Longest CFL Losing Streaks - A History of Suffering
By Chris Lawton
The 2024 CFL season is well and truly in the books now and 3 Down fans are looking forwards to the 2025 free agency and draft period before the season rolls around again. At the end of the last season, we took a look at the top 5 winning streaks in CFL history. That came in November, the month of the Grey Cup. To bookend that, and in honour of the 2025 CFL offseason cycle coming up I thought it would be fun to ‘celebrate’ the memory of some terrible teams. CFL fans will, of course, be hoping none of this year’s teams approach these records.
You would usually get a top five here. However, this top five is a top ten because of how many teams share fifth place! Time to look at those longest losing streaks in CFL history and give them a little context. Let’s get to it!
Edmonton Elks: 13 games (Oct 1, 2022, to Aug 10, 2023)
8-28 over 2 seasons, with a 13-game losing streak. Back-to-back last place finishes in the West.
Jake Ceresna DT – 2022 CFL All-Star
It was a 4-10 Elks team that welcomed Montreal to their stadium unaware of the historic run they were about to go on. They would lose their last four games of the 2022 season with two relatively close games and two blowout losses to finish 4-14.
Then in 2023 they would start 0-9 before finally winning away at Hamilton 24-10 the following week. They would once again finish the season 4-14 thanks to a four-game losing streak at the end of the year. To compound that they would start 2024 out 0-7 to have an eleven-game losing streak here.
From 2019 to 2024 Edmonton fans suffered through a 26-60 run which included a record setting run of 22 home defeats ranging from October 2019 to August 2023. This is far an away the longest run of home defeats in CFL history.
Montreal Alouettes: 13 games (Aug 19, 2017, to Jun 22, 2018)
8-28 over 2 seasons, with a 13-game losing streak. One last place, one next to last place finish in the East.
Jonathan Mincy CB, John Bowman DE, Kyries Herbert LB – 2017 All-Stars
John Bowman DE, Henoc Muamba LB, Brandon Dozier S – 2018 All-Stars
Not a great time to be a Montreal Alouettes fan this. They had last won the Grey Cup in 2010. Although Montreal made the playoffs the next few season (2011-2014), they didn’t make it back to the Grey Cup. The Als went into a slump after that going 21-51 over the next four years.
This run saw the Als finish the 2017 season with an 11-game losing run. Most painful were probably losses by 59-11 at Calgary and 33-0 at Hamilton. At one point in 2017 the Als had been 3-4 but at 3-8 Jacque Chapdelaine was relieved of his Head Coaching post, only for Kavis Reed to go 0-7.
They started 2018 with 22-10 and 56-10 defeats before putting Montreal fans out of their misery with a 23-17 win in Saskatchewan in week three.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 13 games (Oct 27, 2002, to Sep 6, 2003)
8-28 over 2 seasons, with a 13-game losing streak. One last place, one next to last place finish in the East.
Troy Davis RB, Dave Hack OT, Rob Hitchcock DS – 2002 East All-Stars
Troy Davis RB, Tim Cheatwood DE, Brandon Hamilton CB – 2003 East All-Stars
Boy were Hamilton fans on a rollercoaster around the turn of the century! A 2-16 1997 season had been a low point. But that had been followed by a 43-28-1 run between 1998 and 2001. That included 4 playoff appearances, 3 East Finals, 2 Grey Cup appearances and one championship. Things looked good going into the new millennium.
Then in 2002 they fell to 7-11, which was bad, but nowhere near as bad as the 1-17 season to follow in 2003.
In 2002 they had been 5-5 before slipping away. The season ended with six losses out of eight games. But they won their next to last game, so only a 28-7 defeat by Winnipeg on the last day of the season counts towards this run.
In the CFL itself only one team has mustered a single win all season. And the 2003 Ticats are that team. They lost their first 13 games in a row and avoided the longest losing streak to start a season with a narrow 27-24 squeaker in overtime against Saskatchewan. The next best week was week 19 when the team had a bye and were done for the season.
Ottawa Rough Riders: 13 games (Jul 19, 1987, to Oct 30, 1987)
3-15 season, with a 13-game losing streak. Last place finish in the East.
