 | |
| Founded | 1946[1] |
|---|---|
| Based in | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Home field | Percival Molson Memorial Stadium |
| Head coach | Jason Maas |
| General manager | Danny Maciocia |
| Team president | Mark Weightman |
| Owner(s) | Pierre Karl Péladeau |
| League | Canadian Football League |
| Division | East Division |
| Colours | Red, white, blue[2][3] |
| Nickname(s) | Als, Larks, Les Moineaux |
| Mascot(s) | Touché |
| Grey Cup wins | 8 (1949, 1970, 1974, 1977, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2023) |
| Website | en.montrealalouettes.com (in English) montrealalouettes.com (in French) |
| Current uniform | |
 | |
The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and last won the Grey Cup in 2023, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 110th Grey Cup Game in 2023. Their home field is Percival Molson Memorial Stadium for the regular season and as of 2014 also home of their playoff games.
The original Alouettes team (1946–1981) won four Grey Cups and were particularly dominant in the 1970s; appearing in six Grey Cup Finals through that decade, they won in 1970, 1974 and 1977, while losing in 1975, 1978 and 1979 (all against the Edmonton Eskimos). After their collapse in 1982, they were immediately reconstituted under new ownership as the Montreal Concordes. After playing for four years as the Concordes, they revived the Alouettes name for the 1986 season. A second folding in 1987 led to a nine-year hiatus of CFL football in the city.
The current Alouettes franchise was established in 1996 by the owners of the Baltimore Stallions. The Stallions were disbanded at the same time as the Alouettes' re-establishment after having been the most successful of the CFL's American expansion franchises, culminating in a Grey Cup championship in 1995. Many players from the Stallions' 1995 roster signed with the Alouettes and formed the core of the team's 1996 roster.
For record-keeping purposes, the CFL considers all clubs that have played in Montreal as one franchise dating to 1946, and considers the Alouettes to have suspended operations in 1987 before returning in 1996. Although the Alouettes' re-establishment in 1996 is often considered a relocation of the Stallions, neither the league nor the Alouettes recognize the Baltimore franchise, or its records, as part of the Alouettes' official team history.
The latest incarnation of the Alouettes were arguably the best CFL team of the 2000s; they acceded to every Grey Cup Finals of the decade (except in 2001, 2004 and 2007) taking home three Grey Cups in the process and bringing the franchise total to seven.[4] The Alouettes had from 1996 to 2014 the CFL's longest active playoff streak, only having missed the playoffs three times since returning to the league. The streak came to an end in 2015. They have hosted a playoff game every year except 2001, 2007, 2013, and from 2015 to 2018. Their five losing seasons came in 2007, 2013 and from 2015 to 2018. The 2015 through 2018 Alouettes' seasons marked the first time the team missed the playoffs in consecutive years since their re-activation. Major stars of the recent era include Mike Pringle, the CFL career leader in rushing yards, and quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who led all of pro football in career passing yards before Drew Brees took over in late 2020.
In 2019 the CFL purchased the team from American businessman Robert Wetenhall, who could not find a buyer. Later that year the Alouettes were acquired by Crawford Steel executives Sid Spiegel and his son-in-law Gary Stern (through their subsidiary S and S Sportsco), who took over the team on January 6, 2020. In February 2023, the ownership was passed back to the league,[5] which subsequently agreed to sell the team to Quebec media mogul and former Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau in March of that year.[6] On November 19, 2023, the Alouettes won their eighth Grey Cup in their first season under Péladeau's ownership.
- ^ "GMC Teams Up With The Montreal Alouettes". GMC. June 18, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ DESGAGNÉ, ÉMILIE (September 1, 2019). "HOW TO BE A GREAT ALOUETTES FAN". MontrealAlouettes.com. CFL Enterprises LP. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
We strongly suggest you wear the team's colours (red, white & blue).
- ^ "Alouettes de Montréal — Design & Experience". Behance.net. Adobe Systems Incorporated. February 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ "By the Numbers: Grey Cup Glory". Canadian Football League. December 2, 2010. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ^ "A statement from the CFL about the Montreal Alouettes". CFL.ca. February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
- ^ "Media mogul and former Parti Québécois leader new owner of CFL's Montreal Alouettes | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved March 10, 2023.