Hamilton Tiger-Cats Fact Books

Early Tiger-Cat fact books--extending to about 1973--are not exactly the most useful of documents: coach, executive and player biographies account for over half of the contents, and the remainder of the contents are consistently poor. Generally the second part of the media guide consisted of EFC leading-ten statistics of the previous year, in addition to lists of past all-stars, season records and attendance figures, which were updated annually. None of the guides from this era is more than 32 pages in length, inclusive of advertising.

The team did, however, update the fact books at points during the season, initially just overprinting the scores of the games on the inner back cover of the books. A Grey Cup edition was printed in 1967, completely updated from the issue at the beginning of the season, and others may have been produced for other championship and playoff games. "Second editions" were also published mid-way through the season, although because of the difficulty in obtaining copies from this era, it is not immediately clear when this practice began (as opposed to overprinting the schedule page alone), and in which years it was undertaken. Anyone with information on the sequence of editions is invited to forward such information.

The media guides improved somewhat with the addition of an all-time roster (from 1950 to date) in the mid-1970s, although through 1984 the fact book generally remained a perfectly useless piece of printed matter. Those since 1984 are much improved, most notably containing all of the team's regular season game scores back to 1950, but still have a very shallow record section, and do not include full game summaries of the previous season. The latter shortcoming could easily be remedied.

to 1967

The earliest Hamilton fact books that I have seen are from 1958 and 1959, both of which are in a magazine format and could easily pass as game programmes. The fact books starting in 1961 are generally 20 or 24 pages, in a pamphlet format; the following represents the general contents of each volume, using 1964 as an example:

Staple Bound, unpaginated (24 pages), 10.25 cm x 21.5 cm

Contents as follows:

General information (inside front cover)
Forward (p. 1)
Team Directory and Front Office (pp. 2-6)
Team Photo (p. 7)
Player Biographies (pp. 8-11; 14-15)
Roster (pp. 12-13)
Awards and All-Stars (pp. 16-19)
EFC Stats, previous regular season (pp. 20-22)
All-time Scoring, 1950-1963 (pp. 22-23)
Career Scoring Leaders (p. 23)
Notes and Atendance, 1950-1963 (p. 24)
Game Schedule and Results (inside back cover)
Media Directory (back cover)

The following editions are known to exist:

1961
1962
1963
1964 - schedule updated after 14 Aug (?) and 15 September
1965
1966 - 1st regular season edition; (playoff edition?); post-season edition
1967 - 1st regular season edition; (playoff edition?); Grey Cup edition
Further information on the sequence of updates and editions would be appreciated.

A 28-page fact book was prepared for the 1967 Grey Cup, incorporating the "Team of the Century" selected during the season, and a few bits of filler. This format became the norm for a few years.

1967


(Grey Cup Edition)
Staple Bound, unpaginated (28 pages), 10.25 cm x 21.5 cm

Contents as follows:

General information (inside front cover)
Forward (p. 1)
Team Directory and Front Office (pp. 2-6)
Team Photo (p. 7)
Player Biographies (pp. 8-13; 16-17)
Roster (pp. 14-15)
Team of the century (pp. 18-19)
Player Autographs (p. 20)
Awards and All-Stars (pp. 21-23)
1967 EFC Stats, regular season (pp. 24-26)
All-time Scoring, 1950-1967 (pp. 26-27)
Notes and Atendance, 1950-1967 (p. 28)
1967 Game Schedule and Results (inside back cover)
Media Directory (back cover)

Known editions:

1968
1969
1970
1971 - 1st edition (date?)
1972 - 1st edition (date?)
1973 - 1st edition (date?); 2nd edition (22 September)

Format was ultimately upped to 32 pages, of which the 1973 fact book was the final issued.