Dean Dorsey K – 1987 East All-Star
Ottawa Rough Rider fans were used to lean times at this stage in the teams’ storied history. They had last seen a winning season almost a full decade earlier in 1978. That said, in the 1981 season they had converted a 5-11 record into a Grey Cup appearance and somehow only just lost out 26-23 to a dominant 14-1-1 Edmonton team.
As recently as 1985 they had slipped into the playoffs as a 7-9 squad. But in 1986 they fell away to 3-14-1 and would not be much better this season. It all started so well as they kicked the season off with a wins over Hamilton sandwiching a defeat by Winnipeg to start out 2-1.
Then came 13 straight losses. Some were close, some were thumping, but they were all losses. The pain ended with a 12-9 win away to Saskatchewan.
Hard though it may be to believe after a 13-game losing slide and 6-29-1 run over two seasons, but worse was to come. In 1988, in terms of winning percentage (0.111), a 2-16 return was the worst season the franchise had since the founding of the CFL.
Ottawa were to host the Grey Cup in 1988. A year the team was dubbing “Super season ’88”. The team was 1-1 in the pre-season and hopes were for an improvement on the preceding years.
It wasn’t to be. The Riders started out with 4 defeats before a win in Winnipeg. That was followed by 10 consecutive losses before a little light relief for the home fans in a 19-3 win over Calgary.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 13 games (Aug 18, 1964, to Jul 30, 1965)
12-19-1 over 2 seasons, with a 13 game losing streak. One last place, one second place finish in the West.
Leo Lewis RB, Frank Rigney OT, Bill Whisler DE – 1964 West All-Star
Ken Ploen QB, Frank Rigney OT – 1965 CFL All-Star
Ken Ploen QB, Frank Rigney OT, Dave Raimey RB, henry Janzen DB, Dick Thornton DB – 1965 West All-Star
1964 was a stinging fall from grace for head Coach Bud Grant and the Blue Bombers. Grant coached the Bombers from 1957 until 1966 and under his guidance, led them to six Grey Cup appearances, winning four times. This aberration of a season, going 1-14-1 was the nadir of that coaching run. As well as being the second losing season in a row following a 7-9 season in 1963.
Prior to that, from 1957 to 1962 the Blue Bombers were on a tear in the CFL. Led by Grant they had recorded a 75-21 regular season run. Which translated into 5 Grey Cup appearances (they were runners up in 1957) and four wins. In fact, if it hadn’t been for a 14-2 1960 Blue Bombers team losing a 3 game Western Semi-Final to Edmonton they could have appeared in 5 straight Grey Cups.
The season started with a 10-10 tie with BC at home. Followed by a 29-37 loss in Saskatchewan and convincing 37-7 win at home to Edmonton for a 1-1-1 record. Not exactly crisis time. Unfortunately, 13 consecutive losses ensued for a 1-14-1 record.
They would win their first game of the 1965 season, on the 30th of July 21-14 in Edmonton to stop the rot. In fact, that season they would finish 11-5, and contest another Grey Cup, losing out 22-16 to Hamilton.
Grant would leave Winnipeg after the 1966 season with a 102-56-2 regular season, and 13-4 playoff record. He would go on to have a successful coaching career in Minnesota with the Vikings.
Edmonton Eskimos: 13 games (Sep 21, 1963, to Sep 4, 1964)
6-26 over 2 seasons, with a 13-game losing streak. One last place, one next to last place finish in the West.
Tommy Joe Coffey E – 1964 CFL West All-Star
Edmonton put together a 6-26 run by going 2-14 in 1963, and 4-12 in 1964. Along the way they added in the consecutive losing streak.
In 1963 Eagle Keys’ team scored only 220 points whilst surrendering 445. A bright point was Tommy Joe Coffey snagging 61 passes for 1,104 yards. He bettered that in 1964 with 81 catches amassing 1,281 yards.
Edmonton had struggled to 2-5 before the roof fell in during the 1963 season. Nine consecutive losses saw out a miserable year for their fans.
