Home comforts for the Calgary Stampders
Home is where the heart is for the Calgary Stampeders and their fans. They hold the CFL record for the longest home winning streak in league history. Garnering 27 home wins between 1992 and 1995. A period that saw them deliver three consecutive 15 win seasons, a 58-14 record, 2 Grey Cup apparances and the title in 1992. Over that perod they were an astonishing 34-2 at home too.
But this isn’t their only home success. They are also tied for the league’s third best ever home winning streak, at 17 games set between the 2015 and 2017 seasons. This run saw them go 42-10-2, and appear in 2 Grey Cups, although they were surprisingly beaten in both.
A Special Mention
It would be remiss of me as this sites main adherent of the joys of the CFL not to mention that amidst all of their success, the Stamps have been the closest team to perfection too.
1948 Calgary Stampeders
In 1948 the Stampeders became only the second Western Division team to win the Grey Cup.
They did so on the back or a remarkable 14-0-1 season. The Stamps had gone 12-0 in the regular season. Their only ‘blemish’ came in a 4-4 tie with Saskatchewan in the first game of a two leg Western semi-final. Even then, the young team had discovered the joys of home and away success.
To this day the 1948 Stamps remain the only undefeated team in CFL history.
Still winning beyond the home comforts
Whilst it is obvious that home comforts bring the Stampeders an advantage, their overall record reflects success on the road too.
In fact, should they have a winning season in 2023 they will become the first CFL team ever to have a record above .500 for 15 consecutive seasons.
Not to mention they also have the second longest run for this with 12 seasons above .500 between 1989 and 2000! A welcome period of sustained success following the 1980s when the Stamps were the only CFL team not to win a playoff game.
At the moment they have 14 consecutive seasons above .500 from 2008 to last year. A record matched by Edmonton’s run between 1984 & 1997.
Over this run the Stampeders have been astonishingly competitive. Going 36-17-1 from 2008-10 and lifting a Grey Cup trophy in 2008. After which they can legitimately claim to have been the CFL team of the decade in the 2010’s. Calgary appeared in the playoffs every year of the decade. They contested the Grey Cup on five occasions, winning it twice in 2014 & 2018.
Across the decade they amassed an astonishing 132-46-2 record. They appeared in the playoffs ten times and went 10-7 in playoff games.
Are new triumphs around the corner?
The new decade has seen them go 20-12 and lose out in back-to-back CFL West Semi-Finals. Stamps fans will be hoping to see a return to dominance, further home comforts and a new CFL record being set.
Founded in 1945, the Stampeders are over 75 years old. But football in one form or another has been played in Calgary for much longer than that. Rugby football was played as far back as the 1880’s.
They are a team then with remarkable sustained regular season success of late, and 8 Grey Cup titles to their name.
Perhaps new successes are around the corner for this storied Franchise. Not least as they could be about to set a new record for consecutive seasons above .500. Whatever the case, they and their fans will be looking forward to home being where the heart is, and hoping it is, once again, where the wins are.
However things go, as ever, it will be fun watching it all play out.
Banner Image from cfl.ca