Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Not to be confused with Hamilton Tigers or Hamilton Tiger Cubs.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Team logo
Established1950
Based inHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Home stadiumTim Hortons Field (2014–present)
Head coachScott Milanovich
General managerEd Hervey
Owner(s)Hamilton Sports Group
Bob Young
LeagueCanadian Football League
DivisionEast Division
ColoursBlack, gold, white[1][2]
     
Nickname(s)Ticats, Cats, Tabbies
Grey Cups8 (1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1986, 1999)
Websiteticats.ca
Current uniform
Current sports event 2025 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Field.[3][4]

The club traces its origins back to 1869 to the founding of Hamilton Football Club which adopted the nickname “tigers” a few years after its founding (although it had been informally called the Tigers since its first game). In 1950, the Tigers absorbed the cross-town upstart Hamilton Wildcats largely to eliminate the gate competition from the underfunded Wildcats. The Tigers adopted the name "Tiger-Cats".[5][6]

Since 1950, the team has won the Grey Cup championship eight times, most recently in 1999. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club recognizes all Grey Cups won by Hamilton-based teams as part of their history, bringing their win total to 15 (the Hamilton Tigers with five, the Hamilton Flying Wildcats and Hamilton Alerts with one each).[7] However, the CFL does not recognize these wins under one franchise, rather as the individual franchises that won them.[8] If one includes their historical lineage, Hamilton football clubs won league championships in every decade of the 20th century.

In their first 40 years after absorbing the Wildcats, the Tiger-Cats qualified for the playoffs in all but three of those years and won seven Grey Cup championships. They are one of six teams in the modern era to win the Grey Cup at home and were the first to accomplish this when they did it in 1972. However, since 1990, they have missed the playoffs on eleven occasions and have won just one Grey Cup in 1999. In addition to having the longest Grey Cup drought of all the CFL teams, they are the only team to have not won the Grey Cup in the 21st century. Their lowest point came in 2003, when they lost a CFL record 17 games in one season, with just one win.[9] The franchise has started to return to prominence after qualifying for the post-season in eight of the 10 years of the 2010s, including appearances in the 101st, 102nd, 107th and 108th Grey Cups, where they lost each time.[8]

  1. ^ TiCats Staff (May 1, 2012). "Tiger-Cats Unveil Reengineered Reebok Uniforms". TiCats.ca. CFL Enterprises, LP. Retrieved June 23, 2018. Following a thorough two-year design process, the Black and Yellow returns to a classic appearance with the return of multiple stripes to the sleeves and a cleaner, traditional look on the jerseys and pants.
  2. ^ "Hamilton Tiger-Cats Club Profile & History" (PDF). 2017 CFL Guide & Record Book (PDF). CFL Enterprises, LP. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  3. ^ "Goodbye Ivor Wynne, hello Tim Hortons Field". The Hamilton Spectator. TheSpec.com. July 12, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  4. ^ "Construction of Hamilton Pan Am Soccer Stadium for TORONTO 2015 Games Already 10% Complete". Toronto 2015 Pan American/Parapan American Games. May 24, 2013. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  5. ^ "History | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  6. ^ "History | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  7. ^ "HISTORY – Grey Cup | Hamilton Tiger-Cats". Ticats.ca. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Grey Cup Record Book 2011" (PDF). Cfl.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  9. ^ "CFL Regular Season Team Records" (PDF). Cfl.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 26, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2013.