The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium. They have won the league's Grey Cup championship six times, most recently in 2008.

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Team facts

Franchise history

The first time Calgary took the field in Canadian football was in 1891 when they faced Edmonton in a home and away series. The following years saw the formation of several Calgary-based football teams starting with the Calgary Tigers of the Alberta Rugby Football Union in 1908. This would be followed by the likes of Canucks, the 50th Battalion, Altomahs, Tigers for the second time and later the Bronks.

The Stampeders were officially born on September 29, 1945. In their very first game played on October 22 at Mewata Stadium they beat the Regina Roughriders 12-0 before 4,000 fans in attendance. It would be a taste of success to come that decade under the direction of head coach Les Lear and talented stars such as Woody Strode, Paul Rowe, Keith Spaith, Dave Berry, Normie Kwong and Ezzert "Sugarfoot" Anderson.

1948 would perhaps be the greatest season for the Stamps to date, they became the only CFL team as of 2007 to achieve a perfect season with a record of 12-0 that was capped with a Grey Cup victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders at Toronto's Varsity Stadium. It was also that same Grey Cup that Calgary fans brought pageantry to the game and made it into a national celebration, featuring pancake breakfasts on the steps of City Hall, starting the famous Grey Cup parade and even riding horses in the lobby of the Royal York Hotel.

They would return to the Grey Cup the following year (1949), with a sterling 13-1 record but lost to the Montreal Alouettes 28-15 in the title game. It would be 19 years until Calgary once again reached the Grey Cup again, losing 24-21 to Ottawa in the '68 final and not until 1971 when they would be crowned champions, defeating the Toronto Argonauts 14-11.

The Stampeders nearly folded after the 1985 season marked by declining attendance, financial woes and poor 3-13 record. However, a successful Save Our Stamps campaign resulted in season ticket sales of 22,400, additional funds and stability that translated to improved on-field play which laid the groundwork to Grey Cup berths in 1991 and 1992 when they won the title over Winnipeg.

The decade of the 1990s was very successful for the Stamps, led by quarterbacks Doug Flutie and later Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson throwing to receivers Allen Pitts, Terry Vaughn and Dave Sapunjis, and a rock steady defence led by Western All Stars Alondra Johnson, Stu Laird and Will Johnson. They would reach the Grey Cup final three more times, losing in 1995 and 1999 and winning in 1998.

After winning their fifth Grey Cup in 2001, Calgary went into a brief period of decline until 2005 when they emerged as playoff contenders again, led by Henry Burris at quarterback and Joffrey Reynolds at running back. Nevertheless, they did not win a playoff game for several years, suffering three successive losses in the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Western semi-final games.

In 2008, the Stampeders ended their playoff drought en route to winning the team's sixth Grey Cup 22-14 against the Montreal Alouettes. Burris was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player with DeAngelis being the top Canadian for their efforts. John Hufnagel has been interviewed by several NFL teams and College football teams.

Grey Cup championships

Year	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Title	Location
1948	Calgary Stampeders	12-7	Ottawa Rough Riders	36th Grey Cup	Varsity Stadium, Toronto
1971	Calgary Stampeders	14-11	Toronto Argonauts	59th Grey Cup	Empire Stadium, Vancouver
1992	Calgary Stampeders	24-10	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	80th Grey Cup	SkyDome, Toronto
1998	Calgary Stampeders	26-24	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	86th Grey Cup	Winnipeg Stadium, Winnipeg
2001	Calgary Stampeders	27-19	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	89th Grey Cup	Olympic Stadium, Montreal
2008	Calgary Stampeders	22-14	Montreal Alouettes	96th Grey Cup	Olympic Stadium, Montreal

Players of note

Current roster

Quarterbacks  1 QB  4 QB  7 QB 17 QB Running Backs  9 RB 21 RB 26 FB 32 RB Wide Receivers  3 WR 11 WR 85 WR Slotbacks 80 SB 82 SB 86 SB 87 SB		Offensive Linemen 60 RG 62 LG 64 RT 65 LT 67 RG 68 C 69 LG Defensive Linemen 39 DE 42 DE 56 DT 71 DL 93 DT 96 DT 97 DT		Linebackers  2 OLB 23 OLB 37 OLB 43 MLB 44 LB 48 LB Defensive Backs 14 DB 25 DB 27 CB 28 HB 29 DB 31 S 33 CB 35 DB 38 DB 88 CB/WR Special Teams 12 Kicker 16 Punter		Injured  4 HB  6 OLB  8 S 15 QB 19 HB 47 MLB 58 LT 61 LG 90 DL 91 DT Practice Roster 24 RB 34 DE 49 RB 57 OL 66 C 89 SB 94 DT Italics indicate Import player updated 2008-10-24 • 46 Active, 11 Inactive, 7 PS ? More rosters

References