Western Mustangs football
| Western Mustangs | |
|---|---|
Western Mustangs logo
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|
| First season | 1929 |
| Athletic director | Christine Stapleton |
| Head coach |
Greg Marshall 10th year, 65–15 (.813) |
| Other Staff | Paul Gleason (DC) |
| Home Stadium | TD Stadium |
| Year built | 2000 |
| Stadium capacity | 8,000 |
| Stadium surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | London, Ontario |
| League | U Sports |
| Conference | OUA (1980-present) |
| Past associations | CIRFU (1929-1970) OUAA (1971-1973) OQIFC (1974-1979) |
| All-time record | – |
| Postseason record | – |
| Tournaments | |
| Vanier Cups | 6 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1989, 1994 |
| Mitchell Bowls | 1 2008 |
| Churchill Bowls | 7 1959, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1994 |
| Atlantic Bowls | 5 1971, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1995 |
| Canadian Bowls | 1 1914 |
| Yates Cups | 30 1931, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013 |
| Hec Crighton winners | 6 Jamie Bone, Greg Marshall, Blake Marshall, Tim Tindale (2), Andy Fantuz |
| Current uniform | |
 |
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| Colours | Purple and white |
| Fight song | "Western" |
| Mascot | J.W. |
| Outfitter | Under Armour |
| Website | westernmustangs.ca |
The Western Mustangs football team (also known as just the Western Mustangs) represents the University of Western Ontario in Canadian college football. The Mustangs compete as a member of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA), under the U Sports association.
With their first full season in 1929, the Western Mustangs are one of the most decorated football teams in Canadian university history. The team has had the most Vanier Cup national championship appearances, having made it to the title game 12 times (most recently in 2008). The Mustangs have also won the Yates Cup conference championship 30 times in team history; more than any other Canadian University. The Western Mustangs play their home games at TD Stadium, located on the south side of campus. With 8,000 seats, TD Stadium is the second-largest stadium in the OUA association.
One of the earliest known football games to have been played at Western was in 1908 by a group of medical students. Known as 'rugby' or 'rugby football', this team joined a local junior league and played a small series of games that year. In 1912, the Medical faculty students as well as the Arts faculty students joined and formed one team which played along with the local City of London team in the Junior Ontario Rugby Union.
Western joined the intermediate intercollegiate football team in 1920 and with a very rough start, the team persevered with the support of the university for the next couple of seasons. With improved coaching from 1923 to 1926, the team went on to win their first intermediate intercollegiate championship in 1927 with Art Wilson as the head coach.
In 1928, construction began on the first stadium on campus. With the help of Fielding Yost, the stadium was built to proper football guidelines. The J.W. Little Memorial Stadium opened the following year on October 19, 1929 and was named after Colonel J.W. Little, a former City of London mayor. Opening day, Western's new senior intermediate team played Queen's University and lost 25-2.
Improvements like an electronic scoreboard and a radio booth were added in 1948 and 1949, respectively. By 1960, the stadium expanded seating from the original 5,000 seats to well over 7,200 seats. This was then expanded to 8,000 in future years.
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Wikipedia