1961 BC Lions season

1961 BC Lions season
Head coach	Wayne Robinson Dave Skrien
Home field	Empire Stadium
Results
Record	1–13–2
Division place	5th, West
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1961 BC Lions finished the season in fifth place in the West Division with a disappointing 1–13–2 record and failed to make the playoffs. There was, however, a bright side to the season as fundamental building blocks were in place. In the off-season, the Lions signed Linebacker/Guard Tom Brown who would become an important part of the Lions' defense. On Aug. 24, the Lions traded four players to Calgary for Quarterback Joe Kapp and while the results weren't immediate they would prove to be critical in future seasons. Due to the poor record and play, fan attendance dropped drastically, as the Lions averaged 24,000 fans per game. It also cost head coach Wayne Robinson his job as he was fired after seven games in favour of Dave Skrien. This was also the first season that the CFL introduced inter-conference games, with the first regular season games against the Ottawa Rough Riders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts coming in 1961.

Regular season

Season standings

Western Football Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	16	13	3	0	360	251	26
Edmonton Eskimos	16	10	5	1	334	257	21
Calgary Stampeders	16	7	9	0	300	311	14
Saskatchewan Roughriders	16	5	10	1	211	314	11
BC Lions	16	1	13	2	215	393	4

^[1]

Season schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
1	Aug 7	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	29–19	Loss	0–1
2	Aug 12	at Ottawa Rough Riders	41–7	Loss	0–2
3	Aug 15	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	30–21	Loss	0–3
4	Aug 21	vs. Montreal Alouettes	7–7	Tie	0–3–1
5	Aug 24	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	25–6	Loss	0–4–1
6	Aug 28	at Edmonton Eskimos	21–20	Loss	0–5–1
7	Sept 9	vs. Calgary Stampeders	35–17	Loss	0–6–1
8	Sept 14	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	36–15	Loss	0–7–1
9	Sept 18	vs. Toronto Argonauts	15–7	Loss	0–8–1
10	Sept 23	at Calgary Stampeders	28–9	Loss	0–9–1
11	Sept 30	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	21–9	Win	1–9–1
12	Oct 7	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	24–20	Loss	1–10–1
13	Oct 9	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	17–7	Loss	1–11–1
14	Oct 16	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	16–15	Loss	1–12–1
15	Oct 28	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	17–17	Tie	1–12–2
16	Nov 5	vs. Calgary Stampeders	43–7	Loss	1–13–2

^[2]

1961 CFL Awards

None

References

1. "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
2. "BC Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-03-08.