The Toronto Indians were a football team from

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and a member of 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 it became the first major competition to ado ...

, a league that preceded 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 ...

. After the

Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. Spanning three decades, they appeared in four Grey Cup ...

moved to the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, the Indians began play in the ORFU to fill the void. Ironically, these two teams would merge in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

and would continue to be known as the Beachers after that season.

History

The Indians were respectable in their first season of senior competition as the team finished in 2nd place in the ORFU with a .500 record while the league had three teams. For the next three seasons, however, the team would finish near the bottom of the standings winning only four of 25 games with the team missing the playoffs every year. Their fortunes would change, though, as the Indians qualified for the playoffs in each of the next three seasons, including a first-place finish in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. Despite their regular season success, the Indians would not have the same fortune in the post-season, having never won a playoff game. On April 20,

, it was announced that the Indians would merge with the

and assumed the name Toronto Beaches-Indians for that one season. The amalgamation took place due to the difficulty that the two teams were having in competing for fan support, in addition to the competition from the IRFU's

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. The team finished in 2nd place that year with a 5-4 record, but lost to the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton interest ...

(who had transferred to the ORFU from the more competitive IRFU that year) in the ORFU Finals. On January 4, 1949, the club announced that the amalgamation would end and the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers would resume play while the Indians would fold.

Canadian Football Hall of Famers

Jake Gaudaur Jacob Gill Gaudaur, Jr., (October 5, 1920 – December 4, 2007) was a Canadian Football League (CFL) player, executive, and commissioner. His 45-year career in Canadian football, including 16 years as the league's fourth commissioner (and its ...

Annis Stukus Annis Paul Stukus (October 25, 1914 – May 20, 2006) was a Canadian football player, journalist, coach, broadcaster, and executive. He was the first head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and the BC Lions of the Western Interprovincial Football ...

ORFU season-by-season

Oakwood Stadium

The Indians played at Oakwood Stadium near Oakwood Avenue and St. Clair Avenue West from 1941 to 1949. After the team left it was used as a racecar track in 1951. Originally built on Crang farm in 1920s, it served as home field for

Oakwood Collegiate Institute Oakwood Collegiate Institute (commonly known as OCI or Oakwood) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the neighbourhoods of Regal Heights, Oakwood-Vaughan and Bracondale Hill. History and Alumni Oakwood was fo ...

and the site is now Luciano's No Frills supermarket.

References

{{reflist Ontario Rugby Football Union teams In Defunct Canadian football teams Sports clubs and teams established in 1941 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1949 1941 establishments in Ontario 1949 disestablishments in Ontario