The BC Lion are a Canadian Football League (CFL) team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions play in the West Division of the CFL. Their home venue is BC Place and the head coach is Rick Campbell.
📜 BC Lions History
The first plans to launch a professional Canadian football team to Vancouver began in 1951, but this initial attempt was thwarted when Winnipeg and Saskatchewan voted against bringing a fifth team to the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). The business group behind the project persisted, however, and Vancouver was given a conditional franchise in 1953.
A fan contest was run in Vancouver local media to choose the new team's name. The Lions were eventually named after the twin mountain peaks to the northwest of the city, traditionally thought to resemble protective mountain lions. General manager and head coach Annis Stukus decided that the team should represent the whole province of British Columbia rather than just Vancouver, and so the BC Lions were born.
After several years of struggle, the Lions recorded their first winning season and playoffs appearance in 1959. Just 4 years later, the BC team won their first conference title and reached the Grey Cup for the first time in the franchise's young history. Hamilton Tiger-Cats ended up winning the 51st Grey Cup, but the Lions got their revenge just 1 year later, defeating Hamilton in a Grey Cup rematch to claim the CFL championship.
After that first triumph in 1964, the Lions did not make it to the Grey Cup again until 1983 – the same year they moved into their new stadium, BC Place. That game ended in defeat, and the Lions lost the Grey Cup again in 1984, but third time proved lucky. The 73rd Grey Cup in 1985 set up a rematch of the 1983 game, but this time the Lions defeated the Tiger-Cats and claimed their second league title.
After a 9 year wait, the third win came in 1994 following a dramatic game against the Baltimore Stallions. The Lions kept themselves in contention for most of the decade, but did not find Grey Cup victory again until 2000, when they beat the Montreal Alouettes by just 2 points to secure the trophy.
The Lions' most recent successes saw them win the Grey Cup in 2006 and 2011.
