Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers

Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
Founded 1924
Folded 1957
Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Home field Varsity Stadium
League Ontario Rugby Football Union
Division ORFU Group 2 (1928)
ORFU Eastern (1929-1931)
Colours

Old Gold and Blue[1]

         

The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. They appeared in four Grey Cup championships spanning three decades and were the longest tenured member of the ORFU.

History

The Beachers were runners-up to the national title in their first season of play in 1924 when they lost to Queen's University in the 12th Grey Cup game.[2] They would go on to win the Grey Cup three years later in 1927, defeating the IRFU's Hamilton Tigers.[3] After another three years, the Beachers would again return to the Grey Cup and were once again victorious, winning the 18th Grey Cup in 1930 over the Regina Roughriders.[4] The Beachers would go on to win the ORFU championship 10 times in their history.

Due to the dominance of the Sarnia Imperials, the Beachers otherwise had very little success in the 1930s, qualifying for the playoffs three other times that decade, only to lose the ORFU Final to the Imperials. It wasn't until 1940 that the team made it back to the Grey Cup, when they lost to the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 28th Grey Cup game, the only Grey Cup to be played as a two-game series.[5] They would continue to see futility as the team would not return to the Grey Cup for the remainder of their history.

On April 20, 1948, it was announced that the Beachers would merge with the Toronto Indians and assumed the name Toronto Beaches-Indians for that one season. The amalgamation took place due to the difficulty that the two teams were having in competing for fan support, in addition to the competition from the IRFU's Toronto Argonauts.[6] The team finished in 2nd place that year with a 5-4 record, but lost to the Hamilton Tigers (who had transferred to the ORFU from the more competitive IRFU that year) in the ORFU Finals. On January 4, 1949, the club announced that the amalgamation would end and the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers would resume play while the Indians would fold.[7]

In 1953 they won the ORFU Championship and played in the Grey Cup semi-final against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, losing in a hard fought game. The team struggled in the 1950s as the "Big Four" eastern teams and the five "Western Conference" teams began importing American players. The Beach was unable to pay the big salaries of the other two leagues and maintained an all-Canadian team which became increasingly less competitive. Despite a winning record (6-4) in 1956, their 1957 season was a disaster, losing all twelve games by a combined score of 570-35; the team folded at season's end. Many Canadian Balmy Beach players played with the "Big Four" and "Western Conference" teams and have since entered the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Canadian Football Hall of Famers

Season-by-season

Season W L T PF PA Pts Finish Playoffs
1924 3 1 0 28 30 6 1st, ORFU Lost 12th Grey Cup
1925 5 1 0 73 37 10 1st, ORFU Lost East Semi-Final
1926 5 0 0 47 18 10 1st, ORFU Lost East Final
1927 5 1 0 100 19 10 1st, ORFU Won 15th Grey Cup
1928 4 0 0 103 6 8 1st, ORFU Group 2 Lost ORFU Semi-Final
1929 6 0 0 104 27 12 1st, ORFU Eastern Lost ORFU Final
1930 4 0 0 74 44 8 1st, ORFU Eastern Won 18th Grey Cup
1931 3 1 0 52 4 6 1st, ORFU Eastern Lost ORFU Final
1932 4 1 1 60 40 9 2nd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1933 3 2 0 52 64 6 2nd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1934 0 6 0 32 84 0 4th, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1935 2 2 0 59 17 4 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Finals
1936 3 1 0 62 35 6 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Final
1937 1 1 1 41 23 3 2nd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1938 3 3 0 73 33 6 3rd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1939 3 2 1 58 27 7 3rd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1940 6 0 0 75 12 12 1st, ORFU Lost 28th Grey Cup
1941 2 4 0 27 34 4 3rd, ECU Missed Playoffs
1942 7 3 0 125 89 14 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Final
1943 8 2 0 148 74 16 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Final
1944 4 2 0 105 33 8 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Final
1945 6 2 0 112 66 12 2nd, ORFU Lost Eastern Final
1946 6 4 0 112 64 12 3rd, ORFU Lost Eastern Final
1947 7 3 0 103 100 14 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Semi-Finals
1948 5 4 0 124 86 10 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Finals
1949 1 11 0 55 290 2 4th, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1950 6 2 0 162 100 12 1st, ORFU Lost Eastern Finals
1951 7 3 0 173 124 14 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Finals
1952 8 3 0 215 156 16 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Finals
1953 8 4 0 252 145 16 3rd, ORFU Lost Grey Cup Semi-Final
1954 1 11 0 169 280 2 3rd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1955 1 11 0 101 319 2 3rd, ORFU Missed Playoffs
1956 6 4 0 203 183 12 2nd, ORFU Lost ORFU Semi-Finals
1957 0 12 0 35 570 13 4th, ORFU Missed Playoffs

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=gog1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=-ZgFAAAAIBAJ&dq=hamilton%20tiger%20cubs&pg=6756%2C2483362 The Montreal Gazette - 21 Oct 1935
  2. ↑ http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1924
  3. ↑ http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1927
  4. ↑ http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1930
  5. ↑ http://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1940
  6. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KShkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r3sNAAAAIBAJ&dq=toronto%20beaches-indians&pg=3793%2C442199 The Calgary Herald - Jan 6, 1949
  7. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gv8uAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MtwFAAAAIBAJ&dq=toronto%20beaches-indians&pg=6317%2C1059434 Ottawa Citizen - Jan 4, 1949
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