introducing a new "MontreALS" tagline, playing upon the team's nickname. The team also partnered with Vice Media on aspects of accompanying marketing and content. Baltimore Stallions The Baltimore Stallions (known officially as the "Baltimore Football Club" and previously as

14490-464: The third and current iteration of the Montreal Alouettes . The Stallions franchise was dissolved, thus becoming one of three Grey Cup champions in the modern era to subsequently fold (the others being the Ottawa Rough Riders and the original Alouettes). The CFL considers the Stallions to be a separate franchise from the Alouettes. For some 30 years, Baltimore had been home to the Baltimore Colts ,

14616-540: The time. They had winning records in each season, and in both years advanced to the championship game. In 1995, they became the only American franchise to win the Grey Cup . In the final weeks of the Stallions' second season, it became public knowledge that the Maryland Stadium Authority and City of Baltimore were in serious negotiations with Art Modell , the long-time owner of the Cleveland Browns of

14742-446: The vast majority of them; Hamilton also hosted three times in four years from 1990 to 1993 and again hosted a Thanksgiving matchup in 2013 due to stadium construction disrupting their hosting of the 2013 Labour Day Classic. Since the CFL's creation in 1958 to the 2018 , there have been 120 games played on Thanksgiving Day. The 2019 CFL season was the first in league history to feature no games on Thanksgiving Day. The league scheduled

14868-443: The venue to convert its grass field back and forth between the two leagues' specifications when the two leagues' seasons overlapped. In any case, the Stallions would have likely been evicted from Memorial Stadium anyways to make way for the Ravens. No other stadium in the Baltimore area was suitable or large enough even for temporary CFL use. Rather than risk being reduced to "minor league" status in Baltimore, Speros ceded Baltimore to

14994-501: Was a convenient one in that it allowed Baltimore's logo and colors to remain unchanged from the 1994 season. Notably, the Stallions nickname had previously been used by a United States Football League team in Birmingham , nevertheless it was still available for Speros' team. Barracudas owner Art Williams had previously rejected reviving the moniker for his club, apparently because he considered it too timid (Birmingham would later reclaim

15120-587: Was forced to return the team to the league on May 13. The CFL had anticipated the collapse of the Alouettes, and was well prepared when Skalbania returned the franchise to the league. Among potential suitors for the troubled franchise was Montreal businessman Charles Bronfman , founder and owner of the Alouettes' co-tenants at the Big O, the Montreal Expos . Bronfman had made it clear to league officials that he would not deal with Skalbania, but would be willing to establish

15246-400: Was named the team's new head coach. Under Sherman the team suffered its fourth consecutive losing season, finishing the year with 5 wins and 13 losses. In the five seasons following Anthony Calvillo's retirement, the team won 30 games and lost 60. On February 1, 2019, the team unveiled a new logo and updated uniforms, designed by GRDN Studio, replacing the previous "angry bird" logo used since

15372-399: Was not allowed to retain the history of the Stallions. As a result, according to official CFL records, Speros is now reckoned as having surrendered the Stallions franchise before "reactivating" the Alouettes franchise. The Alouettes are now retconned as having suspended operations from 1987 to 1995, while the Stallions are officially one of only three modern-era Grey Cup champions to fold (after

15498-412: Was replaced by backup Ted White , and the Toronto Argonauts rallied to defeat the Alouettes, 26–18. During the 2004–2005 off-season, all time CFL career rushing yards leader Mike Pringle signed a one-day contract, so he could retire as a member of the Montreal Alouettes. The team participated in the first Grey Cup overtime game in almost 50 years. The Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Alouettes, 38–35. During

15624-423: Was still underway, it became apparent that there would not be enough advertising revenue or fan support to go around. Even without that to consider, using Memorial Stadium would have posed a logistical nightmare once the NFL season began in September. The conditions set by the NFL to permit the Ravens to temporarily play at Memorial Stadium pending completion of a new stadium would have made it all but impossible for

15750-403: Was surprised by Skalbania arranging a sale of the same controlling stake to Harry Ornest , who would later own the St. Louis Blues and the Toronto Argonauts . Ornest was reluctant to take control of the Alouettes as a result of the team's high level of debt and extensive commitments to high-profile stars. In early April 1982, Allen looked set to take control of the Alouettes. However, Allen left

15876-403: Was the team's offensive standout. Among other accomplishments, he earned the league's leading rushing title with a record 1,972 yards and thirteen touchdowns. Pringle also returned 38 kicks for 814 yards, which made him a CFL All-Star, Eastern All-Star, and a Terry Evanshen Trophy winner. In the playoffs, Baltimore hosted the Toronto Argonauts in the East semifinals at Memorial Stadium and won

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