St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy
Encyclopedia
St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy was a Canadian football
team during World War II
. It appeared in Grey Cup
in 1944 season and won the cup that year.
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
team during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It appeared in Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
in 1944 season and won the cup that year.
- So obscure was his Navy Combines squad that a quarter of a century passed by before league officials and Grey Cup brass decided that the Combines should get recognition for their feat during the war years when regular teams weren’t used. McFall and the Combines beat the Hamilton Flying Wildcats 7-6 before a sparse crowd of 3,871 at Hamilton’s Civic Stadium, marking the last year that a service club won the Grey Cup.
- The Combines started out as a pick-up crew, a bunch of sailors who liked to mess around on the football field. Playing coach Glen Brown moulded four seniors (himself included), a number of intermediates and a group of high schoolers such as McFall into a reputable defensive unit with many players travelling 40 miles to attend team practices.
- The team was a combination of two HMCS units: St. Hyacinthe, located 40 miles from Montreal and Donnaconna based in downtown Montreal. Before playing in the Grey Cup game, the Combines got ready by playing games against other Quebec teams, including McGill.