Overview of the events of 1956 in Canadian football
TheEdmonton Eskimos faced theMontreal Alouettes in theGrey Cup game for the third consecutive year. And for the third consecutive year, the Edmonton Eskimos were Grey Cup champions. It was the first time in a Grey Cup that a touchdown was worth six points instead of five.
Canadian Football News in 1956 [ edit ] On Sunday, January 22, representatives of the two largest and most powerful leagues in the Canadian Rugby Union, theInterprovincial Rugby Football Union and theWestern Interprovincial Football Union , met inWinnipeg and formed the Canadian Football Council as an umbrella organization.G. Sydney Halter , QC, was named as commissioner of the CFC, which would evolve into today'sCanadian Football League . The CFC introduced a national negotiation list.
Television rights for Canadian football games were sold for $101,000. The touchdown point value was increased from five to six points.[ 1]
The firstEast -West All-Star game was played atVancouver 'sEmpire Stadium on December 8. The day after the game,Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 crashed intoMount Slesse , killing five players and one official who were on their way from Vancouver toCalgary . The five players who died in the crash included four members of theSaskatchewan Roughriders : offensive linemenMario DeMarco andRay Syrnyk , centre/tight endMel Becket , and defensive linemanGordon Sturtridge , along withWinnipeg Blue Bomber offensive linemanCal Jones . The official killed in the crash was Ed Pettit, of Calgary.
Final regular season standings [ edit ] Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
Bold text means the team clinched a playoff berth. Edmonton and Montreal had first-round byes. X – Rochester withdrew from the league.
Source:[ 3]
Note: All dates in 1956
Saskatchewan won the total-point series 50–26. The Roughriders moved on to play the Edmonton Eskimos in the WIFU Finals. The Tiger-Cats advanced to play the Montreal Alouettes in the IRFU Finals. Edmonton won the best of three series 2–1 and advanced to the Grey Cup game. Montreal won the total-point series 78–62 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.
Quarterfinals Semifinals Grey Cup IRFU Montreal Alouettes IRFU BYE IRFU Montreal Alouettes 30 -48 EAST IRFU Hamilton Tiger Cats 21-41 IRFU Hamilton Tiger Cats 46 IRFU Ottawa Rough Riders 21 IRFU Montreal Alouettes 27 WIFU Edmonton Eskimos 50 WIFU Edmonton Eskimos WIFU BYE WIFU Edmonton Eskimos 22-20 -51 WEST WIFU Saskatchewan Roughriders 23 -12-7WIFU Saskatchewan Roughriders 42 -8WIFU Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7-19
Grey Cup Championship [ edit ]
Canadian Football Leaders [ edit ] [ edit ] QB –Sam Etcheverry , Montreal Alouettes RB –Cookie Gilchrist , Hamilton Tiger-Cats RB –Pat Abbruzzi , Montreal Alouettes RB –Dick Shatto , Toronto Argonauts E –Hal Patterson , Montreal Alouettes E –Bobby Simpson , Ottawa Rough Riders FW –Joey Pal , Montreal Alouettes C –Tommy Hugo , Montreal Alouettes OG –Francis Machinsky , Toronto Argonauts OG –Larry Hayes , Ottawa Rough Riders OT –Kaye Vaughan , Ottawa Rough Riders OT –Bill Albright , Toronto Argonauts DT –Kaye Vaughan , Ottawa Rough Riders DT –Bill Albright , Toronto Argonauts DE –Pete Neumann , Hamilton Tiger-Cats DE –Jim Miller , Montreal Alouettes DG –Vince Scott , Hamilton Tiger-Cats MG –Hardiman Cureton , Toronto Argonauts LB –Tommy Hugo , Montreal Alouettes LB –Ken Vargo , Ottawa Rough Riders DB –Hal Patterson , Montreal Alouettes DB –Ralph Goldston , Hamilton Tiger-Cats DB –Ray Truant , Hamilton Tiger-Cats S –Don Pinney , Ottawa Rough Riders
[ edit ] QB –Jackie Parker , Edmonton Eskimos RB –Ken Carpenter , Saskatchewan Roughriders RB –Ed Vereb , British Columbia Lions RB –Normie Kwong , Edmonton Eskimos RB –Bob McNamara , Winnipeg Blue Bombers E –Don Edwards , British Columbia Lions E –Bud Grant , Winnipeg Blue Bombers C –Mel Becket , Saskatchewan Roughriders C –George Druxman , Winnipeg Blue Bombers OG –Harry Langford , Calgary Stampeders OG –Buddy Alliston , Winnipeg Blue Bombers OT –Martin Ruby , Saskatchewan Roughriders OT –Buddy Tinsley , Winnipeg Blue Bombers DT –Dick Huffman , Calgary Stampeders DT –Martin Ruby , Saskatchewan Roughriders DE –Frank Anderson , Edmonton Eskimos DE –Gord Sturtridge , Saskatchewan Roughriders MG –Ron Atchison , Saskatchewan Roughriders LB –John Wozniak , Saskatchewan Roughriders LB –Earl Lindley , Edmonton Eskimos LB –Bobby Marlow , Saskatchewan Roughriders LB –Ted Tully , Edmonton Eskimos DB –Rollie Miles , Edmonton Eskimos DB –Larry Isbell , Saskatchewan Roughriders S –Paul Cameron , British Columbia Lions
1956 Canadian Football Awards [ edit ]
Western Interprovicial Football Union Interprovincial Rugby Football Union See also
