Original Alouettes Montreal Alouettes

prince hal patterson in 1958 alouettes uniform.

canadian football has long history in montreal, dating 1850s. alouettes first formed in 1946 cfl hall of famer lew hayman along businessmen eric cradock , léo dandurand. named after alouette , work song plucking feathers skylark, had become symbol of québécois. (similarly, during second world war rcaf s no. 425 (french canadian) (bomber) squadron assumed skylark badge , motto je te plumerai — shall pluck .) won first grey cup championship in 1949, beating calgary 28–15 led quarterback frank filchock , running virgil wagner.

the 1950s productive decade als, quarterback sam etcheverry throwing passes john red o quinn, prince hal patterson, , pat abbruzzi carrying ball, montreal fielded dangerous offence in canadian football. 1954 1956, reached grey cup in 3 straight years, questionable defensive units led alouettes defeat against edmonton eskimos 3 times.

the team purchased in 1954 ted workman – , while team continued enjoy success, changed @ end of 1960 season. more specific, team shaken announcement on november 10 – namely trade of hal patterson , sam etcheverry hamilton tiger-cats bernie faloney , dan paquette. workman had concluded deal without consulting general manager perry moss. deal fell apart because etcheverry had signed new contract no-trade clause; result, etcheverry free agent. deal reworked , patterson traded paquette. sam etcheverry went on play in nfl st. louis cardinals 2 years (1961 , 1962) followed san francisco 49ers in 1963. faloney remained in hamilton, , teamed patterson form 1 of deadly quarterback-receiver combinations in cfl history.

this episode remains 1 of lopsided trades ever made in alouettes history, , ushered in dark decade team. during time, failed register single winning season. 1968 1976 team played in autostade stadium—which had been built temporary stadium expo 67. stadium s less-than-desirable location on montreal s waterfront near victoria bridge led dismal attendance, putting more strain on team s finances.

the als bottomed out in 1969, finishing 2–12. after season, workman sold team highly capable sam berger, former part-owner of ottawa rough riders. berger made immediate changes team. on december 9, team announced sam etcheverry returning organization—this time team s new head coach. team unveiled new uniforms—their home jerseys predominantly green, red , white trim. white helmets red wings used during 1960s disappeared, replaced white helmet stylized green , red bird s head formed lower-case . 1 might expect team had won 2 games in 1969, many new players brought in.

the changes paid immediate dividends. although team finished third in east, defeated toronto argonauts , hamilton tiger-cats in playoffs. 1970 season culminated when alouettes won 58th grey cup, played on november 28 @ toronto s exhibition stadium before crowd of 32,669. led byquarterback sonny wade (who named game s valuable player, , become fan favourite in montreal—not unlike status coach had enjoyed in 1950s), halfback moses denson, receivers gary lefebvre , tom pullen, along kicker george springate, team defeated calgary stampeders 23–10 city s first grey cup since 1949, against stamps.

that 1970 victory herald beginning of arguably greatest decade in franchise history. during berger s tenure owner, team played 6 grey cups , won three. moved out of autostade , olympic stadium midway through 1976 season , attendance shot up. in 1977, als had successful year both on field , @ box office, winning grey cup @ home field before grey cup-record 68,318 fans. averaged 59,595 fans per game @ big o during regular season, league record still stands.

however, success ended berger s retirement in 1981. sold team vancouver businessman nelson skalbania. flamboyant skalbania set signing 2 first-round picks 1981 national football league draft plus nfl name players such vince ferragamo, james scott, david overstreet, keith gary , billy white shoes johnson. talent, alouettes suffered on field, finishing dismal 3–13 record while attendance plummeted under 20,000 per game. however, east weak year (hamilton team finish winning record) made playoffs, finishing third in east ahead of 2–14 toronto argonauts. in east semi-final, made showing against second-place rough riders before losing, 20–16.

this last game original alouettes franchise play. skalbania reported late in 1981 selling oil magnate pat bowlen, later buy nfl s denver broncos. later in 1981, nfl coach george allen obtained option purchase 51% of club, , named alouettes president. while holding both option , post, allen surprised skalbania arranging sale of same controlling stake harry ornest, later own st. louis blues. ornest reluctant take control of alouettes result of team s high level of debt , extensive commitments high-profile stars. in april 1982, allen looked set take control of alouettes. however, allen left club in late april after skalbania unable resolve 1981 debts. franchise in collapse, berger tried force skalbania relinquish team him payment debt. skalbania returned business trip hong kong in late april , able regain control of team. however, skalbania s highly leveraged business interests collapsed month later. unable meet obligations, forced return team league on may 13.