Looking back at the 1,284 regular season games in Edmonton Elks history

The Edmonton Elks Football Club is an old and storied franchise, but at one point, they were the new kids on the block, the young upstarts, newbies, freshmen of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFL)

The Early Days (The “New Kids on the Block”)

The current Elks (formerly Eskimos) franchise started back in 1949, even though Edmonton had earlier teams going back to 1911. Their first game was on Labour Day, September 5, 1949, against the Calgary Stampeders. That was 1,284 regular-season games ago! The first roster has more recognizable names as politicians (Steve Paproski and Peter Lougheed) and wrestlers (Gene Kiniski) than CFL greats. They weren’t great right away: 4-10 in year one, no playoffs, but they improved. They hit the playoffs in year two, made the Grey Cup in 1952 (a loss), and won their first Grey Cup Championship in 1954, beating the Montreal Alouettes 26-25.

The Game Count

In 76 years of history, the Elks have 1284 games under their belt. They have racked up 710 victories so far.

Milestone Wins

Win 1: Sept 10, 1949 vs Winnipeg. 14-11. The win was backed by 316 yds rushing and 5 interceptions

Win 100: Aug 24, 1959 vs Saskatchewan. 55-0. It is the most lopsided shutout victory in team history.

Win 200: July 31, 1973 at Winnipeg. 33-22. Bobby Taylor led the way with 2 TD’s.

Win 300: July 17, 1982 vs Toronto. 31-12. Edmonton got out to a 23-0 lead and never looked back.

Win 400: July 31, 1991 vs Saskatchewan. 54-24. Tracy Ham threw for 4 TD’s

Win 500: Aug 8, 2000 at Saskatchewan. 28-22.Edmonton had 4 safeties in the game and won their 5th consecutive game.

Win 600: July 9, 2011 vs Hamilton. 28-10. Fred Stamps had 7 rec. for 178 yds & 1 TD.

Win 700: Sept 2, 2024 at Calgary. 35-20. In the first Labour Day game under the Thompson Family ownership, the Elks won their 700th game in team history.

Win 710: Oct 11, 2025 vs Winnipeg 25-20. After 13 consecutive losses against the Bombers, the Elks won franchise win 710

Opponent Stats

Calgary is their most frequent opponent (245 games) and the source of the most wins (133) and losses (109).

Their best winning percentage (0.622) is against the Ottawa teams (50-30-2).

Coaching Wins

Ron Lancaster coached the most regular season games (126) and has the most wins (83).

Hugh Campbell has 70 wins, and Ray Jauch has 65.

Frank ‘Pop’ Ivy has the best coaching winning percentage at an insane 0.781 (50-14-0). Campbell is right behind him at 0.755.

The Home Field Advantage

The Elks have played 643 “Home” games (counting the November 5, 1994 game hosted by the Las Vegas Posse at Commonwealth Stadium as a ‘home’ game)

Clarke Stadium (1949-1978): In 1949, the team started off in Clarke Stadium and considered it home for 232 games. The last game was August 23, 1978. It was a 14-8 Edmonton win and 139th regular season victory in Clarke. The team had a record of 139-58-6 for a 0.610 winning percentage.

Commonwealth Stadium (1978-present): A week after leaving Clarke, the team hosted the BC Lions at Commonwealth Stadium and had win number 1 with an 18-10 victory.

411 regular season games later, the Elks have a 0.650 winning percentage with a 266-143-2 record.

The overall home record is  405-231-7 record (0.635 winning percentage).

Home Win 100: Aug 4, 1971 vs BC, 20-19. A 39 yd Dave Cutler FG with 35 seconds remaining scored the winning points 

Home Win 200: Oct 25, 1987 vs Winnipeg, 49-24. Edmonton pulled away with a 24 point 3rd quarter to defeat the Bombers

Home Win 300: Jul 16, 2003 vs Hamilton, 52-15. Mike Pringle rushes for his 67th career 100+yd rushing game, passing George Reed for the CFL Record

Home Win 400: Oct 25, 2024 vs Toronto 31-30 (OT). Jake Julien hits a 54 yd punt, walk-off rouge in overtime to defeat the Argos, 31-30. 

On the Road

The Elks have a 0.484 winning percentage when playing on the road. They do well in Hamilton (0.575, 30-22-1) and  BC (0.514, 54-51-3).

Most wins have come in Calgary (60). The most losses have come in Calgary and Regina (61).

Current Situation

Using a rolling 100 game analysis of the teams history, the glory days of the Hugh Campbell coached teams in the late 1970’s and early 80’s was the backbone for an incredible winning percentage of 0.755 (73-22-5). Mark Kilim on the other hand, inherited a rolling-100-percentage of 0.330 (33-67-0) and with a 7-11 record last year, dropped to 0.300 (30-70-0). Looking forward, a 9-9 2026 season would bring the percentage up to 0.320 (32-68-0) but aqs fans, we are hoping for more than 9 wins.

The beauty of the CFL is that a team has a chance to reverse its fortune in a short period of time. Within 90 regular season games of the start of this Elks franchise, they appeared in two Grey Cups and won one. With game 1300 on October 9 in Hamilton, the future is bright.