Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium. They have won the league's Grey Cup championship six times, most recently in 2008.

Team facts

 * Formerly known as: Bronks 1935 to 1944


 * Helmet design: red background with a white, running horse. This design has been in place, with slight variations, since the 1968 season.


 * Uniform colours: Red, Black and White.


 * Stadiums: Mewata Park Stadium (1939-1959), McMahon Stadium (1960-present)


 * Western regular season championship: 17 &mdash; 1937, 1938, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2010


 * Northern regular season championship: 1 &mdash; 1995


 * Grey Cup final appearances: 12 &mdash; 1948 (won), 1949 (lost), 1968 (lost), 1970 (lost), 1971 (won), 1991 (lost), 1992 (won), 1995 (lost), 1998 (won), 1999 (lost), 2001 (won), 2008 (won)


 *  Main Rivals: Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, BC Lions


 * 2010 Regular Season Record: 13 wins, 5 losses, 0 ties.

Franchise history
The first time Calgary took the field in Canadian football was in 1891 when they faced Edmonton in a home and away series. The following years saw the formation of several Calgary-based football teams starting with the Calgary Tigers of the Alberta Rugby Football Union in 1908. This would be followed by the likes of Canucks, the 50th Battalion, Altomahs, Tigers for the second time and later the Bronks.

The Stampeders were officially born on September 29, 1945. In their very first game played on October 22 at Mewata Stadium they beat the Regina Roughriders 12–0 before 4,000 fans in attendance. It would be a taste of success to come that decade under the direction of head coach Les Lear and talented stars such as Woody Strode, Paul Rowe, Keith Spaith, Dave Berry, Normie Kwong and Ezzert "Sugarfoot" Anderson.

The year 1948 would perhaps be the greatest season in Stamps history, becoming the only professional Canadian football team ever to achieve a perfect season with a record of 12–0 and capping the year with a Grey Cup victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders at Toronto's Varsity Stadium. It was also during that same Grey Cup festival that Calgary fans brought pageantry to the game and made it into a national celebration, featuring pancake breakfasts on the steps of City Hall, starting the Grey Cup parade and even riding horses in the lobby of the Royal York Hotel.

They would return to the Grey Cup the following year (1949), with a 13–1 record but lost to the Montreal Alouettes 28–15 in the title game. It would be 19 years until Calgary once again reached the Grey Cup, losing 24–21 to Ottawa in the 1968 final and not until 1971 when they would be crowned champions, defeating the Toronto Argonauts 14–11.

The Stampeders nearly folded after the 1985 season marked by declining attendance, financial woes and poor 3–13 record. However, a successful Save Our Stamps campaign resulted in season ticket sales of 22,400, additional funds and stability that translated to improved on-field play which laid the groundwork to Grey Cup berths in 1991 and 1992 when they won the title over Winnipeg.

The decade of the 1990s was very successful for the Stampeders, led by quarterbacks Doug Flutie and later Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson throwing to receivers Allen Pitts, Terry Vaughn and Dave Sapunjis, and a rock steady defence led by Western All Stars Alondra Johnson, Stu Laird and Will Johnson. They would reach the Grey Cup final three more times, losing in 1995 and 1999 and winning in 1998.

After winning their fifth Grey Cup championship in 2001, Calgary went into a brief period of decline until 2005 when they emerged as playoff contenders again, led by Henry Burris at quarterback and Joffrey Reynolds at running back. Nevertheless, they did not win a playoff game for several years, suffering three successive losses in the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Western semi-final games.

In 2008, the Stampeders ended their playoff drought en route to winning the team's sixth Grey Cup 22–14 against the Montreal Alouettes. Burris was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player with DeAngelis being the top Canadian for their efforts. John Hufnagel has been interviewed by several NFL teams and College football teams.

Canadian Football Hall of Famers

 * Tony Anselmo
 * Willie Burden
 * Doug Flutie
 * Dean Griffing
 * Wayne Harris
 * Herman Harrison
 * John Helton
 * Alondra Johnson
 * Jerry Keeling
 * Earl "The Earthquake" Lunsford
 * Don Luzzi
 * Tony Pajaczkowski
 * Allen Pitts
 * Rocco Romano
 * Paul Rowe


 * Harvey Wylie

Head coaches

 * Les Lear (1948-1952)
 * Bob Snyder (1953)
 * Larry Siemering (1954)
 * Jack Hennemier (1955)
 * Otis Douglas (1956-1960) (Douglas resigned August 19, 1960 with the Stampeders 0-2-1)
 * Jim Finks (1960) (GM Finks acted as co-ordinator of the coaching staff for the August 22 loss to the BC Lions.)
 * Steve Owen (1960) (Owen was hired August 23, 1960 with the Stampeders 0-3-1)
 * Bobby Dobbs (1961-1964)
 * Jerry Williams (1965-1968)
 * Jim Duncan (1969-1973)
 * Jim Wood (1974-1975)
 * Bob Baker (1976)
 * Joe Tiller (1976)
 * Jack Gotta (1977-1979)
 * Ardell Wiegandt (1980)
 * Jerry Williams (1981)
 * Jack Gotta (1982-1983)
 * Steve Buratto (1984)
 * Bob Vespaziani (1985-1987)
 * Lary Kuharich (1987-1989)
 * Wally Buono (1990-2002)
 * Jim Barker (2003)
 * Matt Dunigan (2004)
 * Tom Higgins (2005-2007)
 * John Hufnagel (2008-Present)

General managers

 * Bob Robinett (1953–1955)
 * Bob Masterson (1956)
 * Jim Finks (1957–1964)
 * Pat Mahoney (1964)
 * Rogers Lehew (1965–1973)
 * Gary Hobson (1974–1975)
 * Jack Gotta (1976–1983)
 * Steve Buratto (1984)
 * Earl Lunsford (1985–1987)
 * Vern Siemens (1987) Interim
 * Norm Kwong (1988–1991)
 * Wally Buono (1992–2002)
 * Fred Fateri (2003)
 * Mark McLoughlin (2003)
 * Matt Dunigan (2004)
 * Jim Barker (2005–2007)
 * John Hufnagel (2008–present)