Canadian Football

Canadian Football, form of football developed in the mid-19th century from rugby football and modified by American football early in the 20th century. Canadian football and American football are similar in most respects, but there are some significant differences in rules.

Canadian football is played by teams of 12 players on a field marked the same as an American football gridiron but 10 yd (9 m) longer and 11.5 yd (10.5 m) wider. A deadline is marked off 20 yd (18 m) behind each goal line, and the space between these lines is the goal area. At the start of each play, the defensive line players must be at least 1 yd (91 cm) behind the line of scrimmage (an imaginary line designating the position of the ball). Offensive line players are the only players not allowed to be in motion before the ball is snapped. Only three downs (attempts to move the ball 10 yd in order to be awarded a new set of downs) are allowed.

Scoring in Canadian football is the same as in the American game, except for a variation of the single point, also called the rouge or single. A single is scored when the ball enters the goal area after a punt or a missed field goal and is recovered by a defensive player who is downed in the goal area. A single is also scored when the ball enters the goal area after a punt or missed field goal and then goes out of bounds, or on a kickoff when the ball is touched by a member of the opposing team and then enters the goal area.

The first Canadian football teams played under the auspices of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU), founded in 1884. In 1909 the governor-general of Canada, Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey, donated a trophy to be awarded to the team winning the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada. Both the trophy and the championship game have become known as the Grey Cup. Since 1954 it has been awarded only to professional teams.

In 1956 the Canadian Football Council was formed. Two years later it was renamed the Canadian Football League (CFL), with Western and Eastern conferences (renamed divisions in 1981). The CFL, among its other regulations, sets a limit on the number of U.S.-born players on Canadian teams. In 1993 the league admitted its first U.S. franchise, adding the Sacramento Gold Miners in an attempt to broaden Canadian football’s popular appeal and boost league revenues. After several years with a fluctuating number of American teams, the CFL returned to an all-Canadian format in 1996.

The teams in the East Division of the CFL are the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Montréal Alouettes, the Toronto Argonauts, and the Ottawa Renegades. The teams in the West Division are the British Columbia Lions, the Calgary Stampeders, the Edmonton Eskimos, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1962.