Montreal Alouettes

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1946
• Home field: Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Owners: Pierre Karl Péladeau
• Team colors: Blue, red, and white

Overview

The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League (CFL) team that plays in the city of Montreal, the largest city in the province of Quebec. With a name reflecting the bilingual heritage of the province, the Alouettes started their existence under the guidance of a Hall of Fame coach and won a championship in just their fourth season. Despite being one of the CFL’s dominant franchises in the 1970s, the Alouettes experienced financial difficulties in the 1980s and folded twice. The team was resurrected in 1996 and returned to dominance in the 2000s, winning three of the franchise's eight Grey Cup championships. In 2019, the Alouettes underwent a brand makeover, changing their logo and identity to better represent the people of Montreal.

History

The history of football in Montreal goes back to 1872 when the Montreal Foot Ball Club was formed as one of Canada’s first organized clubs. Football in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was much different than its modern form. In Canada, football was called rugby football and often played by leagues that used different rules. Many leagues played in playoff-style tournaments rather than on regular schedules. The winners of these tournaments were declared champions and often awarded a trophy to note the achievement.

In 1909, Earl Grey, then the governor general of Canada, suggested awarding a trophy to the winner of the nation’s amateur rugby football championship. The trophy became known as the Grey Cup. It was first awarded to the University of Toronto in 1909 and, except for several years during World War I (1914–1918), has been awarded every year since. In 1931, the Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers became the first team from the city to win the Grey Cup. The Wheelers played in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU), one of several competing football leagues in Canada at the time. The team folded after the 1935 season and was replaced with another Montreal team. That team, originally called the Indians, went through several name changes before ceasing operations after the 1945 season.

In 1946, businesspersons Eric Cradock and Leo Dandurand teamed with longtime football coach Lew Hayman to establish the Montreal Alouettes. In French, an alouette is a skylark. The name was chosen in part to reflect the French heritage of Quebec and as a reference to a popular children’s song about plucking the feathers from a lark. The name was also meant to honor the 425th Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, a French-Canadian unit nicknamed the “Alouettes.”

With part-owner Hayman as head coach, the Alouettes won the 1949 Grey Cup. The championship was the fifth Grey Cup won by Hayman, who would go on to be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975. The team played for three consecutive Grey Cups from 1954–1956, but lost each time. When the Alouettes formed, they were one of four teams in the IRFU. In 1958, the IRFU merged with the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) to form the Canadian Football League. With the merger, the Grey Cup—which had been awarded exclusively to teams in the IRFU and WIFU since 1954—was designated as the championship trophy for the CFL.

During the 1950s, the team boasted a high-powered offense led by quarterback Sam Etcheverry and wide receiver Harold Patterson. However, as the 1960s began, the Alouettes’ owner crippled the franchise by trying to trade away both players. Patterson was dealt to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, while Etcheverry left for the National Football League (NFL). As a result, Montreal failed to post a winning season from 1961–1969. The Alouettes turned things around in 1970 when, under the direction of Etcheverry who returned as head coach, they won their second Grey Cup championship. Montreal played in five more Grey Cups from 1971–1979 and won two more championships.

In 1981, the team was purchased by Vancouver businessperson Nelson Skalbania, who tried to add some flash to the franchise by signing several former NFL stars to high-priced contracts. The attempt failed to result in wins and the team’s attendance suffered. Facing severe debt, Skalbania was forced to shutter the franchise and return it to the CFL in 1982. A new owner swooped in and purchased the franchise rights, renaming the team the Montreal Concordes. Still struggling on the field and facing financial troubles off it, the team was briefly renamed the Alouettes in 1986 before folding for a second time a year later.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, several other CFL franchises were also having severe financial troubles, prompting the league to expand into the United States in an attempt to gain additional revenue. The experiment failed after just two seasons with all-five US-based teams ceasing operations in 1996. One of those teams, the Baltimore Stallions, had been the most successful of the US teams and had won the Grey Cup in 1995. With the Montreal franchise still vacant, the CFL transferred the Stallions to the city for the 1996 season. The team was once again named the Alouettes and absorbed the previous franchise’s history prior to its folding in 1987.

