Queen's Gaels football
The Queen's Gaels football team represents Queen's University which is based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The team plays U Sports football in the Ontario University Athletics conference. The program began in 1882 and has competed for and won three Grey Cup championships and four Vanier Cup championships. The program has also boasted three Hec Crighton Trophy winners, including Tom Denison who won it twice.
| Queen's Gaels | |
|---|---|
 Queen's Gaels logo | |
| First season | 1882 |
| Athletic director | Leslie Dal Cin |
| Head coach | Steve Snyder 1st year, 3–5 (.375) |
| Other Staff | Ryan Bechmanis (DC) Ben D'Andrea (SC) |
| Home Stadium | Richardson Memorial Stadium |
| Year built | 1971; refurbished 2016 |
| Stadium capacity | 8,500 |
| Stadium surface | Artificial Turf (2016) |
| Location | Kingston, Ontario |
| League | U Sports |
| Conference | OUA (2001-present) |
| Past associations | ORFU (1883-1897) CIRFU (1898-1954) O-QAA (1955-1970) OUAA (1971-1973) OQIFC (1974-2000) |
| All-time record | 474–373–17 (.558) |
| Postseason record | – |
| Titles | |
| Grey Cups | 3 (1922, 1923, 1924) |
| Vanier Cups | 4 (1968, 1978, 1992, 2009) |
| Mitchell Bowls | 1 (2009) |
| Churchill Bowls | 3 (1968, 1983, 1992) |
| Atlantic Bowls | 1 (1978) |
| Yates Cups | 23 (1900, 1904, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1955, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1977, 1978, 2009) |
| Dunsmore Cups | 7 (1981, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1997) |
| Hec Crighton winners | 3 (Larry Mohr, Tommy Denison x2) |
| Current uniform | |
 | |
| Colours | Gold, Blue, and Red |
| Fight song | Oil Thigh |
| Mascot | Boo-Hoo |
| Outfitter | Nike |
| Rivals | Western Mustangs |
| Website | gogaelsgo.com |
History
The program is one of the longest-lived and storied in the entire Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The team began organized play in 1883 when the Ontario Rugby Football Union was first founded and won ORFU championships in 1893 and 1894. Queen's has competed continuously since 1882, celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2007. The first organized university football league in Canada, the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU), was founded in Kingston in November, 1897, with charter members Queen's, McGill University, and the University of Toronto.[1] The football team exerted its dominance in the 1920s, winning three straight Grey Cups in 1922, 1923 and 1924. Once teams stopped competing for the Grey Cup, which was begun being solely awarded to Canadian Football League teams in 1955, the Gaels turned their attention to the Vanier Cup, appearing in the CIS championship game five times and winning four of those games in 1968, 1978, 1992 and 2009.
The team was led by head coach Pat Sheahan from 2000 to 2018. He led the team to their most recent Vanier Cup win in 2009 and only missed the playoffs in six of the 18 years that he was the head coach. Following his resignation, he was replaced by the team's current head coach, Steve Snyder.
Recent years
The team won their fourth Vanier Cup in 2009, but due to quarterback Danny Brannagan's graduation (and subsequent signing by the Toronto Argonauts) and other key players leaving, the team endured a difficult 2010 season, finishing 3-5. The team just barely made the playoffs in 2010, but had strong seasons in 2011 and 2012 when the team finished 6-2 and in third place in both years. The Gaels qualified for the playoffs for eight straight years until they finally missed the playoffs in 2014. The team finished fourth in the OUA in 2015, but they were upset by the Carleton Ravens in the semi-final game. The team finished in seventh place in 2016 with a 3-5 record and missed the playoffs due to a tie-breaker with Guelph, whom they lost to earlier in the season.
Season-by-season record
The following is the record of the Queen's Gaels football team since Pat Sheahan became head coach in 2000:
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | Pct % | PF | PA | Standing | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0.125 | 114 | 312 | 6th in OQIFC | Did not qualify |
| 2001 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 201 | 171 | 4th in OUA | Defeated Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in quarter-final 29-27 Lost to Ottawa Gee-Gees in semi-final 47-12 |
| 2002 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.875 | 271 | 102 | 2nd in OUA | Defeated Waterloo Warriors in quarter-final 51-14 Defeated Western Mustangs in semi-final 55-20 Lost to McMaster Marauders in Yates Cup final 33-17 |
| 2003 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.875 | 361 | 134 | 2nd in OUA | Defeated York Lions in quarter-final 27-6 Lost to Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in semi-final 36-33 |
| 2004 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0.250 | 211 | 195 | 9th in OUA | Did not qualify |
| 2005 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 198 | 223 | 7th in OUA | Did not qualify |
| 2006 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 177 | 147 | 6th in OUA | Defeated McMaster Marauders 25-19 in quarter-final Lost to Ottawa Gee-Gees in semi-final 23-10 |
| 2007 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0.750 | 229 | 117 | 3rd in OUA | Lost to Western Mustangs in quarter-final 27-19 |
| 2008 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1.000 | 374 | 116 | 1st in OUA | Lost to Ottawa Gee-Gees in semi-final 23-13 |
| 2009 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.750 | 272 | 149 | 1st in OUA | Defeated McMaster Marauders in semi-final 32-6 Defeated Western Mustangs in Yates Cup final 43-39 Defeated Laval Rouge-et-Or in Mitchell Bowl 33-30 Defeated Calgary Dinos in 45th Vanier Cup 33-31 |
| 2010 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 249 | 183 | 6th in OUA | Lost to McMaster Marauders in quarter-final 40-19 |
| 2011 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0.750 | 259 | 103 | 3rd in OUA | Defeated Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in quarter-final 14-10 Lost to McMaster Marauders in semi-final 40-13 |
| 2012 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0.750 | 247 | 145 | 3rd in OUA | Defeated Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in quarter-final 34-0 Lost to Guelph Gryphons in semi-final 30-13 |
| 2013 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0.875 | 354 | 208 | 2nd in OUA | Defeated Guelph Gryphons in semi-final 34-17 Lost to Western Mustangs in Yates Cup final |
| 2014 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 203 | 227 | 8th in OUA | Did not qualify |
| 2015 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 242 | 251 | 4th in OUA | Lost to Carleton Ravens in quarter-final 39-8 |
| 2016 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 236 | 210 | 7th in OUA | Did not qualify |
| 2017 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 290 | 223 | 6th in OUA | Lost to McMaster Marauders in quarter-final 12-9 |
| 2018 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 244 | 226 | 8th in OUA | Did not qualify |
| 2019 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 177 | 224 | 8th in OUA | Did not qualify |
Queen's Gaels in the CFL
As of the start of the 2019 CFL season, four former Gaels players are on CFL teams' rosters:
- Nelkas Kwemo, Toronto Argonauts
- Matt O'Donnell, Edmonton Eskimos
- Matt Webster, Toronto Argonauts
- Derek Wiggan, Calgary Stampeders
Few know that Carl Voss (BA 27) was both an excellent football and hockey player. While at university he played 4 seasons (1924–1927) with the Queen's Golden Gaels. This included a victory in the 1924 12th Grey Cup. Voss has his name engraved on the Grey Cup for this season. Voss also scored the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
This makes Voss, along with Hall-of-Famer Lionel Conacher, one of only two players to have their name engraved on both the Stanley Cup and the Grey Cup.
See also
References
- http://www.cisport.ca, History of Canadian University Football section.