Get set for the 2024 CFL ‘Labour Day Classics’

By Chris Lawton

It is that time of year once again. Time for CFL fans to get set for the Labour Day Classics. A series of games with a storied set of histories to them. This year will see the BC Lions host the Ottawa RedBlacks at midnight on Sunday (UK time), before 3 games are played on the Monday here from midnight onwards. Those three games will see the Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the first of a two-game series paired with the Banjo Bowl.

Meanwhile the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will host the Toronto Argonauts. As a bonus for UK based fans, this one will be played at a very watchable 7:30PM UK time. The weekend will be rounded out by the Calgary Stampeders hosting the Edmonton Elks in ‘The Battle of Alberta’.

There is a running joke amongst CFL fans that the Labour Day Weekend games is when the CFL season really begins. Perhaps not totally true, but a team that can get a run going from here can really make a mark in the playoffs.

The Labour Day Classics

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Labour Day has been a statutory public holiday in Canada on the first Monday in September since 1894. Having some football to watch on such a holiday has become something of a tradition too. Because of that the CFL has a history of playing traditional rivalry games on this date.

Each year the contests are supposed to be unchanging. Although with shifts in the league structure down the years there have been a few variations along the way. Because of this some of the contests have a little more history than the others.  

The Labour Day Classics began in 1949 pre-dating the inaugural CFL season by nine years. The matchups have remained mostly the same throughout the games’ history. However, as noted there have been some changes. Most changes or interruptions to the traditional games have been due to periods of ‘hiatus’ for the franchises in Montreal and Ottawa. Or alternatively due to scheduling conflicts.

The Labour Day Contests

The very first Labour Day games saw Edmonton host Calgary, Saskatchewan host Winnipeg, and the Ottawa Rough Riders host the Montreal Alouettes. The Toronto Argonauts versus Hamilton Tiger-Cats contests officially started in 1950, but it is slightly more complex than that. Because Hamilton, represented by the pre-merger Wildcats, played Toronto in this fixture in 1948 and 1949.

Because Ottawa had no active team from 1997 to 2001 and 2006 to 2013, the Alouettes usually faced the Lions in this fixture during those seasons, in what was called a ‘Coast to Coast’ rivalry. Prior to that, in the early 1980’s the Montreal Concordes faced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats while the remaining three teams, Toronto, Ottawa and BC, rotated each year. If anyone was to skip the Labour Day games here it was likely to be the BC Lions. But, as we shall see, Ottawa and BC did face each other during the 1980s and 1990s while the league had no team in Montreal. That’s enough general background – let’s take a look at the heritage of the individual contests.

BC vs Ottawa: A Less Played Labour Day Game

For these games last year, the BC Lions hosted the Montreal Alouettes having faced them on the same weekend the year before. BC has now faced a Montreal team in this fixture on fourteen occasions, having first played the Alouettes for Labour Day in 1980, before having a much more regular rivalry with the Ottawa Rough Riders for the rest of the decade. When there was no Ottawa team, BC would play Montreal in this fixture between 1997 and 2015. With the arrival of the RedBlacks the more traditional Ottawa and Montreal rivalry re-started, and they have faced each other 6 times between 2014 and 2022.

This year however we will see one of the least played of all the Labour Day matchups throughout history. That is because the BC Lions are hosting the Ottawa RedBlacks in Victoria in a Touchdown Pacific matchup that sold out in under an hour.

This is a Labour Day matchup, (BC and Ottawa), that has only been played a total of 12 times up to now. With BC having a 10-2 advantage. Eight games were played between the Lions and the Roughriders with the Leos having a 9-2 advantage between 1981 and 1993. Then with the advent of the Ottawa Renegades, this Labour Day contest ran again once in 2002, another BC win. The RedBlacks who have not played in a Labour Day matchup against anyone, but Montreal will look to change that BC dominance this year.

The Most Played Labour Day Contest - Calgary vs Edmonton

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This is the most regularly played matchup of all these traditional rivalry games. This year will mark the 63rd time this game has been contested. Because this Labour Day matchup has been played 62 times between these two already between 1949 and 2023. Calgary won the first contest 20-6 in Edmonton in 1949. The Stamps also won the latest iteration of this matchup last year when they won 35-31 in Calgary.

In the early years of this contest, (1949-1953), the game was played three times in Edmonton and twice in Calgary. Since 1959 however this one has always been held in Calgary.

The contest was not played out between 1954-1958, 1964-1968, 1973 and 1981. It had been played continuously since then, with the only gap being during the pandemic cancelled 2020 season.

This has been a back-and-forth affair down the years with each team having periods of dominance. However, the overall record is close with Calgary holding the slimmest of advantages with an all-time game record of 31-30-1.

Saskatchewan vs Winnipeg

This Labour Day matchup has been played since 1949 and Saskatchewan have always been the hosts. This year will mark the 59th time this game has been played. Because this one has been played 58 times between 1949 and 2023. Saskatchewan recorded a 20-9 win in the first of these games in 1949. Which is currently bookended with a 32-30 win from 2023.

This contest was not played between 1955-1960, 1964-1969, 1971, 1973, 1976 and 1981. It had been played continuously since then, with the only gap being during the pandemic cancelled 2020 season. Overall Saskatchewan have quit the lead with a 38-20 edge against the Blue Bombers in this one.

Hamilton vs Toronto

The 2024 Labour Day Classic at Tim Horton’s Field marks the 53rd matchup between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts on Labour Day. That is, since the tabbies were a merged team. You could argue it goes back further with the tow games between the Argos and Hamilton Wildcats in 1948 and 1949 before they merged with the Tigers to form the Tiger-Cats.

But, taking things from 1950, with the merged Hamilton team, as the league does, Hamilton won the first game 13-6 in 1950, whilst Toronto won the most recent game 41-28 in 2023.

The contest was not played in 1962, 1965-1966, 1969-1970, 1972-1974, 1976-1977, 1979, 1981-1986, 1990, 1995, 2011 and 2013 and during the cancelled 2020 season. It has been played without interruption, (the 2020 season cancellation aside), and prior to Toronto winning in 2022 Hamilton were on a seven-game winning streak. Now with the win to their name last year it is the Argos who have had the better of these exchanges for two years in a row.

Overall Hamilton leads this series 36-15-1 against the Argonauts.

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

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