Under Coach Neil Armstrong that carried into 1964 as they also lost their first four regular season games. By scores of 15-52, 7-37, 7-39, and 8-56. Pretty grim. But then they ended the run with a 20-1 win over Ottawa and followed that with a 19-10 win over Montreal. No new winning streak was reached however, and Edmonton went 2-8 the rest of the way.
From 1962-1965 they went 17-46-1 and missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons. But success wasn’t far away. Edmonton were soon back to being competitive, and there is little doubt that the 1970’s were a good time to be a football fan in Edmonton. During the decade the team went 97-55-8. That led to six Grey Cup appearances and three wins.
BC Lions: 13 games (Oct 19, 1957, to Oct 6, 1958)
7-24-1 over 2 seasons, with a 13-game losing streak. One next to last place in the WIFU, one last place finish in the WIFU/West.
By Bailey RB, Ed Sharkey OG, Ed Sharkey LB, 1957 WIFU All-Stars
Tom Hinton OG, 1958 West Division All-Star
The CFL wasn’t founded until 1958, so this streak covers part of a WIFU season alongside a CFL season. That WIFU season saw the Lions go 4-11-1. Finishing off with a three-game losing streak following on the heels of three wins. Their worst run of the season had come in weeks 2 to 9 when they lost eight games in a row.
For as bad as 1957 had been for the Lions, 1958 was worse. They finished 3-13 and started the season out by losing ten straight games before squeaking a 15-14 win at Calgary.
Over their first nine seasons they must have tested the loyalty of their new fan base as they went 41-98-5. Their first winning season was 1959 when they went 9-7. However, they were shellacked in the playoffs by an aggregate margin of 61-15 by Edmonton.
The big breakthrough came in 1963. That year they went 12-4 and won the West for the first time ever. That led to their first Grey Cup appearance – a 21-10 loss to Hamilton. They would return to win their first title in 1964.
All that success can arguably be traced back to the 1957 season that saw the start of the long losing streak. Because that year BC hired former Montreal Alouette Herb Capozzi as general manager. Over nine years he turned them from perennial losers to champions.
Shreveport Pirates: 14 games (Jul 6, 1994, to Oct 8, 1994)
3-15 season, with a 14-game losing streak. Last place finish in the East.
Ben Williams DT, Joe Fuller DB -1994 East All-Stars
Team president Lonie Glieberman boasted that the Pirates would be the first US based CFL franchise to win the Grey Cup prior to the 1994 season. Something that didn’t look too likely as they lost in Week one by 40-10 against the Ottawa Rough Riders.
Things did not get better from there. The Pirates set a CFL record, that they still hold, for most losses from the start of a season. That 14-game streak was finally snapped by a 24-12 win over fellow US expansion team the Sacramento Gold Miners. They won three of their last four games to finish 3-15. Even then the wins came by 12, 2 and 4 points whilst they lost to Calgary 52-8.
In 1995 they started out with a 4-game losing run but snapped that long before they challenged their own record. They finished 5-13, last in the South. That was to be the end of them.
Is this the CFL?
Officially, the CFL was founded in 1958. Meaning that the longest two losing streaks, below, came before that. Yet, they are recognised as official records by the league.
Sometimes the history gets complicated. For example, the Ottawa REDBLACKS started play as an expansion club in 2014. However, there has been football in Ottawa, on and off, for much longer than this. The Ottawa Football club was founded in 1876. They would later become better known as the Ottawa Rough Riders.
Despite a brief hiatus in the 1920’s when they were known as the Senators, the Rough Riders survived from 1876-1996. Ottawa had one of the oldest football franchises in North America up to that point. The Rough Riders won the Grey Cup nine times, last wining it in 1976 & last appearing in the big game in 1981.
After the sad demise of this once proud franchise following the 1996 season Ottawa was without a CFL team. That changed in 2002 when the Ottawa Renegades appeared. The Renegades struggled financially and went 23-49 over 4 years before disappearing.
That was the last CFL team in Ottawa until the REDBLACKS were awarded a franchise in 2008. Yet, crucially for the way we look at streaks like this, Wikipedia states that “For historical purposes, the CFL classifies the REDBLACKS, Renegades and Rough Riders as one discontinuous franchise.”
