Hamilton Tigers (football)
| Founded | 1869 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1950 (Merged with Hamilton Wildcats in 1950) |
| Based in | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| League |
ORFU (1883–1906) IRFU (1907–1947) ORFU (1948–1949) |
| Team history | Hamilton Football Club (1869–1872) Hamilton Tigers (1873–1949) |
| Team colors |
black, gold |
| Home field(s) |
Hamilton AAA Grounds Civic Stadium |
black, gold
The Hamilton Tigers were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and 1948 to 1949 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1947. The club was a founding member of both the ORFU in 1883 and the IRFU in 1907. Throughout their history, the Tigers won five Grey Cup Championships as well as winning the Dominion Championship in 1908, the year before the Grey Cup was awarded. After struggling to compete on a sound financial level with the Hamilton Wildcats, who had joined the ORFU in 1941 and later the IRFU, the two clubs merged in 1950 to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Hamilton Football Club was founded on November 3, 1869 in a room above George Lee’s Fruit Store, where the club adopted the colours of black and yellow. The first game in franchise history took place on December 18, 1869 against the 13th Battalion (now Royal Hamilton Light Infantry) where the final score was not recorded. The club was first referred to as the Tigers in their first game against the Toronto Argonauts at the University of Toronto. In that game, which was won by Toronto by a Goal and a Try to Nil, it was the first time that Hamilton wore black and yellow, hence the nickname "Tigers."
On January 6, 1883, the Ontario Rugby Football Union was formed to provide a structured league of rugby-football play among teams based in Ontario. The Hamilton Tigers were one of the first 16 teams in this league, which consisted of both club and university teams. The Tigers initially played well, but could not advance to the championship game. It wasn't until 1888 that they met Ottawa College in the ORFU Final, but lost that game 10-1. After seven years in the league, the Tigers won their first ORFU championship in 1890 over Queen's University by a score of 8-6, bringing the city of Hamilton their first championship team. They would go on to win the ORFU Championship in 1897 over Osgoode Hall 16-8, but would see difficult times at the turn of the century.
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