Old Four

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Old Four
No. of teams4
RegionCentral Canada
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

The Old Four is a soccer conference composed of four public institutions of higher education in Central Canada. The name is also an appellation for the four universities as a group, consisted of McGill University, Queen's University, University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario. They are home to the original four soccer teams in Canadian collegiate athletics.[1] The Old Four holds an annual exhibition tournament over the Labour Day weekend, although the teams do not accumulate points toward the regular season of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition.

As the name suggests, the Old Four schools are among Canada's oldest and most prestigious universities. Except for the University of Western Ontario, all were founded by royal charter during the British colonial era before Canadian Confederation. Historically, these schools have held intense rivalries in athletics. Today, the Old Four are all research universities and members of Canada's U15 Group of Canadian research universities. They are the only universities in eastern Canada with endowments of over $1 billion respectively.

The Old Four was for several decades also a conference for Canadian football competition between these same four schools, but conference realignment, beginning in the early 1970s, has meant that it no longer exists in its original form.

Members[edit]

The Old Four schools are all public institutions unaffiliated with any religion. Although three were founded as religious schools, they have all since become secular institutions.

Institution Location Team name Venue Founding religious affiliation Founded
McGill University Montreal, Quebec Martlets, Redbirds Percival Molson Memorial Stadium Nonsectarian 1821 as McGill College
Queen's University Kingston, Ontario Gaels Richardson Memorial Stadium Presbyterian 1841 as Queen's College
University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario Varsity Blues Varsity Stadium Anglican 1827 as King's College
University of Western Ontario London, Ontario Mustangs TD Waterhouse Stadium Anglican 1878 as The Western University of London Ontario

Summary of tournament finals[edit]

Year Location Men's winner Men's runner-up Score Women's winner Women's runner-up Score
2002 Montreal ? ? ?-? Western McGill 2-1
2003 London Western McGill 1-0 Western McGill 4-3
2004 Kingston Western McGill 2-1 McGill Western 2-1
2005 Montreal Toronto Queen's 2-1 McGill Queen's 1-0
2006 Toronto Western Queen's 3-0 McGill Western 6-2
2007 London Western McGill 1-0 McGill Queen's 1-0
2008 Toronto McGill Toronto 2-0 McGill Toronto 3-1
2009 London Western McGill 2-1 McGill Queen's 3-0
2010 Kingston McGill Queen's 2-1 McGill Toronto 1-0
2011 Montreal Toronto McGill P-P* Toronto McGill P-P*
2012 Toronto Toronto Western 1-1 (5-4 PK) McGill Western 2-1
2013 London Queen's Western 1-1 (4-2 PK) Toronto McGill 0-0 (4-3 PK)
2014 Kingston McGill Western 1-0 Western McGill 1-0
2015 Montreal Western McGill 2-1 Western McGill 2-2 (5-3 PK)
2016 Toronto Western McGill 3-1 McGill Toronto 1-0
2017 London Western Queen's 2-1 Queen's Western 1-0
2018 Kingston Western Queen's 2-1 Queen's Toronto 1-0

Note: The 2011 finals were cancelled due to field conditions.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "U of T Soccer to Host Old Four Tournament". Retrieved 2008-09-02.[permanent dead link] "The University of Toronto Varsity Blues soccer program is proud to host a very time-honoured tradition - the annual Old Four tournament, August 30–31, 2008 at the Varsity Centre. This tournament features the original four football schools in Canadian university sport: McGill University, Queen’s University, the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto."
  2. ^ "OLD FOUR MATCHES CANCELLED DUE TO WET FIELD CONDITIONS". Retrieved 2012-08-28. "Both men’s and women’s gold-medal matches at the 2011 Old Four tournament have been cancelled due to excessive water on the field."

External links[edit]

Conference news[edit]