# 1981 Montreal Alouettes season

The 1981 Montreal Alouettes finished the season in third place in the East Division with a 3–13 record. They appeared in the East Semi-Final, where they lost to the Ottawa Rough Riders 20–16. After the season the Alouettes folded after owner Nelson Skalbania lost $2 million, and the CFL revoked the franchise from him with the team now heavily in debt.

## Offseason

The Alouettes were purchased by Nelson Skalbania. Skalbania proceeded by signing several American stars. His biggest acquisition was Los Angeles Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo (who appeared in Super Bowl XIV) to a $300,000 contract. The other signings included wide receiver James Scott, kick return specialist Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, running back David Overstreet and defensive end Keith Gary.

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | Sun, June 7 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 21–27 | 0–1 | Olympic Stadium | 21,742 |
| B | Tue, June 11 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | L 17–18 | 0–2 | Lansdowne Park | 16,139 |
| C | Sun, June 21 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 21–17 | 1–2 | Olympic Stadium | 21,249 |
| D | Sat, July 27 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 38–24 | 2–2 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 16,604 |

## Regular season

Despite the high-profile talent, the Alouettes finished the season with only 3 wins, but because of how weak the East Division was that year, the team did earn a playoff berth (the crossover rule, which allows a fourth place team with a better record than a third place team in the other division to qualify, had not yet been implemented). Skalbania lost two million dollars and the CFL revoked his ownership.

### Standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | PF | PA | Div | Stk | |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 414 | 335 | 6–0 | W1 | Details |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 306 | 446 | 3–3 | L1 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 267 | 518 | 2–4 | W1 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 16 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 241 | 506 | 1–5 | L2 | Details |

### Schedule

| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Week | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | 1 | Sat, July 4 | at BC Lions | L 8–48 | 0–1 | Empire Stadium | 26,627 |
| 2 | 2 | Fri, July 10 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 23–22 | 1–1 | Olympic Stadium | 35,281 |
| 3 | 3 | Fri, July 17 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | L 31–33 | 1–2 | Lansdowne Park | 24,872 |
| 4 | 4 | Sun, July 26 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | L 17–33 | 1–3 | Olympic Stadium | 45,835 |
| 5 | 5 | Sun, Aug 2 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 23–43 | 1–4 | Olympic Stadium | 33,205 |
| 6 | 6 | Sat, Aug 8 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 2–58 | 1–5 | Winnipeg Stadium | 32,936 |
| 7 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 8 | 7 | Sun, Aug 23 | vs. BC Lions | L 14–29 | 1–6 | Olympic Stadium | 28,932 |
| 9 | 8 | Sat, Aug 29 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 11–16 | 1–7 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 27,180 |
| 10 | 9 | Sun, Sept 6 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 26–35 | 1–8 | Taylor Field | 28,526 |
| 11 | 10 | Sat, Sept 12 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 10–26 | 1–9 | Olympic Stadium | 27,270 |
| 12 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 13 | 11 | Sat, Sept 26 | at Edmonton Eskimos | L 11–62 | 1–10 | Commonwealth Stadium | 48,470 |
| 14 | 12 | Sun, Oct 4 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 22–16 | 2–10 | Olympic Stadium | 22,222 |
| 15 | 13 | Sat, Oct 10 | at Calgary Stampeders | L 3–29 | 2–11 | McMahon Stadium | 28,896 |
| 16 | 14 | Sat, Oct 17 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 14–20 | 2–12 | Exhibition Stadium | 31,038 |
| 17 | 15 | Sat, Oct 24 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 13–33 | 2–13 | Olympic Stadium | 20,487 |
| 18 | 16 | Sun, Nov 1 | vs. Ottawa Rough Riders | W 39–15 | 3–13 | Olympic Stadium | 20,867 |

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| East Semi-Final | Sun, Nov 8 | at Ottawa Rough Riders | L 16–20 | 0–1 | Lansdowne Park | 17,754 |