Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa , Ontario , founded in 1876 . One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America , the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times . Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s , a period in which they won five Grey Cups . The team ' s fortunes waned in the 1980s and 1990s and they ultimately ceased operations following the 1996 season . Five years later , a new CFL team known as the Ottawa Renegades was founded , though this was suspended indefinitely in 2006 ; as of 2010 a new Ottawa Canadian Football League team has been announced . History . The " Ottawa Football Club " was organized on Wednesday , September 20 , 1876 where they won the first game they played on September 23 against the Aylmer Club at Jacques - Cartier Square . The team ' s colours were cerise , grey , and navy blue . The club adopted the name Ottawa Rough Riders on Friday , September 9 , 1898 as well as changing the team colours to red and black . Although in later years the name was said to derive from logging , the team based its colours on Teddy Roosevelt ' s regiment in the Spanish - American War , which , with the date of the renaming , suggests that the name also comes from the war . The team did change its nickname to " Ottawa Senators " from 1925 to 1931 . For much of the team ' s history it played in the same league as the Saskatchewan Roughriders , confusing many , and also attracting general ridicule to the CFL for being a league with only eight or nine teams but two of them being named " rough riders " ( although spelled differently ) . The teams had historically belonged to separate leagues ( ' unions ' ) , which were not truly merged until the late 1950s . When the CFL was formed they were allowed to keep their long - standing nicknames . On four occasions , the two teams met in the Grey Cup . Ottawa ' s first Canadian championship came in 1898 . The Ottawa Football Club transferred from the Quebec Union to the Ontario League that season . The Riders defeated the Hamilton Tigers 15 – 8 for the Ontario championship , then defeated Toronto Varsity , the Intercollegiate champions 7 – 3 and defeated Ottawa College 11 – 1 to win the Canadian championship . In those days , Ottawa athletes played in multiple sports and the Riders had athletes famous in other sports , such as Harvey Pulford and Frank McGee . The Riders and Ottawa College were the Canadian champions for the next several years , with the Riders defeating Brockville 17 – 10 in 1900 , and defeating Ottawa College 5 – 0 in 1902 , College being the 1901 Canadian champions . The Riders moved back to the Quebec Union , winning the 1903 Quebec championship , in a year where there was no playoff for the Canadian title . In 1905 , Ottawa won the Quebec title , only to lose to the Toronto Varsity team 11 – 9 in the Canadian championship . The club absorbed the Ottawa St . Pats when the Riders helped found the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907 . The Riders would win the IRFU championship in 1909 over the Hamilton Tigers , but lost in the Canadian final in Toronto to Toronto Varsity . The Riders declined and became uncompetitive during the 1910s , attributed to the First World War , and the lure of salaries in professional ice hockey meaning athletes chose hockey over football in Ottawa . During the decline of the Riders , another Ottawa team , Ottawa St . Brigids , was on an ascent . St . Brigids , which played in the Ottawa City league , and later the Ontario league , was developing top talent . In 1923 , St . Brigids and the Riders merged , with St . Brigids manager Jim McCaffery becoming the manager of the Riders . McCaffery would be a member of the Riders executive for several decades . The team won the Grey Cup in 1925 and 1926 , a time when they were known as the " Ottawa Senators " . In 1925 , the Riders defeated three - time defending champion Queen ' s in the Eastern semi - final . The Riders then defeated Winnipeg 24 – 1 in the championship , held in Ottawa , and defeated Toronto Varsity 10 – 7 in Toronto in 1926 . The team was led by top players such as Eddie Emerson , Joe Tubman , Joe Miller , Jess Ketchum , Jack Pritchard , Harold Starr and Don Young . The Riders went back into a decline after the championships . Again , another Ottawa team , the Ottawa Rangers , was developing talent and enjoying success , winning the Quebec title . The Riders absorbed the Rangers in 1933 , getting Rangers stars Andy Tommy , Arnie Morrison and " Fat Quinn ' . That same year the Riders added more talent , bringing in American imports " Windy " O ' Neil and Lorne Johnson . In 1935 , the Riders added an American , Roy Berry , who would be mysterious about his origins . The Riders defeated the Toronto Argonauts in the final two games of the Big Four schedule to deny Toronto the Big Four championship , and the Argonauts protested that Berry was not who he said he was . In fact , it turned out that Berry was Bohn Hilliard who had played professional baseball , making him ineligible for Canadian football , and he had kept his identity a secret from Ottawa officials . In 1936 , the Riders won the Big Four title defeating the Hamilton Tigers 3 – 2 . The team progressed to the Eastern final against the Sarnia Imperials . The Imperials won the game 26 – 20 in a frozen battle held at Toronto ' s Varsity Stadium . Since there was no western challenge that year , the Imperials became Canadian champions . The Riders would next win the Big Four and Eastern title in 1939 , but lose to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 8 – 7 in the Grey Cup game , held in Ottawa . In 1940 , the Riders would win the Big Four and Eastern titles , defeating Toronto Balmy Beach . The win over Balmy Beach carried the Canadian title , as the west refused the Canadian Rugby Union code . The Big Four went out of existence during the Second World War , but the Riders were able to field a club in the Eastern Rugby Football Union , along with Balmy Beach , Montreal and the Argonauts . The Riders won the 1942 ERFU title over the Argonauts , but again lost to the Blue Bombers in the Canadian final , 18 – 16 at Varsity Stadium . The ERFU folded and the Riders continued in the Ottawa City league until 1945 when the Big Four was restarted . During the Riders ' time in the Ottawa City league , another team from Ottawa , the Trojans won the Ontario title , and in 1948 the Trojans were absorbed into the Riders . The Rough Riders were pioneers in international play in the 1950s . In 1950 and 1951 , Ottawa hosted the New York Giants in exhibition games ; the Giants won both times , and NFL - CFL matches would not be attempted again until 1959 . In the first season of the CFL , the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Hamilton Tiger - Cats made history when they played the first regular season CFL game at Philadelphia ' s Franklin Field on August 23 , 1958 . This was the only time that two Canadian football teams would play a regular - season game on American soil . Hamilton defeated Ottawa , 13 - 7 . ( The Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders played an exhibition game in Portland , Oregon in 1992 , and several CFL games with at least one Canadian team occurred in the United States during the CFL USA era . ) The 1960s and 1970s were the Rough Riders ' glory years . With coach and general manager Frank Clair at the helm along with players Russ Jackson , Whit Tucker , Ron Stewart , Tom Clements , and Tony Gabriel , the Riders were one of the CFL ' s best teams , winning the Grey Cup five times in that span and including their last victory in 1976 , where Tony Gabriel made the game - winning touchdown catch in the end zone in a 23 – 20 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders . The Rough Riders ' last and final appearance in the Grey Cup game was 1981 against the heavily favoured Edmonton Eskimos . The game started out as a shocker when the Riders jumped out to a 20 – 1 halftime lead over the Eskimos . But a controversial double interference call against Riders receiver Tony Gabriel in the second half proved to be costly , as the Eskimos , led by backup quarterback Tom Wilkinson , came from behind to beat the Riders 26 – 23 on a game - winning field goal by kicker Dave Cutler . Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s , despite having two even ( 0 . 500 ) records ( 8 – 8 in 1983 and 9 – 9 in 1992 ) along with hosting the 1988 Grey Cup , the Riders struggled with losing seasons , poor ownership , mismanagement , and decreased fan support . In 1988 , Jo - Anne Polak was named the co - General Manager of the Rough Riders . She became the first woman in CFL history to be appointed to an executive post . The bottom fell out in 1992 , when then - owner Bernard Glieberman began making noise about moving the Rough Riders out of Canada , and to the United States . The CFL , obviously , did not take kindly to Glieberman ' s suggestion , but allowed him to split the Rough Riders apart into a Canadian franchise ( which he would sell off , and which would retain the " Rough Riders " name and history ) and an American franchise that Glieberman would own , known as the Shreveport Pirates ( this arrangement is similar to the arrangement made by Art Modell and the Cleveland Browns ) . Neither team played well . In 1995 , Ottawa management drafted Derrell Robertson , who had died the previous December . Falling attendance ultimately led to the team folding in 1996 . Football fans in Ottawa lived without CFL football for the next five years until 2002 , when the city regained a CFL team , this one called the Renegades . Although there was sentiment toward resurrecting the Rough Riders name , the final owner of the previous franchise expected payment for the rights to it ; the new franchise declined the request , and went with a ' fresh ' name for the new team . Since the suspension of the Renegades for the 2006 season , and the tentative awarding of a new franchise for 2013 , owner Jeff Hunt now owns the rights to the Rough Riders name , but would have to seek permission from the Saskatchewan Roughriders to use the name .