1959 CFL season

The 1959 CFL season was the sixth season in modern-day Canadian football, although officially it was the second season of the Canadian Football League. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the third straight time in the Grey Cup final. The Blue Bombers won the rubber match in a defensive showdown.

1959 CFL season
Duration	June – October, 1959
East champions	Hamilton Tiger-Cats
West champions	Winnipeg Blue Bombers
47th Grey Cup
Date	November 28, 1959
Venue	Exhibition Stadium, Toronto
Champions	Winnipeg Blue Bombers

1000km
620miles

Alouettes

Rough Riders

Argonauts

Tiger-Cats

Blue Bombers

Roughriders

Eskimos

Stampeders

Lions

  

Canadian Football League team locations: WIFU, IRFU

Regular season

Final regular season standings

Note: 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	16	12	4	0	418	272	24
Edmonton Eskimos	16	10	6	0	370	221	20
BC Lions	16	9	7	0	306	301	18
Calgary Stampeders	16	8	8	0	356	301	16
Saskatchewan Roughriders	16	1	15	0	212	567	2

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	14	10	4	0	298	162	20
Ottawa Rough Riders	14	8	6	0	275	217	16
Montreal Alouettes	14	6	8	0	193	305	12
Toronto Argonauts	14	4	10	0	192	274	8

• Bold text means that they have clinched the playoffs.
• Winnipeg and Hamilton both have first round byes.

Grey Cup playoffs

Note: All dates in 1959

Semi-finals

Western Semi-Finals

Edmonton Eskimos vs BC Lions
Game	Date	Away	Home
1	October 31	Edmonton Eskimos 20	BC Lions 8
2	November 4	BC Lions 7	Edmonton Eskimos 41
Edmonton won the total-point series 61–15

Eastern Semi-Finals

Montreal Alouettes @ Ottawa Rough Riders
Date	Away	Home
November 7	Montreal Alouettes 0	Ottawa Rough Riders 43

Finals

Western Finals

Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Edmonton Eskimos
Game	Date	Away	Home
1	November 11	Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19	Edmonton Eskimos 11
2	November 14	Edmonton Eskimos 8	Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16
Winnipeg wins the best of three series 2–0

Eastern Finals

Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs Ottawa Rough Riders
Game	Date	Away	Home
1	November 14	Hamilton Tiger-Cats 5	Ottawa Rough Riders 17
2	November 21	Ottawa Rough Riders 7	Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21
Hamilton won the total-point series by 26–24

Playoff bracket

Semifinals

Finals

47th Grey Cup

E1

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

26 (5 21)

East

E2

Ottawa Rough Riders

24 (17 7)

E2

Ottawa Rough Riders

43

E3

Montreal Alouettes

0

E1

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

7

W1

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

21

W1

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

2 (19,16)

West

W2

Edmonton Eskimos

0 (11,8)

W2

Edmonton Eskimos

61 (20 41)

W3

BC Lions

15 (8 7)

Grey Cup Championship

November 28 47th Annual Grey Cup Game: Exhibition Stadium – Toronto, Ontario
Western Champions	Eastern Champions
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 21	Hamilton Tiger-Cats 7
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the 1959 Grey Cup Champions
Charlie Shepard (RB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers – Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player.

CFL Leaders

• CFL Passing Leaders
• CFL Rushing Leaders
• CFL Receiving Leaders

1959 Eastern All-Stars

Offence

• QB – Bernie Faloney, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• RB – Cookie Gilchrist, Toronto Argonauts
• RB – Dave Thelen, Ottawa Rough Riders
• RB – Dick Shatto, Toronto Argonauts
• E – Bobby Simpson, Ottawa Rough Riders
• E – Paul Dekker, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• FW – Ron Howell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• C – Tommy Hugo, Montreal Alouettes
• OG – Kaye Vaughan, Ottawa Rough Riders
• OG – Dave Suminski, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• OT – Billy Shipp, Montreal Alouettes
• OT – John Barrow, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Defence

• DT – Kaye Vaughan, Ottawa Rough Riders
• DT – John Barrow, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• DE – Pete Neumann, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• DE – Doug McNichol, Montreal Alouettes
• DG – Vince Scott, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• LB – Bill Sowalski, Ottawa Rough Riders
• LB – Eddie Bell, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• LB – Larry Hayes, Ottawa Rough Riders
• LB – Ernie Danjean, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• DB – Jim Rountree, Toronto Argonauts
• DB – Ralph Goldston, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• S – Duane Wood, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

1959 Western All-Stars

Offence

• QB – Jim Van Pelt, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• RB – Jackie Parker, Edmonton Eskimos
• RB – Gene Filipski, Calgary Stampeders
• RB – Charlie Shepard, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• RB – Johnny Bright, Edmonton Eskimos
• E – Ernie Pitts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• E – Ernie Warlick, Calgary Stampeders
• C – Neil Habig, Saskatchewan Roughriders
• OG – Ed Kotowich, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• OG – Tom Hinton, British Columbia Lions
• OT – Frank Rigney, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• OT – Roger Nelson, Edmonton Eskimos

Defence

• DT – Art Walker, Edmonton Eskimos
• DT – Urban Henry, British Columbia Lions
• DE – Ed Gray, Edmonton Eskimos
• DE – Herb Gray, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• MG – Steve Patrick, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• LB – Rollie Miles, Edmonton Eskimos
• LB – Norm Fieldgate, British Columbia Lions
• LB – Garland Warren, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• LB – Al Ecuyer, Edmonton Eskimos
• DB – Ken Ploen, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• DB – Bill Jessup, British Columbia Lions
• S – Harvey Wylie, Calgary Stampeders

1959 CFL Awards

• CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Johnny Bright (RB), Edmonton Eskimos
• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Russ Jackson (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
• CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award – Roger Nelson (OT), Edmonton Eskimos
• Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy (IRFU MVP) – Russ Jackson (QB), Ottawa Rough Riders
• Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (WIFU MVP) - Jackie Parker (QB), Edmonton Eskimos
• Gruen Trophy (IRFU Rookie of the Year) - Joe Poirier (DB), Ottawa Rough Riders
• Dr. Beattie Martin Trophy (WIFU Rookie of the Year) - Henry Janzen (DB), Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• DeMarco–Becket Memorial Trophy (WIFU Outstanding Lineman) - Art Walker (DE), Edmonton Eskimos

1959 Miss Grey Cup

• Miss BC Lions Anna Finlayson was named Miss Grey Cup 1959