Hence the ability to go further back with the records. Meanwhile the Hamilton Tiger-Cats formed in 1950 by the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and Hamilton Wildcats. Although this one causes more arguments. As I said, it’s complicated! But we shouldn’t let that discourage us from celebrating these ‘tremendous’ losing streaks.
Hamilton Wildcats: 16 games (Oct 17, 1948, to Nov 5, 1949)
The Hamilton Tigers were formed in 1869, the Hamilton Wildcats were formed in 1941. Those 2 clubs merged to form a brand new club in 1950 so how is it that the Tiger-Cats have been around since 1869 and not 1950. 2 clubs merging is not the continuation of one of those clubs 🤪. https://t.co/vFrE4hNtHB pic.twitter.com/sLpTpR8ig4
— Matt Keip (@CanuckTarheel) October 4, 2023
1-22-1 over 2 seasons, with a 16-game losing streak. Two last place finishes in the IRFU.
Prior to the 1948 season the Hamilton Wildcats had a 44-13-3 record. A record that delivered five first place finishes in the ORFU over seven seasons. Which in turn had led to two Grey Cup appearances and a win in 1943. But on joining the IRFU in 1948 things changed dramatically. The Wildcats went 1-10-1 in 1948 and 0-12 in 1949 before merging with the Hamilton Tigers to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
During the 1948 season, the Wildcats got their one win by a single point 13-12 over the Montreal Alouettes to sit at 1-4. They then lost four straight before managing an 8-8 tie with the Toronto Argonauts and seeing the season out by going on another four-game losing streak.
Sixteen straight losses were ‘achieved’ as the Wildcats 1949 season was even worse, seeing them go 0-12. On the Tiger-Cats website they will tell you that, ‘The team…recognizes all 15 Grey Cups won by Hamilton-based teams as part of its history since each franchise is connected to the current Tiger-Cats club’.
Despite that losing streak then, in Hamilton at least, the achievements of the Wildcats before their demise are still celebrated.
Ottawa Senators/Rough Riders: 25 games (Nov 10, 1928, to Oct 7, 1933)
4-31-1 over 6 seasons, with a 25-game losing streak. Five last place finishes, one next to last place finish in the IRFU.
While the Wildcats were suffering, the Ottawa Rough Riders went 10-2 and 11-1 in 1948 and 1949 to finish top of the IRFU twice.
Which is a long way from the results long suffering Ottawa fans had seen between 1928 and 1933. In 1928 the then named Ottawa Senators went 1-4-1 finishing in 4th place and failing to qualify for the playoffs.
It was a pattern that would repeat. They finished that year with a 34-1 loss to begin a long tale of misery for Ottawa supporters.
In 1929 the Senators posted an 0–6 record. In 1930 they had another 0–6 record. This was the last season the team was known as the “Senators” before switching back to the more familiar Rough Riders.
In 1931 they were 0–6. A feat they matched again in 1932. In 1933 they were 3-3 and failed to reach the playoffs. But the streak was ended as they won their first three games of the season, including their first win since 1928, but lost their final three games.
Success did come for their long-suffering fans. As between 1936 and 1951 they had ten first place regular season finishes, leading to six Grey Cup appearances and three wins.
A Final Word
You can’t imagine a team going on a 25-game losing streak in the modern game. It was certainly made easier to have consecutive winless seasons when those seasons were six games long.
Let’s take nothing away from Ottawa, and Hamilton, (with their 16 straight defeats), sitting atop this lot. But in terms of the ‘modern’ game for me the Shreveport team stands out as particularly terrible. A far cry from their Grey Cup winning expansion counterparts the Baltimore Stallions. Whatever the case there is a lot of interesting history here. And, while we are always looking forward and enjoying each new season, we should never forget the rich heritage of the game too.
CHRIS LAWTON
CFL ANALYST
Chris originally started following the NFL with the ‘first wave’ of fans when it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1980’s. He has been a keen supporter of the Miami Dolphins since 1983. Chris first encountered the CFL in 2016 and instantly fell in love with the Canadian game. He has been writing about the CFL 2017. Chris has a degree in history, postgraduate degree in librarianship and can be found on twitter as @CFLfanUK