In 1998, the Alouettes returned to play at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, the team’s home from 1954–1967. As of 2020, the team still plays its home games at the facility. The first decade of the twenty-first century proved to be the team’s most productive in its history. Montreal made eight Grey Cup championship games from 2000–2010 and won three times, including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.

After winning their division in 2012, the Alouettes fell on hard times, failing to post a winning record from 2013–2018 and finishing last twice. In 2019, the franchise decided to change its look to increase its appeal to the city and the residents of Quebec. Upon returning to the CFL in 1996, the Alouettes’ logo featured a tough-looking bird carrying a football. The redesign replaced that logo with a sleek red-line drawing in the shape of an “M.” The design’s shape is also meant to convey the image of a bird, a plane—a nod to the 425th Air Squadron—and a fleur-de-lis, a symbol of French-speaking Canada.

In 2023, the Alouettes finished with an 11–7 record and advanced to the Grey Cup Final, where the faced the powerhouse Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Montreal scored late in a back-and-forth game to capture the championship and win the eighth Grey Cup in franchise history.  

Notable players

More than thirty former Alouettes players, coaches, or team officials have been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. These include the keystone players of Montreal’s success in the late 1950s, Sam Etcheverry and Harold Patterson. As of 2020, Etcheverry is still ranked second on the team’s all-time passing list, and Patterson holds the record for most receiving yards in a season with 1,914 in 1956. Both are among the eleven players to have had their jersey numbers retired by the team. Their teammate, wide receiver John “Red” O’Quinn, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1981.

Offensive guard Herb Trawick was signed by the Alouettes in 1946 and remained with the team until his retirement in 1957. Trawick was part of Montreal’s 1949 championship squad and made the Hall of Fame in 1975. He was also the first African American to play in the CFL. Another original Alouette was running back Virgil Wagner who played until 1954 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980. Hall of Fame running back George Dixon was a member of the team from 1959–1965 and is second all-time on the franchise rushing list. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1974. Defensive end Junior Ah You played for the Alouettes during the dominant 1970s and was part of two Grey Cup-winning teams. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993. Joining him in the Hall that same year was tight end Peter Dalla Riva who was part of the 1970, 1974, and 1977 championship teams. Wide receiver Ben Cahoon played on the Alouettes’ championship teams of the early 2000s. He finished his career with 13,301 receiving yards, the most in franchise history, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

Both the Alouettes’ all-time leaders in passing yards and rushing yards also hold those marks for the entire CFL. Running back Mike Pringle, who played in Montreal from 1996–2002, rushed for 9,649 yards with the Alouettes. In his career, which spanned thirteen seasons, Pringle rushed for 16,425 yards and was named to the Hall of Fame in 2008. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo played for Montreal from 1998–2013. He led the team to three Grey Cups and finished with 69,655 passing yards and 398 passing touchdowns with the Alouettes. In his CFL career, Calvillo passed for 79,816 yards and threw for 455 touchdowns. He entered the Hall of Fame in 2017.

Bibliography

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Brunt, Stephen. 100 Grey Cups: This Is Our Game.McClelland & Stewart, 2012.

“CFL Sells Montreal Alouettes to Toronto-Based Businessmen.” CBC/Radio-Canada, 6 Jan. 2020, www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/montreal-alouettes-new-ownership-cfl-1.5416122. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020.

“History.” Montreal Alouettes, 2024, en.montrealalouettes.com/history/. Accessed .

“History of the Grey Cup.” Canadian Football Hall of Fame, 2024, www.cfhof.ca/history-of-the-grey-cup/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.

“It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane…” Brand New, 5 Feb. 2019, www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new‗logo‗and‗identity‗for‗montreal‗alouettes‗by‗grdn‗studio.php. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.

Jonas, Sabrina, and Kwabena Oduro. “Montreal Alouettes Back Home and Celebrating After Thrilling Grey Cup Victory.” CBC, 20 Nov. 2023, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-alouettes-come-home-with-grey-cup-1.7033705. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.

“Montreal Alouettes Team History.” Sports Team History, 2020, sportsteamhistory.com/montreal-alouettes. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020.

Zurkowsky, Herb. “Montreal Alouettes.” Canadian Encyclopedia, 24 Nov.2023, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/montreal-alouettes. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.