Living with the Roughriders!
Organized football in Saskatchewan began on Tuesday,
September 6, 1910 (before Emery and Mabel were born!) with the formation of the
Regina Rugby Club. The original colours of the Regina Rugby Club were gold and
purple (Vikings!).
The next season, the team changed its
colours to blue and white to match the Regina Amateur Athletic Association. A
third colour change occurred in 1912 when they changed to red and black, which
they would keep for the next 36 years. In 1924, the team changed its name from
the Regina Rugby Club to the Regina Roughriders.
Ottawa's Rugby Club had been called the
Rough Riders since the 1890's, but dropped it in favor of the
"Senators" in 1924. Regina jumped at the chance to adopt the name
"Roughriders".
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. The other states there was a Canadian
contingent who fought with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War.
Roosevelt’s troops became known as the Roughriders. 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.
In 1921, East-West interlocking games
began being played for the Canadian Championship symbolized by the Grey Cup. Lacking suitable opposition in this province, in 1936,
Regina banded with Winnipeg to form the Western Conference.
The year 1948 was a milestone one for
the Roughriders. 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".
The team also changed its colours in
1948 to the familiar Green and White. The team was in bad need of new uniforms,
and when executive member Jack Fyffe found a set of green and white jerseys at
a surplus store in Chicago, for pure economic reasons, the 50 year legacy of
the "Green and White" was born and has existed to this day.
In 1956, the Roughriders suffered a
terrible tragedy when players Gordon Sturtridge (#73), Mel Beckett (#40), Ray
Syrnyk (#56) and Mario Demarco (#55) were killed in a plane crash while
returning from an all-star game in Vancouver. Flight #810 crashed into Mt.
Slesse in the Coastal Mountains just south of Chilliwack, B.C. The four
players’ uniforms are among the eight Roughrider numbers retired by the club.
Dave Ridgway (#36), Ron Lancaster (#23), George Reed (#34) and Roger Aldag
(#44) are the others.
Ten years removed from the tragic
accident, the Roughriders, with coach Eagle Keys at the helm, saw their first
great achievement. By defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14 in Vancouver's
Empire Stadium on November 26th, 1966, Saskatchewan captured its first Grey Cup
championship. Lancaster and Reed played key roles in leading the Riders to
their first national title.
The Riders remained one of the best teams in the CFL for
nearly 15 years, making the post-season every year from 1962 to 1976. Included
in that span were five Grey Cup appearances, 1966 (which they won), 1967, '69,
'72 and '76
The Roughriders would update their look one more time in
1985, adding black and silver to the Green and White, and featuring a new
stylized ‘S’ logo.
The team had several lean years during the late-‘70s and
early 1980s, where poor on-field performances led to even worse gates. However,
fans remained positive that a turn-around would soon come and it did, by way of
one of the best Grey Cup games ever played.
On November 26, 1989, kicker Dave Ridgway nailed
a 35-yard last minute field goal to seal the Roughriders’ second ever Grey Cup
championship with a 43-40 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Toronto’s
SkyDome.
Canada’s Team has now made the playoffs six straight years, including five appearances
in the Western Division Finals since 2003. The Roughriders have won the
league's Grey Cup championship four times, 1966, 1989, 2007 and 2013. Their
most recent championship came about when they defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
with a score of 45–23. They play their home games at Mosaic Stadium. The team
draws fans from across the province and country who are affectionately known as
the "Rider Nation". The fans are known for their loyalty and
"Rider Pride", and it is not odd to find a group of Rider fans
following the team on their road games across the country.
