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The Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the first Grey Cup held in the west. This was also the first year that the Grey Cup was open to professional teams only, as the amateur Ontario Rugby Football Union was not invited to compete in an inter-union playdown, leaving only the (Eastern Canadian) Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the (Western Canadian) Western Interprovincial Football Union to compete for the Canadian championship.
For 45 years the Grey Cup classic was an event held exclusively in the province of Ontario, with the one exception in 1931 when the game was staged in Montreal. This all changed in 1955 when the game was awarded to Vancouver, B.C. The then largest crowd in the history of organized team sports in Canada packed Empire Stadium to witness the Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes. The 39,417 in attendance remained a Grey Cup record until 1976.[1]
The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) allowed the third place team to qualify for a playoff berth. The Grey Cup had a gross revenue of $198,000.[2]
In January 1955, the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) announced that a playoff game with the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was no longer desired. The WIFU and IRFU both scheduled their games so as not to leave an open date for the traditional game with the ORFU. At the March meeting of the CRU, the ORFU withdrew from Grey Cup competition for 1955.[3] 1955 became the first year that only the IRFU and the WIFU competed for the Grey Cup.
Montreal's Tex Coulter became the first player to win the Most Outstanding Lineman Award.
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
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Note: All dates in 1955
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| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Grey Cup | ||||||||||||
| IRFU | Montreal Alouettes | |||||||||||||
| IRFU | BYE | |||||||||||||
| IRFU | Montreal Alouettes | 38 | ||||||||||||
| EAST | ||||||||||||||
| IRFU | Toronto Argonauts | 36 | ||||||||||||
| IRFU | Hamilton Tiger Cats | 28 | ||||||||||||
| IRFU | Toronto Argonauts | 32 | ||||||||||||
| IRFU | Montreal Alouettes | 19 | ||||||||||||
| WIFU | Edmonton Eskimos | 34 | ||||||||||||
| WIFU | Edmonton Eskimos | |||||||||||||
| WIFU | BYE | |||||||||||||
| WIFU | Edmonton Eskimos | 29-26 | ||||||||||||
| WEST | ||||||||||||||
| WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 6-6 | ||||||||||||
| WIFU | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 16-8 | ||||||||||||
| WIFU | Saskatchewan Roughriders | 7-9 | ||||||||||||
| November 26
43rd Annual Grey Cup Game: Empire Stadium – Vancouver, British Columbia | |||
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| WIFU Champion | IRFU Champion | ||
| Edmonton Eskimos 34 | Montreal Alouettes 19 | ||
| The Edmonton Eskimos are the 1955 Grey Cup Champions | |||
NOTE: The following players were selected to the All-Star team as replacements for players who would have had to play both ways in the Shrine Game (denoted with an *):
NOTE: The following players were selected to the All-Star team as replacements for players who would have had to play both ways, or were injured, in the Shrine Game (denoted with an *):
NOTE: During this time most players played both ways, so the All-Star selections do not distinguish between some offensive and defensive positions.
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