The Ontario Rugby Football Union or 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 R.C.A.F. 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. By 1974, the ORFU had ceased to exist.
| Group 1 | ||||||||||
| Team | City | Stadium | Joined | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peterborough Petes | ||||||||||
| Windsor Royals | ||||||||||
| Sarnia Imperials | ||||||||||
| Group 2 | ||||||||||
| Team | City | stadium | Joined | |||||||
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- Hamilton Alerts - 1st Grey Cup Champions of the ORFU in 1912.
- Sarnia Imperials - 2 time Grey Cup Champions: 1934, 1936.
- Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers - 2 time Grey Cup Champions: 1927, 1930.
- Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen
- Toronto Indians
- London Lords
- Brantford Redmen
- Bramalea Satellites
- Ottawa Trojans
- Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats (both merged to become the Hamilton Tiger-Cats)
- Toronto R.C.A.F. Hurricanes
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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 Granite
1900 Ottawa Rough Riders
1901 Toronto Argonauts
1902 Ottawa Rough Riders
1903 Hamilton Tigers
1904 Hamilton Tigers
1905 Hamilton Tigers
1906 Hamilton Tigers
1907 Peterboro Seniors
1908 Toronto AAA
1909 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1910 Toronto AAA
1911
1912 Hamilton Alerts
1913 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1914 Hamilton Rowing Club
1915 Toronto Rowing Club
1916 World War 1
1917 World War 1
1918 World War 1
1919 Toronto Rowing Club
1920 Toronto Rowing Club
1921 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1922 Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club
1923
1924 Toronto Balmy Beach
1925 Toronto Balmy Beach
1926 Toronto Balmy Beach
1927 Toronto Balmy Beach
1928 Sarnia Imperials
1929 Sarnia Imperials
1930 Toronto Balmy Beach
1931 Sarnia Imperials
1932 Sarnia Imperials
1933 Sarnia Imperials
1934 Sarnia Imperials
1935 Sarnia Imperials
1936 Sarnia Imperials
1937 Sarnia Imperials
1938 Sarnia Imperials
1939 Sarnia Imperials
1940 Toronto Balmy Beach
1941 Hamilton Flying Wildcats
1942 Toronto RCAF Hurricanes
1943 Hamilton Flying Wildcats
1944 Hamilton Flying Wildcats
1945 Toronto Balmy Beach
1946 Toronto Balmy Beach
1947 Ottawa Trojans
1948 Hamilton Tigers
1949 Hamilton Tigers
1950 Toronto Balmy Beach
1951 Sarnia Imperials
1952 Sarnia Imperials
1953 Toronto Balmy Beach
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 Sarnia Golden Bears