page_title: Grey Cup
section_title: Trophy
hierarchical_section_title: Grey Cup / Trophy
caption_attribution_description: English: Team photo of the 1909 University of Toronto Varsity Blues, winners of the first Grey Cup. Photograph taken in 1909, image of the Grey Cup (pictured front right) was added following its completion in 1910
context_page_description: The Grey Cup is the name of both the championship game of the Canadian Football League and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. It is contested between the winners of the CFL's East and West Divisional playoffs and is one of Canadian television's largest annual sporting events. The Toronto Argonauts have the most Grey Cup wins since its introduction in 1909, while the Edmonton Football Team have the most Grey Cup wins since the creation of the CFL in 1958. The latest, the 107th Grey Cup, took place in Calgary, Alberta, on November 24, 2019, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33–12.
  The Grey Cup game is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 4 million. Two awards are given for play in the game, Most Valuable Player and the Dick Suderman Trophy as most valuable Canadian player. As a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Andrew Harris is the only player to win both the Dick Suderman Trophy and the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player the same year, which he did in 2019.
context_section_description: The trophy was commissioned in 1909 at a cost of $48. The chalice is made of sterling silver and stands 33 centimetres (13 in) tall. Its original base was made of wood, with silver shields listing each championship year and winning team's name, beginning with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The players of the 1915 championship Hamilton team, apparently as revenge for Toronto's refusal to relinquish the trophy in 1912 and 1913, added a shield for the 1908 Tigers team to give the appearance that their organization had won the first Grey Cup.
  A 1947 fire destroyed the clubhouse of the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club and damaged the Grey Cup. Many other trophies and artifacts in the clubhouse melted or were damaged beyond repair but the Grey Cup survived by catching onto a nail attached to a surviving wall when the shelf upon which it sat collapsed. The trophy has been broken on six other occasions: in 1978, when it was dropped by celebrating Edmonton Eskimos players; in 1987, when an Eskimos' player sat on it; in 1993, when Edmonton's Blake Dermott head-butted it; in 2006, when the chalice broke away from its base as the BC Lions celebrated their victory; in 2012 when one of the handles broke off as the Toronto Argonauts celebrated; in 2014 when the chalice broke away from its base again as the Calgary Stampeders celebrated their win. The CFL commissioned a replica of the trophy in 2008.
  The Grey Cup has been stolen on two occasions: it disappeared for three days in 1967 when it was taken from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a prank, and in December 1969 it was stolen from the offices of the Ottawa Rough Riders at Lansdowne Park. The thieves attempted to ransom the trophy, but the CFL refused to pay and made plans to replace it with a duplicate. An anonymous phone call led to the trophy's recovery two months later in a locker at Toronto's Royal York Hotel. The thieves were never found.
  The current design of the Grey Cup's base was introduced in 1987, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the first Grey Cup championship.  The base stands 84 centimetres (33 in) high and is made of black-lacquered aluminum with silver plates engraved with the names of each winning team's players and executives since 1909. The trophy, one of Canada's best known symbols, ran out of room for new additions following the 2012 Grey Cup.  The league announced that the base will be redesigned but will remain similar in shape to its current design. In 2020 the new base will require the removal of the 1909 plaque. To accommodate all of the plaques within the base of the Grey Cup, they were redesigned using laser etching and a modern typeface that allowed for vertical reduction of the font's characters and pronounced letters that have improved legibility.
  Similar to the more famous Stanley Cup used exclusively today by the NHL, members of the winning teams are allowed time to celebrate with the trophy in their own fashion, often taking it to their home towns or tours in locations across Canada. The board of directors for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame act as the Grey Cup's trustees and control its rental for events. The trophy is accompanied by a designated representative of the Hall of Fame at all times. Like the Stanley Cup, but unlike the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the NFL's Super Bowl, a new trophy is not made every year for the winning team to keep; rather, the Grey Cup is loaned to the winning team for a year.
caption: The 1909 Varsity Blues, inaugural champions.  The Grey Cup is pictured at the front right.
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