1973

Second Edition--22 September 1973
Staple Bound, 32 pages, 10.25 cm x 21.75 cm

Contents as follows:

General Information (inside front cover)
Team Directory and Staff (pp. 1-6)
Team Photo (p. 7)
Player Biographies (pp. 9-15; 18)
Roster (pp. 16-17)
All-time Teams (p. 19)
Award Winners (pp. 20-22)
Hall of Fame (p. 23)
1972 EFC Statistical Leaders (pp. 24-26)
Team Standings and Results, 1950-1972 (pp. 26-28)
Media Directory (p. 30)
1973 Schedule (inside back cover)

Length was increased to 46 pages in 1974, but old tall, narrow format retained. Standard CFL media guide size adopted in 1980, and a length of 54/56 pages adopted. Mid-season inserts may have been added in the 1970s, but the practice of updating the whole guide during the season was apparently abandoned after 1973. The final year under this format was 1984.

1984

Staple Bound, 56 pages, 12.9 cm x 17.8 cm

Molson Cup (inside front cover)
Team directory and staff (pp. 1-10)
Player Biographies (pp. 11-27)
Roster (pp. 28-29)
Miss Tiger-Cat (p. 31)
Tiger-Cat Flashback: Dave Viti (pp. 32-33)
Award Winners and All-Stars (pp. 34-39)
1983 Statistics (pp. 40-42)
Leading Scorers (p. 43)
Playoff Record, 1950-1983 (p. 43)
Club Executive and Attendance (p. 44)
Media Directory (p. 45)
Club Records (pp. 47-48)
All-Time roster, 1950-1983 (pp. 49-55)
1984 Schedule and Itinerary (p. 56)

1990

Glue Bound, 144 pages

Contents as follows:

Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 2-16)
Player Biographies (pp. 17-55; 61-76)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 56-60)
1989 Game Participation (pp. 77-78)
CFL Glossary (p. 79)
Draft Records (pp. 80-82)
1989 CFL Stars of the Week (p. 82)
Team History (pp. 83-84)
Hall of Fame (p. 85)
CFL Directory (pp.86-89)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 90-92)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1989 (pp. 93-100)
1989 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 101-106)
Club Records (pp. 107-114)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars(pp. 115-120)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 121-123)
All-time Roster, 1950-1989 (pp. 124-141)
1990 Schedule and Itinerary (p. 142)

1991

Glue Bound, 148 pages

Contents as follows:

Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 2-16)
Player Biographies (pp. 17-64; 70-85)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 65-69)
1989 Game Participation (pp. 86)
CFL Glossary (p. 87)
Draft Records (pp. 88-90)
History of the Tiger-cats (pp. 91-92) Hall of Fame (p. 93)
CFL Directory (pp. 94-97)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 98-100)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1990 (pp. 101-108)
1990 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 109-114)
Club Records (pp. 115-120)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars (pp. 121-126)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 127-128)
All-time Roster, 1950-1989 (pp. 129-146)
1990 Schedule and Itinerary (pp. 147-148)

1992

Glue Bound, 138 pages

Contents as follows

Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 2-15)
Player Biographies (pp. 16-62; 68-76)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 63-67)
1992 Game Participation (pp. 77-78)
CFL Glossary (p. 79)
Draft Records (pp. 80-81)
Team History (pp. 82-83)
Hall of Fame (p. 84)
CFL Directory (pp.85-88)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 89-90)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1991 (pp. 91-96, plus 4 unnumbered pages)
1991 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 97-102)
Club Records (pp. 103-108)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars(pp. 109-114)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 115-116)
All-time Roster, 1950-1991 (pp. 117-135)
1992 Schedule (p. 136)
Itinerary (p. 137)

1993

Glue bound, 136 pages

Contents as follows:

Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 2-16)
Player Biographies (pp. 17-59; 65-70)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 60-64)
1993 Cheerleaders (p. 64)
1992 Game Participation (pp. 71-72)
CFL Glossary (p. 73)
Draft Records (pp. 74-75)
Team History (pp. 76-77)
Hall of Fame (p. 78)
CFL Directory (pp.79-83)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 84-86)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1992 (pp. 87-95)
1992 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 96-102)
Club Records (pp. 102-107)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars(pp. 108-113)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 114-115)
All-time Roster, 1950-1992 (pp. 116-134)
1993 Schedule (p. 135)
Itinerary (p. 136)

