The Ontario Rugby Football Union or ORFU was an early amateur Canadian football league with teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded in 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt the Burnside Rules, from which the modern Canadian football code would evolve.
During the Second World War, the military teams in Ontario played in the ORFU filling the gap during the suspension of play by the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. (Toronto Navy - H.M.C.S. York played out of Varsity Stadium using the Toronto Argonauts equipment and uniforms.) The Toronto R.C.A.F. Hurricanes were the last amateur team to win the Grey Cup in 1942. Many from the ranks of the military teams in the ORFU became stars in the CFL after the war.
The ORFU champion challenged for and won the Grey Cup in its early decades, but by the 1950s their challenges proved to be perennial failures against the stronger professional interprovincial leagues, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition in 1954 in a move that heralded the start of the modern era of Canadian football. The ORFU ceased to operate as a true senior league after 1960, but continued play at the intermediate level. Eventually the word "senior" came to replace the word "intermediate." By 1974, the ORFU had ceased to exist.
Notable teams[]
- Toronto Argonauts (1883-1906)
- Hamilton Tigers (1883-1906, 1948-1949)
- Ottawa Rough Riders (1883-1893, 1897-1902)
- Ottawa College (1885-93)
- Kingston Granites (1899-1901)
- Hamilton Alerts - 1st Grey Cup Champions of the ORFU in 1912 (1911-1912)
- Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers - 2 time Grey Cup Champions: 1927, 1930 (1924-1957)
- Sarnia Imperials - 2 time Grey Cup Champions: 1934, 1936 (1928-1955)
- Toronto Amateur Athletic Club - ORFU Champion 1908 & 1910
- Toronto Rowing and Athletic Association - ORFU Champion 1915, 1919 & 1920
- Hamilton Wildcats - Grey Cup Champions: 1943 (1941-1947)
- Toronto Indians (1941-1948)
- Toronto RCAF Hurricanes - Grey Cup Champions: 1942 (1942-1943)
- Ottawa Trojans (1943-1947) ORFU Champion 1947
- Windsor Royals/Rockets (1945-1952)
- Brantford Redskins (1952-1953)
- Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen (1953-1959) ORFU Champion 1954-57
- London Lords (1956-1972)
- Sarnia Golden Bears ORFU Champion 1958-59
- Bramalea Satellites (1967-1972)
ORFU Champions[]
- 1883 Toronto Argonauts
- 1884 Toronto Argonauts
- 1885 Ottawa College
- 1886 Ottawa College
- 1887 Ottawa College
- 1888 Ottawa College
- 1889 Ottawa College
- 1890 Hamilton Tigers
- 1891 Osgoode Hall
- 1892 Osgoode Hall
- 1893 Queen's University
- 1894 Queen's University
- 1895 University of Toronto
- 1896 University of Toronto
- 1897 Hamilton Tigers
- 1898 Ottawa Rough Riders
- 1899 Kingston Granites
- 1900 Ottawa Rough Riders
- 1901 Toronto Argonauts
- 1902 Ottawa Rough Riders
- 1903 Hamilton Tigers
- 1904 Hamilton Tigers
- 1905 Hamilton Tigers
- 1906 Hamilton Tigers
- 1907 Peterboro Seniors
- 1908 Toronto Amateur Athletic Club
- 1909 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
- 1910 Toronto Amateur Athletic Club
- 1911 Hamilton Alerts
- 1912 Hamilton Alerts
- 1913 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
- 1914 Hamilton Rowing Club
- 1915 Toronto Rowing & Athletic Association
- 1916 World War I
- 1917 World War I
- 1918 World War I
- 1919 Toronto Rowing & Athletic Association
- 1920 Toronto Rowing & Athletic Association
- 1921 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
- 1922 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
- 1923 Hamilton Rowing Club
- 1924 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1925 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1926 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1927 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1928 University of Toronto
- 1929 Sarnia Imperials
- 1930 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1931 Sarnia Imperials
- 1932 Sarnia Imperials
- 1933 Sarnia Imperials
- 1934 Sarnia Imperials
- 1935 Sarnia Imperials
- 1936 Sarnia Imperials
- 1937 Sarnia Imperials
- 1938 Sarnia Imperials
- 1939 Sarnia Imperials
- 1940 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1941 Hamilton Wildcats
- 1942 Toronto R.C.A.F. Hurricanes
- 1943 Hamilton Flying Wildcats
- 1944 Hamilton Wildcats
- 1945 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1946 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1947 Ottawa Trojans
- 1948 Hamilton Tigers
- 1949 Hamilton Tigers
- 1950 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1951 Sarnia Imperials
- 1952 Sarnia Imperials
- 1953 Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
- 1954 Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
- 1955 Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
- 1956 Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
- 1957 Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
- 1958 Sarnia Golden Bears
- 1959 Sarnia Golden Bears
- 1960 London Lords