Hamilton Tiger Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
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Logo
The Tiger-Cats logo for many decades was an exact reverse of the Princeton University Tigers athletic logo. The artwork for the original "leaping tiger" is claimed by Hamilton. Both logos have since been revised or replaced.
Franchise history
Early years
The history of Hamilton Tiger-Cats can be traced back to November 3, 1869 in a room above George Lee’s Fruit Store, when the Hamilton Football Club was formed. Known as the Tigers, they joined the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907. They also faced local competition with the Alerts, in which they won the first Grey Cup for Hamilton in 1912, beating the Toronto Argonauts 11–4. This was followed by the Tigers the following season (1913) when they beat the Parkdale Canoe Club by the lopsided margin of 44–2. Later, in 1914, both teams would merge under the moniker of Tigers. After World War II, the Tigers and the newly formed Flying Wildcats competed for fans, talent and bragging rights so great that neither team could operate on a sound financial level.
Under the guidance of prominent and distinguished local leaders such as Ralph "Super-Duper" Cooper and F.M. Gibson, it was decided that the two teams should merge as one that would represent Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats were born in 1950 with Cooper as team president and Carl Voyles serve as head coach and general manager.