The Alberta Football League (AFL) is an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

league. The league's schedule runs from the start of June through to the end of September. The league currently consists of six teams: Airdrie Irish, Calgary Gators, Calgary Wolfpack, Central Alberta Buccaneers, Cold Lake Fighter Jets, and Peace Country Cowboys.

History

The Alberta Football League was established in 1984 so that men over the age of 21 could continue to play organized competitive football within the province of

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. Before the creation of the league, the only way to play competitive football after university or junior was the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. In 1984–85 the league consisted of seven teams. They were: the Calgary Raiders, the Calgary Cowboys, the Calgary Crude, the Red Deer Redskins, the Rocky Warriors, the Hinton Grizzlies, and the Brownfield Bruisers. In 1999, the AFL became a founding member of the Canadian Senior Football League, which is now known as the Canadian Major Football League. The CMFL is the national governing body for semi-pro Canadian football, that arrange the National Championship game (the Forster Memorial Trophy game). At first, AFL champs played against the winner of the Eastern Conference (the Manitoba Football League), but since 2002 that game has been played against the

Northern Football Conference The Northern Football Conference (NFC) is a semi-professional Canadian football league with franchises based primarily in Ontario, Canada. The league consists of five teams and runs from May until mid-August. It's the oldest running senior amat ...

winners (teams from

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

League champions and finalists

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

: Cold Lake Fighter Jets: 15 Calgary Gators: 38 *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

: Airdrie Irish: 18 Cold Lake Fighter Jets: 39 *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: Airdrie Irish: 0 Cold Lake Fighter Jets: 55 *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: Central Alberta Buccaneers: 47 Edmonton Elite: 17 * 2020: Cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta The COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta is part of an COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The Provinces and te ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: Central Alberta Buccaneers: 26 Calgary Wolfpack: 30 *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: Central Alberta Buccaneers: 7 Fort McMurray Monarchs: 65 *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

: Calgary Gators: 32 Fort McMurray Monarchs: 21 *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

: Fort McMurray Monarchs: 32 Central Alberta Buccaneers: 23 *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: Fort McMurray Monarchs: 24 Calgary Gators: 37 *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 25 Calgary Gators: 15 *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: St. Albert Stars: 16 Calgary Gators: 41 *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

: Lloydminster Vandals: 62 Calgary Wolfpack: 26 *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 38 Grande Prairie Drillers: 14 *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: Lloydminster Vandals: 52 Calgary Gators: 26 *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: Edmonton Stallions: 39 Calgary Wolfpack: 32 *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 43 Lloydminster Vandals: 21 *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: Edmonton Stallions: 21 Calgary Gators: 16 *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 31 Calgary Gators: 7 *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 42 Edmonton Stallions: 28 *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 51 Edmonton Stallions: 46 *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 56 Calgary Thunder: 35 *

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 49 Calgary Gators: 15 *

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

: Calgary Thunder: 16 Calgary Gators: 14 *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 30 Calgary Thunder: 14 *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: 17 Calgary Gators: 2 *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

: Calgary Gators: Calgary Wolfpack: *

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

: Red Deer Sooners: 7 Edmonton Icemen: 3 *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: Red Deer Sooners: *

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: Red Deer Sooners: *

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

: Red Deer Sooners: Edmonton Seminoles: *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

: Red Deer Sooners: Calgary Wolfpack: *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: Red Deer Sooners: *

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

: Red Deer Sooners: Calgary Crude: *

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: Calgary Crude: *

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

: Calgary Wolfpack: Red Deer Sooners: * 1988: Calgary Raiders: Calgary Crude: *

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

: Calgary Raiders: Red Deer Redskins: *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

: Calgary Raiders: Calgary Crude: *

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

: Calgary Raiders: Calgary Thunder:

AFL championships by franchise

Current AFL teams

Defunct AFL teams

*Brownfield Bruisers ''(1984–1985)'' *Calgary Cowboys ''(1984–1988, 1991–1996)'' *Calgary Crude ''(1984–1992)'' *Calgary Gators ''(1998–2017)'' *Calgary Raiders ''(1985–1988)'' *Calgary Coyotes ''(2001–2003)'' *Calgary Razorbacks ''(2004–2005)'' *Calgary Thunder ''(2000–2007)'' *Edmonton Seminoles ''(1993–1994)'' *Edmonton Garrison Army ''(2010–2012)'' *Edmonton Seahawks ''(?–2009)'' *Edmonton Icemen ''(1995–2004)'' *Edmonton Elite ''(2021–2024)'' *Edmonton Stallions ''(2002–2015)'' *Hanna Rams ''(1976–1984)'' *Hinton Grizzlies ''(1984–?)'' *Lloydminster Vandals ''(2004–2018)'' *Medicine Hat Marauders (2005–2006) *Okotoks Bearcats ''(1995–1997)'' *Red Deer Redskins ''(1985–1987)'' *Red Deer Sooners ''(1988–1999)'' *Rocky Warriors ''(1984–?)'' *Rocky Raiders ''(1983–1984)'' *Wainwright Longhorns ''(2005–2007)'' *Edmonton Renegades ''(2009–2011)'' *Edmonton Raiders ''(2016–2016)'' *Parkland Predators ''(2017–2017)'' *St. Albert Stars (?–2019)

References

External links

*
Airdrie IrishCentral Alberta Buccaneers Fort McMurray Monarchs Grande Prairie Drillers Edmonton Elite Football Leduc Lightning
{{Amateur gridiron football leagues in Canada Canadian football in Alberta 2 1984 establishments in Alberta Sports leagues established in 1984