Ontario Rugby Football Union

The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league with teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded in 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt the Burnside Rules, from which the modern Canadian football code would evolve.

During the Second World War, the military teams in Ontario played in the ORFU filling the gap during the suspension of play by the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union. (Toronto Navy - H.M.C.S. York played out of Varsity Stadium using the Toronto Argonauts equipment and uniforms.) The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes were the last amateur team to win the Grey Cup in 1942. Many from the ranks of the military teams in the ORFU became stars in the CFL after the war.

The ORFU champion challenged for and won the Grey Cup in its early decades, but by the 1950s their challenges proved to be perennial failures against the stronger professional interprovincial leagues, the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union. The ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition in 1954 in a move that heralded the start of the modern era of Canadian football. The ORFU ceased to operate as a true senior league after 1960, but continued play at the intermediate level. Eventually the word "senior" came to replace the word "intermediate." By 1974, the ORFU had ceased to exist.

Notable teams

Toronto Argonauts (1883-1906)
Hamilton Tigers (1883-1906, 1948-1949)
Ottawa Rough Riders (1883-1893, 1897-1902)
Ottawa College (1885-93)
Kingston Granites (1899-1901)
Hamilton Alerts - 1st Grey Cup Champions of the ORFU in 1912 (1911-1912)
Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers - 2 time Grey Cup Champions: 1927, 1930 (1924-1957)
Sarnia Imperials - 2 time Grey Cup Champions: 1934, 1936 (1928-1955)
Toronto Amateur Athletic Club - ORFU Champion 1908 & 1910
Toronto Rowing and Athletic Association - ORFU Champion 1915, 1919 & 1920
Hamilton Wildcats - Grey Cup Champions: 1943 (1941-1947)
Toronto Indians (1941-1948)
Toronto RCAF Hurricanes - Grey Cup Champions: 1942 (1942-1943)
Ottawa Trojans (1943-1947) ORFU Champion 1947
Windsor Royals/Rockets (1945-1952)
Brantford Redskins (1952-1953)
Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen (1953-1959) ORFU Champion 1954-57
London Lords (1956-1972)
Sarnia Golden Bears ORFU Champion 1958-59
Bramalea Satellites (1967-1972)

ORFU champions

Year	Champion
1883	Toronto Argonauts
1884	Toronto Argonauts
1885	Ottawa College
1886	Ottawa College
1887	Ottawa College
1888	Ottawa College
1889	Ottawa College
1890	Hamilton Tigers
1891	Osgoode Hall
1892	Osgoode Hall
1893	Queen's University
1894	Queen's University
1895	University of Toronto
1896	University of Toronto
1897	Hamilton Tigers
1898	Ottawa Rough Riders
1899	Kingston Granites
1900	Ottawa Rough Riders
1901	Toronto Argonauts
1902	Ottawa Rough Riders
1903	Hamilton Tigers
1904	Hamilton Tigers
1905	Hamilton Tigers
1906	Hamilton Tigers
1907	Peterborough Pets
1908	Toronto Amateur Athletic Club
1909	Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1910	Toronto Amateur Athletic Club
1911	Hamilton Alerts
1912	Hamilton Alerts (Grey Cup champs)
1913	Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1914	Hamilton Rowing Club
1915	Toronto Rowing and Athletic Association
1916	No season: World War I
1917	No season: World War I
1918	No season: World War I
1919	Toronto Rowing and Athletic Association
1920	Toronto Rowing and Athletic Association
1921	Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1922	Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1923	Hamilton Rowing Club
1924	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1925	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1926	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1927	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers (Grey Cup champs)
1928	University of Toronto Orphans
1929	Sarnia Imperials
1930	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers (Grey Cup champs)
1931	Sarnia Imperials
1932	Sarnia Imperials
1933	Sarnia Imperials
1934	Sarnia Imperials (Grey Cup champs)
1935	Sarnia Imperials
1936	Sarnia Imperials (Grey Cup champs)
1937	Sarnia Imperials
1938	Sarnia Imperials
1939	Sarnia Imperials
1940	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1941	Hamilton Wildcats
1942	Toronto RCAF Hurricanes (Grey Cup champs)
1943	Hamilton Flying Wildcats (Grey Cup champs)
1944	Hamilton Wildcats
1945	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1946	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1947	Ottawa Trojans
1948	Hamilton Tigers
1949	Hamilton Tigers
1950	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1951	Sarnia Imperials
1952	Sarnia Imperials
1953	Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
1954	Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
1955	Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
1956	Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
1957	Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
1958	Sarnia Golden Bears
1959	Sarnia Golden Bears
1960	London Lords