# 1966 CFL season

The 1966 CFL season was the Canadian Football League's ninth season since the 1958 merger of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union to create a national league. It was the 13th season in modern-day Canadian football.

## CFL news in 1966

The Canadian Football League made several rule changes. The league started to legalize unlimited blocking on rushing plays and introduced their new goose-necked goal posts. The league rewrote its rule book and reduced it in size.
The Canadian Rugby Union, owners of the trophy, granted trusteeship of the Grey Cup to the Canadian Football League in exchange for annual financial support for amateur football.
One of the more notable games of the regular season was Montreal's 1–0 victory over Ottawa, the lowest scoring game in CFL history, and only the second 1–0 game since a 1949 win by Winnipeg over Calgary in the WIFU.

## Regular season standings

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
Western Football Conference :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 351 | 318 | 19 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 264 | 230 | 17 |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 16 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 251 | 328 | 13 |
| Calgary Stampeders | 16 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 227 | 459 | 13 |
| BC Lions | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 254 | 269 | 10 |
Eastern Football Conference :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 278 | 177 | 22 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 264 | 160 | 18 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 156 | 215 | 14 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 166 | 271 | 10 |
* Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
* Saskatchewan and Ottawa have first round byes.

## Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1966

### Conference semi-finals

Western Semi-Finals :
| Edmonton Eskimos @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers |||
| Date | Away | Home |
| November 6 | Edmonton Eskimos 8 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 |
Eastern Semi-Finals :
| Montreal Alouettes @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats |||
| Date | Away | Home |
| November 6 | Montreal Alouettes 14 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats 24 |

### Conference finals

Western Finals :
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Saskatchewan Roughriders ||||
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 13 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 | Saskatchewan Roughriders 14 |
| 2 | November 16 | Saskatchewan Roughriders 21 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19 |
| Saskatchewan wins the best of three series 2–0 ||||
Eastern Finals :
| Ottawa Rough Riders vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats ||||
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 13 | Ottawa Rough Riders 30 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1 |
| 2 | November 19 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats 16 | Ottawa Rough Riders 42 |
| Ottawa won 2 game total-point series 72–17 ||||

## Playoff bracket

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | 54th Grey Cup | 54th Grey Cup | 54th Grey Cup |
| | | | E1 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 72 (30+42) | | | |
| East | East | East | E1 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 72 (30+42) | | | |
| East | East | East | E2 | Hamilton Tiger Cats | 17 (1+16) | | | |
| E2 | Hamilton Tiger Cats | 24 | E2 | Hamilton Tiger Cats | 17 (1+16) | | | |
| E3 | Montreal Alouettes | 14 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Montreal Alouettes | 14 | | | | E1 | Ottawa Rough Riders | 14 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 29 |
| | | | W1 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 2 (14,21) | | | |
| West | West | West | W1 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 2 (14,21) | | | |
| West | West | West | W2 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 0 (7,19) | | | |
| W2 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 16 | W2 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 0 (7,19) | | | |
| W3 | Edmonton Eskimos | 8 | | | | | | |

### Grey Cup Championship

November 26
54th Annual Grey Cup Game: Empire Stadium – Vancouver, British Columbia :
| Western Champion | Eastern Champion |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders 29 | Ottawa Rough Riders 14 |
| The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the 1966 Grey Cup Champions ||

## CFL Leaders

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

## 1966 CFL All-Stars
### Offence

* QB – Russ Jackson, Ottawa Rough Riders
* RB – George Reed, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* RB – Jim Thomas, Edmonton Eskimos
* RB – Dave Raimey, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* SE – Jim Worden, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* TE – Tommy Joe Coffey, Edmonton Eskimos
* F – Hugh Campbell, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* C – Ted Urness, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* OG – Al Benecick, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* OG – Chuck Walton, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* OT – Bill Frank, Toronto Argonauts
* OT – Frank Rigney, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* OT – Clyde Brock, Saskatchewan Roughriders

### Defence

* DT – John Barrow, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DT – Don Luzzi, Calgary Stampeders
* DE – Billy Ray Locklin, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DE – E. A. Sims, Edmonton Eskimos
* LB – Wayne Harris, Calgary Stampeders
* LB – Phil Minnick, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* LB – Ken Lehmann, Ottawa Rough Riders
* LB – Jim Conroy, Ottawa Rough Riders
* DB – Gene Gaines, Ottawa Rough Riders
* DB – Garney Henley, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DB – Marv Luster, Toronto Argonauts
* DB – Ed Ulmer, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* DB – Joe Poirier, Ottawa Rough Riders

## 1966 Eastern All-Stars
### Offence

* QB – Russ Jackson, Ottawa Rough Riders
* RB – Don Lisbon, Montreal Alouettes
* RB – Bo Scott, Ottawa Rough Riders
* RB – Dave Thelen, Toronto Argonauts
* TE – Ted Watkins, Ottawa Rough Riders
* SE – Hal Patterson, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* F – Whit Tucker, Ottawa Rough Riders
* C – Doug Specht, Ottawa Rough Riders
* OG – Tony Pajaczkowski, Montreal Alouettes
* OG – Chuck Walton, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* OT – Bill Frank, Toronto Argonauts
* OT – Moe Racine, Ottawa Rough Riders

### Defence

* DT – John Barrow, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DT – Angelo Mosca, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DE – Billy Ray Locklin, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DE – Billy Joe Booth, Ottawa Rough Riders
* LB – Wilbert Scott, Montreal Alouettes
* LB – Ken Lehmann, Ottawa Rough Riders
* LB – Jim Conroy, Ottawa Rough Riders
* DB – Gene Gaines, Ottawa Rough Riders
* DB – Garney Henley, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
* DB – Marv Luster, Toronto Argonauts
* DB – Ed Learn, Montreal Alouettes
* DB – Joe Poirier, Ottawa Rough Riders

## 1966 Western All-Stars
### Offence

* QB – Ron Lancaster, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* RB – George Reed, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* RB – Jim Thomas, Edmonton Eskimos
* RB – Dave Raimey, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* SE – Jim Worden, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* TE – Tommy Joe Coffey, Edmonton Eskimos
* F – Hugh Campbell, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* C – Ted Urness, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* OG – Al Benecick, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* OG – Jack Abendschan, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* OG – Tom Hinton, BC Lions
* OT – Frank Rigney, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* OT – Clyde Brock, Saskatchewan Roughriders

### Defence

* DT – Mike Cacic, BC Lions
* DT – Don Luzzi, Calgary Stampeders
* DE – Garner Ekstran, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* DE – E. A. Sims, Edmonton Eskimos
* LB – Wayne Harris, Calgary Stampeders
* LB – Phil Minnick, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* LB – Wayne Shaw, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* DB – Jerry Keeling, Calgary Stampeders
* DB – Bob Kosid, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* DB – Ernie Pitts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* DB – Ed Ulmer, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* DB – Bill Redell, Edmonton Eskimos

## 1966 CFL Awards

* CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Russ Jackson (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
* CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Russ Jackson (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
* CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award – Wayne Harris (LB), Calgary Stampeders
* CFL's Coach of the Year – Frank Clair, Ottawa Rough Riders
* Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (Eastern MVP) – Gene Gaines (DB), Ottawa Rough Riders
* Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (Western MVP) - Ron Lancaster (QB), Saskatchewan Roughriders
* Gruen Trophy (Eastern Rookie of the Year) - Mike Wadsworth (DL), Toronto Argonauts
* Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy (Western Rookie of the Year) - Garry Lefebvre (WR/P), Edmonton Eskimos
* DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy (Western Outstanding Lineman) - Wayne Harris (LB), Calgary Stampeders