On December 4, 1909 at Rosedale Park, 3,800 lucky fans cheered on as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the Parkdale Canoe Club 26–6 in Canada’s first Grey Cup.
Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada and grandson of the 2nd Earl Grey (Prime Minister of the UK for whom the popular tea was named), had planned to donate a new trophy to Canada’s senior amateur hockey championships, but Sir Montague Allan beat him to it with the Allan Cup, so Grey offered his award to the fledlging Canadian amateur “rugby football” championships beginning in 1909.
Grey forgot to actually order a trophy, though, so the winning Varsity Blues weren’t presented with the Cup until four months later, in March 1910.
