Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League (CFL; French: Ligue canadienne de football) is a professional league located entirely in Canada that plays Canadian football. It is considered to be the highest level of play in Canadian football. The league's top trophy, the Grey Cup, was donated by Governor General Earl Grey in 1909 to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada. Both the trophy and the championship game have become known as the Grey Cup. Since 1954, when the Ontario Rugby Football Union stopped challenging for the Grey Cup, the trophy has been awarded only to professional teams with the championship generally being an East vs. West competition. This is also the year the British Columbia Lions started play as the ninth professional team, so although the CFL was not technically founded until the late 1950's, 1954 is often referred to as the start of the "modern era" of Canadian professional football. It is also considered to be the year the CFL was founded in substance if not in name. The game is very similar to American football but there are several major rule differences.

Related Topics:
Canada - Canadian football - Grey Cup - Governor General - Earl Grey - 1909 - 1954 - Ontario Rugby Football Union - Professional - East - West - British Columbia Lions - 1950's - American football - Several major rule differences

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The first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in 1884. The CRFU was an umbrella organization that several leagues were part of. From the 1930s to the 1950s the two senior leagues of the CRFU (the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union) gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues. They found they had less and less in common with the amateur leagues and consequently in 1956 they left the CRFU and formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council. It was renamed the Canadian Football League in 1958. In 1982 the Montreal Alouettes folded and were subsequently replaced the same year by a new franchise named the Concordes. In 1986 the Concordes were renamed the Alouettes to attract more fan support, but the team folded the next year.

Related Topics:
Canadian Rugby Football Union - 1884 - Umbrella organization - 1930s - 1950s - Interprovincial Rugby Football Union - Western Interprovincial Football Union - 1956 - 1958 - 1982 - Montreal Alouettes - 1986

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