# 1959 CFL season

The 1959 CFL season was the sixth season in modern-day Canadian football, although officially it was the second season of the Canadian Football League. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the third straight time in the Grey Cup final. The Blue Bombers won the rubber match in a defensive showdown.

## Regular season
### Final regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
Western Interprovincial Football Union :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 418 | 272 | 24 |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 370 | 221 | 20 |
| BC Lions | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 306 | 301 | 18 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 356 | 301 | 16 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 212 | 567 | 2 |
Interprovincial Rugby Football Union :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 298 | 162 | 20 |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 275 | 217 | 16 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 193 | 305 | 12 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 192 | 274 | 8 |
* Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
* Winnipeg and Hamilton both have first round byes.

## Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1959

### Semi-finals

Western Semi-Finals :
| Edmonton Eskimos vs BC Lions ||||
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | October 31 | Edmonton Eskimos 20 | BC Lions 8 |
| 2 | November 4 | BC Lions 7 | Edmonton Eskimos 41 |
| Edmonton won the total-point series 61–15 ||||
Eastern Semi-Finals :
| Montreal Alouettes @ Ottawa Rough Riders |||
| Date | Away | Home |
| November 7 | Montreal Alouettes 0 | Ottawa Rough Riders 43 |

### Finals

Western Finals :
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Edmonton Eskimos ||||
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 11 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19 | Edmonton Eskimos 11 |
| 2 | November 14 | Edmonton Eskimos 8 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 |
| Winnipeg wins the best of three series 2–0 ||||
Eastern Finals :
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs Ottawa Rough Riders ||||
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 14 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats 5 | Ottawa Rough Riders 17 |
| 2 | November 21 | Ottawa Rough Riders 7 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21 |
| Hamilton won the total-point series by 26–24 ||||

## Playoff bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals | 47th Grey Cup | 47th Grey Cup | 47th Grey Cup |
| | | | E1 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 26 (5+21) | | | |
| East | East | East | E1 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 26 (5+21) | | | |
| East | East | East | E2 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 24 (17+7) | | | |
| E2 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 43 | E2 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 24 (17+7) | | | |
| E3 | Montreal Alouettes | 0 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Montreal Alouettes | 0 | | | | E1 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 7 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 21 |
| | | | W1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 2 (19,16) | | | |
| West | West | West | W1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 2 (19,16) | | | |
| West | West | West | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 0 (11,8) | | | |
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 61 (20+41) | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 0 (11,8) | | | |
| W3 | BC Lions | 15 (8+7) | | | | | | |

### Grey Cup Championship

November 28
47th Annual Grey Cup Game: Exhibition Stadium – Toronto, Ontario :
| Western Champions | Eastern Champions |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers 21 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats 7 |
| The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the 1959 Grey Cup Champions ||
| Charlie Shepard (RB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player. ||

## CFL Leaders

* CFL Passing Leaders
* CFL Rushing Leaders
* CFL Receiving Leaders

## 1959 Eastern All-Stars
### Offence

* QB – Bernie Faloney, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* RB – Cookie Gilchrist, Toronto Argonauts
* RB – Dave Thelen, Ottawa Rough Riders
* RB – Dick Shatto, Toronto Argonauts
* E – Bobby Simpson, Ottawa Rough Riders
* E – Paul Dekker, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* FW – Ron Howell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* C – Tommy Hugo, Montreal Alouettes
* OG – Kaye Vaughan, Ottawa Rough Riders
* OG – Dave Suminski, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* OT – Billy Shipp, Montreal Alouettes
* OT – John Barrow, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

### Defence

* DT – Kaye Vaughan, Ottawa Rough Riders
* DT – John Barrow, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DE – Pete Neumann, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DE – Doug McNichol, Montreal Alouettes
* DG – Vince Scott, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* LB – Bill Sowalski, Ottawa Rough Riders
* LB – Eddie Bell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* LB – Larry Hayes, Ottawa Rough Riders
* LB – Ernie Danjean, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DB – Jim Rountree, Toronto Argonauts
* DB – Ralph Goldston, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* S – Duane Wood, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

## 1959 Western All-Stars
### Offence

* QB – Jim Van Pelt, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* RB – Jackie Parker, Edmonton Eskimos
* RB – Gene Filipski, Calgary Stampeders
* RB – Charlie Shepard, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* RB – Johnny Bright, Edmonton Eskimos
* E – Ernie Pitts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* E – Ernie Warlick, Calgary Stampeders
* C – Neil Habig, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* OG – Ed Kotowich, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* OG – Tom Hinton, British Columbia Lions
* OT – Frank Rigney, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* OT – Roger Nelson, Edmonton Eskimos

### Defence

* DT – Art Walker, Edmonton Eskimos
* DT – Urban Henry, British Columbia Lions
* DE – Ed Gray, Edmonton Eskimos
* DE – Herb Gray, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* MG – Steve Patrick, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* LB – Rollie Miles, Edmonton Eskimos
* LB – Norm Fieldgate, British Columbia Lions
* LB – Garland Warren, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* LB – Al Ecuyer, Edmonton Eskimos
* DB – Ken Ploen, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* DB – Bill Jessup, British Columbia Lions
* S – Harvey Wylie, Calgary Stampeders

## 1959 CFL Awards

* CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Johnny Bright (RB), Edmonton Eskimos
* CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Russ Jackson (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
* CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award – Roger Nelson (OT), Edmonton Eskimos
* Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (IRFU MVP) – Russ Jackson (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
* Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (WIFU MVP) - Jackie Parker (QB), Edmonton Eskimos
* Gruen Trophy (IRFU Rookie of the Year) - Joe Poirier (DB), Ottawa Rough Riders
* Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy (WIFU Rookie of the Year) - Henry Janzen (DB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy (WIFU Outstanding Lineman) - Art Walker (DE), Edmonton Eskimos

## 1959 Miss Grey Cup

* Miss BC Lions Anna Finlayson was named Miss Grey Cup 1959