1994

Glue Bound, 152 pages

Contents as follows:

Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 3-18)
Player Biographies (pp. 19-60; 66-83)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 61-65)
1993 Game Participation (pp. 84-85)
CFL Glossary (p. 86)
Draft Records (pp. 87-88)
Team History (pp. 89-90)
Hall of Fame (p. 91)
CFL Directory (pp.92-98)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 99-101)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1993 (pp. 102-110)
1993 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 111-116)
Club Records (pp. 117-122)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars(pp. 123-129)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 130-131)
All-time Roster, 1950-1993 (pp. 132-150)
1994 Schedule (p. 151)
Itinerary (p. 152)

1995

Glue Bound, 158 pages

Contents as follows:

Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 3-18)
Player Biographies (pp. 19-65; 71-86)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 66-70)
1994 Game Participation (pp. 87-88)
CFL Glossary (p. 89)
Draft Records (pp. 90-91)
Team History (pp. 92-93)
Hall of Fame (p. 94)
CFL Directory (pp.95-101)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 102-104)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1994 (pp. 105-113)
1994 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 113-120)
Club Records (pp. 121-126)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars (pp. 127-133)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 134-135)
All-time Roster, 1950-1994 (pp. 136-155)
1995 Schedule (p. 156)
Itinerary (p. 157)

1996

Glue Bound, 152 pages,

Contents as follows:

1996 Schedule (p. 3)
Team History (pp. 5-6)
Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 4; 7-21)
Player Biographies (pp. 22-77; 82-89)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 78-81)
Draft Records (pp. 90-91)
CFL Directory (pp.92-95; 125)
1995 Game Participation (pp. 96-97)
1995 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 98-104)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 105)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1995 (pp. 106-114)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 115-116)
Club Records (pp. 117-124)
CFL Glossary (p. 126)
Hall of Fame (p. 127)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars(pp. 128-134)
All-time Roster, 1950-1995 (pp. 135-146)
Media Information (p. 147)
Itinerary (p. 148)

1997

Glue Bound, 132 pages

Contents as follows:

1997 Schedule (inner front cover)
Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 2; 5-19)
Team History (pp. 3-4)
Player Biographies (pp. 20-59; 64-70)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 60-63)
Draft Records (pp. 71-72)
CFL Directory (pp.73-76; 108)
1996 Game Participation (pp. 77-78)
1996 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 79-85)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 86)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1996 (pp. 87-96)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 97-98)
Club Records (pp. 99-107)
CFL Glossary (p. 109)
Hall of Fame (p. 110)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars (pp. 111-117)
All-time Roster, 1950-1996 (pp. 118-129)
Media Information (p. 130)
Itinerary (p. 131)

1998

Glue Bound, 144 pages

Contents as follows:

1998 Schedule (inner front cover)
Club Directory/Front Office (pp. 2; 6-20)
Team History (pp. 3-5)
Player Biographies (pp. 21-64; 69-80)
Rosters and Depth Chart (pp. 65-68)
Draft Records (pp. 81-82)
CFL Directory (pp.83-86; 120)
1997 Game Participation (pp. 87-88)
1997 Review: Scores, Statistics (pp. 89-97)
Tiger-cats v. the CFL (pp. 98)
Tiger-cats results and Standings, 1950-1997 (pp. 99-108)
Hamilton Playoff and Grey Cup Results (pp. 109-110)
Club Records (pp. 111-119)
CFL Glossary (p. 121)
Hall of Fame (p. 122)
Past CFL Award Winners and All Stars(pp. 123-129)
All-time Roster, 1950-1997 (pp. 130-142)
Media Information (p. 143)
Itinerary (p. 144)

This page maintained by Ian Speers.
Last updated: 8 August 2001.
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