Who owns the roughriders

Regina went and was outscored to finish second in the Western Canada Rugby Football Union standings in Regina then finished in first place in each of the next 22 seasons of competition and won 15 Western Canadian championships in that span. In , the national championship — the Grey Cup game — was played by teams from Eastern and Western Canada for the first time.

The first nine Grey Cup games had been contested solely between teams from the east. That was the first of seven appearances in a span of 12 seasons for the Roughriders, who dropped all seven. In , Regina — citing a lack of suitable opposition in Saskatchewan — joined the Western Provincial Football Union. Regina won the league title that season. A franchise milestone occurred in , when clubs in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon folded.

The Regina Roughriders became a provincially owned and operated club — and became the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The team also changed its colours in to the familiar green and white.

Unfortunately for the Roughriders, they lost the title game for the eighth time in as many appearances. In , the Roughriders suffered a terrible tragedy when players Mel Becket 40 , Mario DeMarco 55 , Ray Syrnyk 56 and Gordon Sturtridge 73 were killed in a plane crash while returning from an all-star game in Vancouver. The Roughriders remained one of the top teams in the CFL for the next decade, qualifying for the post-season in every year.

The following year, they changed their name to the Regina Roughriders adopting the colours of red and black. Ottawa's Rugby Club had been called the Rough Riders since s. With dominant players such as Eddie James , the Roughriders were a perennial contender from the West, reaching the Grey Cup finals five consecutive years from —32, and again in but each time coming up short against their eastern opponents.

With the folding of both clubs in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon, the Regina Roughriders became a provincially-owned and -operated club, surviving only on the undying support from the entire province. They became the Saskatchewan Roughriders in , while adopting their current colours of green and white. The name change was made official on l April 1, There are two theories on where the name "Roughriders" came from.

One states that it came from the North West Mounted Police who were called Roughriders because they broke the wild horse broncos used by the force. Following the war, the troops returned to Canada, part settling in Ottawa, and the rest moving out West. The colours of the Roosevelt infantry were red and black.

League annals show 11 CFL Western Division regular season championship: , , , , , , , , , and Eventually, the formation of what became the CFL brought both teams into a 9-team league, each with the same established nickname which they were allowed to keep although different in spelling were identically pronounced. This situation continued until the Ottawa folded in The Rough Riders were named for the log rollers of the region's rivers, while the Roughriders were named for an elite North-West Mounted Police corps of expert horsemen.

They won the W. Saskatchewan contended on and off in the s, with standouts such as Frank Tripucka , Reggie Whitehouse, Ken Carpenter , Mike Cassidy , player-coach Frank Filchock and Cookie Gilchrist who was the first Roughrider to rush for 1, yards in Even with that talent, they didn't return to the Grey Cup in part because of very strong championship clubs fielded by the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers from that era.

In they finished second in the WIFU with an 8—7—1 record. They lost in the W. Semi-Finals to the Blue Bombers in a 1—1 series 60—23 points. Semi-Finals to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in an 0—1—1 series 27—25 points. They lost once again in the W. Semi-Finals to the Blue Bombers in a 1—1 series 24—16 points. In they finished second in the WIFU for the 3rd straight year with a 10—6 record. This time they beat the Blue Bombers in the W. Semi-Finals 1—1 series 50—26 points.

But, lost the W. Finals to the Edmonton Eskimos in a 2—1 series 93—42 points. The Roughriders' darkest day came on December 9, when four members of the team were killed in a plane crash while returning from the CFL All-Star game in Vancouver.

The team retired the numbers of the four players shortly after the tragedy. Semi-Finals to the Calgary Stampeders in a 2—0 series 43—7 points. In , with the acquisition of quarterback Ron Lancaster from Ottawa, the Riders ushered in a era of greatness which during his sixteen years donning the Green and White, led Saskatchewan to five Western Conference titles, a Grey Cup title in winning 29—14 victory over the now-defunct Ottawa Rough Riders , and making the playoffs fourteen times during his tenure which included a CFL record 11 straight appearances in the Western finals from — They also posted the best regular season record in all of pro football over that time period.

Reed retired after the season as the all time leading rusher in all of pro football and Lancaster retired after the season as the CFL's all time passing leader in yards, completions and touchdown passes. From to , they failed to qualify for the postseason despite having talented players like Joey Walters at receiver, Vince Goldsmith at defensive end, offensive lineman Roger Aldag from Gull Lake and Dave Ridgway who became one of the greatest kickers in CFL history.

The closest the Riders came to making the playoffs was when they finished fourth in a competitive West Division with a 9—7 record. It was also the only winning record the Riders recorded during that span. However, in a division dominated by Edmonton and Calgary, the Riders usually found themselves in a three-way battle with BC and Winnipeg for the last playoff spot in the West.

The Roughriders finally ended their 11 year playoff drought in when they tied for first in the West along with Edmonton finishing with identical records of 11—7, but lost to the BC Lions in the Western semifinal 42— The next season , despite finishing 9—9, the Riders got hot in the playoffs, beating the Calgary Stampeders in the semis and upset the 16—2 Edmonton Eskimos in the West final to advance to the Grey Cup where they would face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Roughriders celebrate their Grey Cup victory. Shivers hired Danny Barrett as the head coach despite the latter's limited coaching experience. The Roughriders made football history by being the first professional team with a black general manager and head coach.

In the football season the Roughriders finished 5—12—1 and 4th in the West and they missed the Playoffs. In the football season the Roughriders finished 6—12 and 4th in the West and they missed the Playoffs.

In the football season the Roughriders finished 8—10 and 4th in the West and they lost the East Semi-Final Crossover 24—14 to Toronto. In the football season the Roughriders finished 11—7 and 3rd in the West and they won the West Semi-Final 37—21 over Winnipeg and lost the West Final 30—23 to Edmonton. Clair had an impressive record during his 14 seasons on the Ottawa sideline. During his reign the Rough Riders won three Grey Cups championships in four appearances. Clair later went on to become the general manager of the Ottawa franchise from to Clair was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in The team made the post-season every year, placed no lower than second in their division and won three Grey Cups.

The team was known for having as much fun on the field as they did off and most players lived and worked in the offseason in Ottawa. The Rough Riders found themselves down to Saskatchewan early in the game, but the defending champions did not panic.

After a Saskatchewan fumble, Jackson hit Jim Mankins for another TD in the 3 rd quarter and the Rough Riders sealed their victory when Stewart and Jackson combined on a 32 yard pass and run touchdown that that sealed the deal on a Ottawa victory.

He went on to play 12 seasons with the Rough Riders and remarkably never missed a game because of injury. Jackson led the Rough Riders to the playoffs every year that he was with them.