1961 BC Lions season

1961 BC Lions season
General manager	Herb Capozzi
Head coach	Wayne Robinson Dave Skrien
Home field	Empire Stadium
Results
Record	1–13–2
Division place	5th, West
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1961 BC Lions finished the season in fifth place in the Western Conference with a disappointing 1–13–2 record and failed to make the playoffs.

There was, however, a bright side to the season as fundamental building blocks were in place. In the off-season, the Lions signed Linebacker/Guard Tom Brown who would become an important part of the Lions' defense. On August 24, the Lions traded four players to Calgary for Quarterback Joe Kapp and while the results were not immediate they would prove to be critical in future seasons.

Due to the poor record and play, fan attendance dropped drastically, as the Lions averaged 24,000 fans per game. It also cost head coach Wayne Robinson his job as he was fired after winless first seven games in favour of Dave Skrien on September 12.

This was also the first season that the CFL introduced inter-conference games, with the first regular season games against the Ottawa Rough Riders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts coming in 1961.

Regular season

Season standings

Western Football Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	16	13	3	0	360	251	26
Edmonton Eskimos	16	10	5	1	334	257	21
Calgary Stampeders	16	7	9	0	300	311	14
Saskatchewan Roughriders	16	5	10	1	211	314	11
BC Lions	16	1	13	2	215	393	4

[1]

Season schedule

Game	Date	Opponent	Results
			Score	Record
1	Aug 7	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	L 19–29	0–1
2	Aug 12	at Ottawa Rough Riders	L 7–41	0–2
3	Aug 15	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	L 21–30	0–3
4	Aug 21	vs. Montreal Alouettes	T 7–7	0–3–1
5	Aug 24	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 6–25	0–4–1
6	Aug 28	at Edmonton Eskimos	L 20–21	0–5–1
7	Sept 9	vs. Calgary Stampeders	L 17–35	0–6–1
8	Sept 14	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 15–36	0–7–1
9	Sept 18	vs. Toronto Argonauts	L 7–15	0–8–1
10	Sept 23	at Calgary Stampeders	L 9–28	0–9–1
11	Sept 30	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	W 21–9	1–9–1
12	Oct 7	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 20–24	1–10–1
13	Oct 9	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 7–17	1–11–1
14	Oct 16	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 15–16	1–12–1
15	Oct 28	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	T 17–17	1–12–2
16	Nov 5	vs. Calgary Stampeders	L 7–43	1–13–2

[2]

Offensive leaders

Player	Passing yds	Rushing yds	Receiving yds	TD
Joe Kapp	1719	127	0	0
Nub Beamer		878	108	9
Willie Fleming		468	680	9
Dick Johnson		0	645	4
By Bailey		386	125	1
Pat Claridge		0	327	0

1961 CFL Awards

None

References

1. "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
2. "BC Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records". Archived from the original on 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2009-03-08.