St. Paul's High School Archives: Football in Manitoba

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers got their name from Vince Leah after he referred to the team as the 'Blue Bombers' of the West in a 1935 Winnipeg Tribune article. The name stuck and the team was officially renamed in 1936.

History tells of a transformative event in the 1820s at the British Public School of Rugby. This event, in which a student picked up the football and raced to the end zone with his opponents in pursuit, is regarded as the creation of the sport of rugby. Over the decades, the sport was disseminated and adopted across the British Empire. The original sport underwent numerous changes in North America and eventually lead to the creation of Canadian and American football. 

Canadian football first emerged in the late 1800s. The sport was developed as an adaptation, or hybridization, of the English game of rugby and the newly created sport, American football. With these dual influences, Canadian football emerged as a distinct sport.
Canadian football is a field sport in which twelve players battle against their opponents to reach the end zone, with the football, within a restricted amount of time, and with a set number of opportunities.

Although Canadian football evolved from the English sport of Rugby, there exist many differences today. From the number of players on the field, the style of play, and the length of the game, they are now distinct sports with few similarities.
The official division between football and rugby in Canada came in 1958 when the Canadian Football Club withdrew from the Canadian Rugby Union to form the Canadian Football League.

American Football was created after an encounter between Harvard and McGill, Canada's first rugby team, in 1874. Following that first game in Massachusetts, the Americans developed a new version of rugby known as football. This new sport of football had a great influence on the Canadian game which adopted many of the American alterations.
As the sport evolved on each side of the border, distinct differences in play emerged. Many of these variations continue to exist, such as the size of the field, the number of downs, and scoring opportunities. These differences affect the tactics, resulting in contrasting styles of play.
The impact of these differences could be seen in the 1940s exhibition games the St. Paul's Crusaders played against St. James Academy, as the American rules left the Crusaders with fewer men on the field and with fewer scoring opportunities. This often resulted in a loss at the hands of the American team.

Football in Manitoba developed in tandem with clubs across Canada in the late 19th century. The first rugby football club in Manitoba was organized in 1888. The Manitoba Rugby League was formed by three teams, the Victorias, the St. John’s, and the Royal School of Infantry.  Over the decades, competition expanded from local to inter-provincial, with the organization of the Western Canada Rugby Football Union (1911) and the Tri-City Rugby Football Union (1928). In 1921 the teams of these western unions were allowed to compete with the east for the Grey Cup.
The sport continued to attract Manitobans as time passed. In the 1930s the first school leagues were organized. These leagues allowed younger teams to develop and hone their skills, building a roster of local athletes for the newly formed Winnipeg Blue Bombers (originally the Winnipeg Winnipegs/'Pegs). 
Since the early days of the game, football has become one of the major sports played in the province at the high school, amateur, and professional levels.