# 1939 in Canadian football

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played in their third consecutive Grey Cup final. A last-second rouge gave Winnipeg its second title in five years.

## Regular season, final standings

Column headings: 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 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 201 | 103 | 20 |
| Regina Roughriders | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 84 | 136 | 12 |
| Calgary Bronks | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 144 | 123 | 8 |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 80 | 147 | 6 |
Interprovincial Rugby Football Union :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 145 | 44 | 10 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 58 | 43 | 9 |
| Hamilton Tigers | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 84 | 4 |
| Montreal Royals | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 84 | 1 |
Ontario Rugby Football Union :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Montreal Westmounts | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 71 | 45 | 9 |
| Sarnia Imperials | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 70 | 38 | 8 |
| Toronto Balmy Beach | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 58 | 27 | 7 |
| Peterborough Orfuns | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 105 | 0 |
* Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs
British Columbia Rugby Football Union :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| University of British Columbia Thunderbirds | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 25 | 12 |
| Knights of Columbus | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 63 | 63 | 8 |
| North Shore Lions | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 51 | 4 |
| Victoria Revellers | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 25 | 105 | 0 |

## BCRFU playoffs

Note: All dates in 1939

### BCRFU semifinals

| Date | Away | Home |
| November 18 | North Shore Lions 0 | University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 12 |
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds advance to BCRFU finals
| Date | Away | Home |
| November 18 | Knights of Columbus 1 | Victoria Revellers 6 |
Victoria Revellers advance to BCRFU finals

### BCRFU final

| Date | Away | Home |
| November 25 | Victoria Revellers 6 | University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 17 |
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds win the BCRFU championship

## Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1939

### Semifinals

WIFU Semifinals :
| Calgary Bronks @ Regina Roughriders ||||
| Probable date | Away | Home |
| November 4 | Calgary Bronks 24 | Regina Roughriders 17 |
ORFU Finals :
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 18 | Montreal Westmounts 1 | Sarnia Imperials 13 |
| 2 | November 25 | Sarnia Imperials 18 | Montreal Westmounts 13 |
* Sarnia won the total-point series by 31–14 and played the Ottawa Rough Riders (IRFU Champions) in the Eastern Finals.
IRFU Finals :
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 18 | Ottawa Rough Riders 11 | Toronto Argonauts 0 |
| 2 | November 25 | Ottawa Rough Riders 28 | Toronto Argonauts 6 |
* Ottawa won the total-point series by 39–6 and played the Sarnia Imperials (ORFU Champions) in the Eastern Finals.

### Finals

Western Finals :
| Game | Date | Away | Home |
| 1 | November 11 | Calgary Bronks 13 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7 |
| 2 | November 18 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28 | Calgary Bronks 7 |
* Winnipeg won the total-point series by 35–20 and advanced to the Grey Cup game.
Eastern Finals :
| Ottawa Rough Riders (IRFU) @ Sarnia Imperials (ORFU) ||||
| Date | Away | Home |
| December 2 | Ottawa Rough Riders 23 | Sarnia Imperials (ORFU) 1 |
* Ottawa advanced to the Grey Cup game.

## Playoff bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Grey Cup final | Grey Cup final | Grey Cup final |
| IRFU | Ottawa Rough Riders | 11-28 | | | | | | |
| IRFU | Toronto Argonauts | 0-6 | | | | | | |
| IRFU | Toronto Argonauts | 0-6 | IRFU | Ottawa Rough Riders | 23 | | | |
| EAST | EAST | EAST | IRFU | Ottawa Rough Riders | 23 | | | |
| EAST | EAST | EAST | ORFU | Sarnia Imperials | 1 | | | |
| ORFU | Montreal Westmounts | 1-13 | ORFU | Sarnia Imperials | 1 | | | |
| ORFU | Sarnia Imperials | 12-18 | | | | | | |
| ORFU | Sarnia Imperials | 12-18 | | | | IRFU | Ottawa Rough Riders | 7 |
| | | | | | | WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 8 |
| WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | | | | | | | | WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 8 |
| WIFU | BYE | | | | | | | |
| WIFU | BYE | | WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 7+28 | | | |
| WEST | WEST | WEST | WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 7+28 | | | |
| WEST | WEST | WEST | WIFU | Calgary Bronks | 13+7 | | | |
| WIFU | Regina Roughriders | 17 | WIFU | Calgary Bronks | 13+7 | | | |
| WIFU | Calgary Bronks | 24 | | | | | | |

## Grey Cup Championship

December 9
27th Annual Grey Cup Game: Lansdowne Park – Ottawa, Ontario :
| WIFU Champion | IRFU Champion |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8 | Ottawa Rough Riders 7 |
| The Winnipeg Blue Bombers became the 1939 Grey Cup Champions ||||

## 1939 Interprovincial Rugby Football Union All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.
* QB – Bill Stukus, Toronto Argonauts
* FW – Bill Davies, Montreal Royals
* HB – Red Storey, Toronto Argonauts
* HB – Bill Isbister, Hamilton Tigers
* FB – Tony Golab, Ottawa Rough Riders
* E – Tony McCarthy, Ottawa Rough Riders
* E – Bernie Thornton, Toronto Argonauts
* C – George Willis, Toronto Argonauts
* G – Charles "Tiny" Hermann, Ottawa Rough Riders
* G – Len Staughton, Ottawa Rough Riders
* T – Bunny Wadsworth, Ottawa Rough Riders
* T – Dave Sprague, Ottawa Rough Riders

## 1939 Ontario Rugby Football Union All-Stars

NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.
* QB – Clayton "Curly" Krug, Peterborough Orfuns
* FW – Joe Woodcock, Sarnia Imperials
* HB – Bernie Moroz, Sarnia Imperials
* HB – Eddie Thompson, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
* DB – Johnny Ferraro, Montreal Westmounts
* E – Ike Norris, Sarnia Imperials
* E – Leo Deadey, Peterborough Orfuns
* C – Harry Living, Sarnia Imperials
* G – Bob Reid, Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers
* G – Pat Bulter, Sarnia Imperials
* T – Cliff Parsons, Sarnia Imperials
* T – Tommy Burns, Montreal Westmounts

## 1939 Canadian Football Awards

* Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (IRFU MVP) – Bill Davies (FW), Montreal Royals
* Imperial Oil Trophy (ORFU MVP) - Eddie Thompson - Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers