The Montreal Alouettes (French: ''les Alouettes de Montréal ) are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec. The current incarnation of the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions. The CFL considers all clubs that have played in Montreal as one in their league records, including those of the original Alouettes (1946–1981), the Montreal Concordes (1982–1986) and the Baltimore Stallions (1994–1995). The Alouettes, however, do not recognize the Baltimore franchise, or its records, as part of the official team history. All incarnations of the franchise have won the Grey Cup a total of five times, excluding the Stallions who have captured a championship as well, giving them six overall. The Alouettes' home field is Percival Molson Memorial Stadium for the regular season and Olympic Stadium for the playoffs. The Alouettes played in the 96th Grey Cup at Olympic Stadium on Nov. 23, 2008 in which they lost to the Calgary Stampeders.

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Team facts

Franchise History

Canadian football has a long history in Montreal, dating to the 1850s. The Alouettes were first formed in 1946 by CFL hall of famer Lew Hayman. They named themselves after the famous work song "Alouette" (about a lark bird), which has become a symbol of the Québécois. (Similarly, during the Second World War the RCAF's 425 Bomber Squadron assumed the lark as its badge and the motto "Je te plumerai" —I'm going to fleece you.") They won their first Grey Cup championship in 1949, beating Calgary 28–15 led by quarterback Frank Filchock and running back Virgil Wagner.

The 1950s were a productive decade for the Als, with legendary quarterback Sam Etcheverry throwing passes to John "Red" O'Quinn, "Prince" Hal Patterson, and with Pat Abbruzzi carrying the ball, Montreal fielded the most dangerous offence in all Canadian football. From 1954 to 1956, they reached the Grey Cup in three straight years, but questionable defensive units led the Alouettes to defeat against the Edmonton Eskimos all three times. The 60's brought a dark era for the Alouettes, the team purchased in 1956 by Ted Workman was shaken by the trade of Hal Patterson and Sam Etchevery for Bernie Faloney and Dan Paquette. The deal was concluded by Ted Workman without consulting with his General Manager, which had just signed Sam Etcheverry to a new contract with a no trade clause. Trading a player with a no trade made him a free agent, the deal thus crumbled, Patterson was traded for Paquette and Sam Etcheverry wnet to play in the NFL. This remains one of the most lopsided trade ever made in the Alouettes history, it usherred the dark decade for the team, who not once registered a winning record throughout the 1960s. From 1968 to 1976 the team played in the Autostade stadium. The stadium's less-than-desirable location led to dismal attendance, putting more strain on the team's finances.

In 1969, the team was purchased by the highly capable Sam Berger from the inept and controversial Ted Workman, the former owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders. During his tenure, the team made six Grey Cup appearances and won the Canadian championship three times. They finally moved out of the Autostade and into Olympic Stadium midway through the 1976 season and attendance shot up. In 1977, the Als had a very successful year both on the field and at the box office, winning the Grey Cup at their home field before a CFL-record 68,318 fans. They also averaged 59,595 fans per game at the "Big O" during the regular season, a league record that still stands.

However, success was short lived when Berger retired in 1981. He then sold the team to Nelson Skalbania, a Vancouver businessman. The flamboyant Skalbania set about signing two first-round picks from the 1981 National Football League draft plus NFL name players such as Vince Ferragamo, James Scott, David Overstreet, Tom Cousineau and Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. Even with all that talent, the Alouettes suffered on the field, finishing with a dismal 3–13 record while attendance plummeted to under 20,000 per game. The financial collapse of Skalbania's highly-leveraged business empire led to the team ceasing operations.

Montreal Concordes

After the original Alouettes franchise folded, Montreal businessman and Montreal Expos founder Charles Bronfman came to the rescue and financed a new club for the 1982 season under the name Montreal Concordes. This new team inherited the Alouettes franchise history and its players.

The Concordes sported a 2–14–0 record in their first season in 1982 under head coach Joe Galat. The Concordes featured QB Luc Tousignant, the only Québécois QB ever to start a CFL game. The dismal club also featured star NCAA RB David Overstreet who rushed for just 190 yards in 6 games before ending his season on the injured reserve list. The Concordes lost their last 9 games of 1982. Other stars on the club included QB Johnny Evans, SB Nick Arakgi, RB Lester Brown, WR Brian DeRoo, local KR Denis Ferdinand, DT Glen Weir, S Preston Young, DE Gordon Judges, K/P Don Sweet and LB William Hampton.

In 1986, the team attempted to embrace its predecessor's history and regenerate flagging fan interest by rebranding itself the "new" Montreal Alouettes. But after a dismal 4-14 season and mounting financial losses, the second team to folded days before the 1987 season started.

The Current Alouettes

The Baltimore Football Club was granted an expansion franchise for 1994 by the Canadian Football League. Originally intending to invoke the spirit of the city's former NFL club, the team attempted to brand themselves the "Baltimore Colts". The NFL and Indianapolis Colts owner Robert Irsay filed suit and won an injunction, both prohibiting the team from use of the "Baltimore Colts" name as well as that of their next choice, the "Baltimore CFL Colts". During this time, it was quite common for the stadium announcer to announce the team as the "Baltimore Football Club". The team would use the names, "Baltimore Football Club" and the "Baltimore CFLers" for its inaugural season, before becoming the "Baltimore Stallions" for the 1995 season.

