The Kingston Granites were a football team from

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Tor ...

and a member of the

Quebec Rugby Football Union The Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) was a football league consisting of teams from Quebec and formed in 1883. Eastern Ontario teams like Ottawa City and Ottawa College joined in 1894. League formation and play The QRFU was formed officially ...

and the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt th ...

, which were leagues that preceded the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

. The team played for four seasons between 1898 and 1901 between the two leagues and while the team was slated to return in 1903, the team ultimately withdrew from the ORFU due to a player eligibility dispute.

History

The Kingston Granites Rugby Football club began play in 1898 as a member of the then three team

. After all three teams were tied with 2-2 records, the Granites were given the bye while

Ottawa College The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

defeated the

Montreal Football Club The Montreal Football Club was a Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Quebec Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1915. The club was a founding member of ...

in a playoff game. Before the QRFU title game against Ottawa, the Granites refused to play after it was made apparent that the game's referee used to play for Ottawa College. Consequently, Ottawa won the QFRU championship by default. In 1899, the Granites joined the

, replacing the

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgood ...

team that had left to join the QRFU. The Granites finished tied for first place with the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

and would challenge them for the ORFU championship game. Kingston came out victorious, winning 8-0, to claim the senior title over Ottawa in their first year of play. Because teams from both the ORFU and QRFU were unwilling to play a national title game that year, there was no

Canadian Dominion Football Championship The Canadian Dominion Football Championship was awarded to the best amateur football team prior to the Grey Cup in 1909. Teams from the Ontario Rugby Football Union, Quebec Rugby Football Union, Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Div ...

in 1899.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Og8FAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NCgDAAAAIBAJ&dq=kingston%20granites&pg=6384%2C6628413 Daily Mail and Empire - Nov 27, 1899 The next couple of years would not be as successful, as the Granites would fall to 3rd place in the ORFU in 1900, and then to last place in 1901. Disputes over the use of professional players would lead to the team sitting out the 1902 season, with the ORFU only allowing

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

, and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

to play that year. The following year, the ORFU schedule included seven teams competing in the league, including the Granites, but the same problems would arise. The Granites refused to play without

Chaucer Elliott Edwin Smith "Chaucer" Elliott (August 20, 1878 – March 13, 1913) was a Canadian sportsman and a Hall of Fame referee and linesman. He was the grandfather of Bob Elliott, one of Canada's most respected sports writers. Early life and educatio ...

, who was labeled as a professional, and as such withdrew from competition. This would prove to be the last of the Kingston Granites in the Ontario Rugby Football Union.

Seasons

References

{{reflist Ontario Rugby Football Union teams Sport in Kingston, Ontario Canadian football teams in Ontario Defunct Canadian football teams Rugby clubs established in 1898 1898 establishments in Ontario Sports clubs disestablished in 1901