The team was by far the most successful of the CFL's American teams, garnering persistent fan support in the Baltimore area and appearing in the Grey Cup in both its seasons (losing in 1994, winning in 1995). However, in late 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced his intention to relocate his NFL club to Baltimore, where they would be rechristened the Baltimore Ravens. This would have made the Stallions the only CFL club ever to directly compete with the NFL, whose season overlaps with the last three months of the CFL season. Stallions owner Jim Speros realized that despite the Stallions' popularity, they could not possibly compete with the NFL. After deals with Norfolk, Virginia and Houston fell through, Speros moved the Stallions to Montreal and revived the old Alouettes name for the 1996 season.

In 1997, Jim Speros sold the team to Robert Wetenhall, and former Alouette star and CFL Commissioner Larry Smith became President of the club. The new Alouettes franchise played their first two seasons at Olympic Stadium, but attendance in the enormous domed stadium was very poor and the long term prospects for the franchise were once again uncertain, until a twist of fate revitalized the floundering club.

When a scheduled November 1997 U2 concert conflicted with an unexpected home play-off game against the BC Lions (due to the CFL's 'cross-over' playoff format), the team decided to return temporarily to Molson Stadium, where they had played from 1954 to 1967. Interest in the team soared and the game was sold out, prompting the team to relocate permanently to the smaller venue beginning with the 1998 season. Since 1999, the Alouettes have sold out every game at the 20,202-seat stadium, located on the campus of McGill University. Currently, there are plans to enlarge the stadium's capacity.

The team has not completely abandoned Olympic Stadium, however. Due to the heavy demand for tickets, the Alouettes soon resumed playing playoff games (a regular feature in recent seasons) at the "Big O" and s of {{MONTHNAME 2003 ^[] play one regular season game at the larger venue. These matches have been well attended, often drawing more than 50,000 fans. In 2008, however, the Als did not play their annual "Fan Day" game at the Big O due to the fact they hosted the Grey Cup at that venue in November.

Prior to every Sunday home game, the club plays "Sunday Bloody Sunday" over the PA system in tribute to the unintended role U2 played in saving the franchise.

In 2007, the Alouettes launched a new website that features exclusive news and information in a first for a CFL team. The Alouettes release all player announcements and other news on at least an hour before releasing anything to the media. This has caused some controversy with news wires like CP, but remains a favourite with Alouettes fans. The site also features the exclusive player columns and features that make most top sports sites popular. Beginning in late 2008, the Alouettes became the first CFL team to exploit social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in their marketing campaigns, remaining the league leader in techonology-based marketing.

Since their return to the CFL in 1996, the Alouettes have appeared in the Grey Cup six times with one Grey Cup win.

Current Squad

Quarterbacks 10  8 13  4 Running Backs  7 FB 30 21 RB Receivers 85 86 SB 80 SB 82 18 25 81		Offensive Linemen 59 T 68 C 57 G 61 T 65 G 67 T 54 T 69 G Defensive Linemen 48 DE 95 DT 99 DE 72 DE  9 DE 90 DT		Linebackers 41  0 LB 51  1 46 LB 14 LB Defensive Backs  5 DB 11 31 CB 40 12 20  2 CB 32 DB 45 CB 16 S Special Teams 15 K 52 LS		Inactive List 22 S  6 RB 24 DB 17 DB 78 DT  3 QB 55 T 88 SB 84 SB 35 FB 43 DB Practice Roster 34 DB 87 WR 19 SB 91 DE 60 G 39 DB Italics indicate Import players updated 2008-10-03 • 46 Active, 11 Inactive, 6 PS ? More rosters

Players of Note

Retired Numbers

• 27 Mike Pringle
• 28 George Dixon
• 56 Herb Trawick
• 63 Pierre Desjardins
• 75 Hal Patterson
• 74 Peter Dalla Riva
• 77 Junior Ah You
• 92 Sam Etcheverry

Canadian Football Hall of Famers

• Junior Ah You
• Peter Dalla Riva
• George Dixon
• Sam Etcheverry
• Terry Evanshen
• Gene Gaines
• Dickie Harris
• John O'Quinn
• Tony Pajaczkowski
• "Prince" Hal Patterson
• Mike Pringle
• Herb Trawick
• Pierre Vercheval
• Virgil Wagner
• Glen Weir
• Dan Yochum

Head Coaches

• Lew Hayman (1946–1951)
• Peahead Walker (1952–1959)
• Perry Moss (1960–1962)
• Jim Trimble (1963–1965)
• Darrell Mudra (1966)
• Kay Dalton (1967–1969)
• Sam Etcheverry (1970–1972)
• Marv Levy (1973–1977)
• Joe Scannella (1978–1981)
• Jim Eddy (1981)
• Joe Galat (1982–1984)
• Gary Durchik (1985–1986)
• Joe Faragalli (1987)
• Bob Price (1996)
• Dave Ritchie (1997–1998)
• Charlie Taaffe (1999–2000)
• Rod Rust (2001)
• Jim Popp (2001)
• Don Matthews (2002–2006)
• Jim Popp (2006–2007)
• Marc Trestman (2008–present)

See also

• Montreal Alouettes all time records and statistics
• Canadian Football Hall of Fame
• Canadian football
• CFL USA

References