Remembrance Day: Roughriders in History
Every year on November 11th, Canadians observe a moment of silence to honour the men and women who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces. As another Remembrance Day is upon us, The Saskatchewan Roughriders Football club took some time to get to know our own history and look back on football during wartime and former team members who fought for our country while also fighting to keep football alive in Canada.
To get more insight, the team got some help from Rider Nation’s Dale Richter, a long-time season ticket holder and Rider fan who took up a special project during the COVID-19 lockdown, dedicating his time and research to Regina Rugby Club and Saskatchewan Roughriders history in both WWI and WWII.
Richter said he was able to find over 50 players associated with the team who served in the Great War (WWI) and to date has found approximately 90 players who served in the Second World War (WWII). After diving into the history of the team, Richter concluded one important similarity between the 2021 comeback season and wartime football, the resilience and strength of both players and fans who would ensure that Canadian football would be back.
While the stories of former Saskatchewan Roughrider members serving in the Canadian forces is extensive, Richter said it is the story of former Roughrider back fielder Lindsay Holt and his 1945 season that exemplify the game of football bringing people back together in Saskatchewan.
Here is an excerpt of Richter’s work and the story behind Lindsay Holt:
Hailing from Govan, Saskatchewan, Lindsay Holt, who was given the nickname “Judge”, began his time with the Roughriders in 1938 after being recruited from a junior football team in Regina.
During his playing days with the Roughriders, he was employed at the General Motors plant in Regina. Holt also has the distinction of being the first member of the Roughriders to enlist in the army shortly after the war began in early September of 1939. He initially enlisted with the 10th Field Ambulance unit, and then served with the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders before training to become a paratrooper.
In August 1940, while training with the army in Dundurn, Holt and several of his teammates were permitted to return to Regina on weekends to practice with the team as it was preparing for a new season. Holt was able to play in the first two games of the season, including a Labour Day win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but military duties took Holt out of the lineup in mid-September, and he spent the next three years overseas.
Upon discharge from the army in July 1945, Holt showed that his passion for football was still strong when he said he wanted, “just one good season with the old team.”
Holt would transition from a player to coach when he agreed to help former teammate Don King coach the Roughriders in a shortened season. On the evening of September 10, 1945, when more than thirty hopefuls showed up for the first Roughriders practice, Holt put them through rigorous paratrooper conditioning drills.
The three-game 1945 season was not a huge success as the Roughriders only made enough money to buy the members of the team sports jackets and throw a windup dinner but what was important was the community’s support of professional football once again.
Leader-Post writer Scotty Melville gave Holt and King credit for being the “driving power behind football’s comeback” in Regina. They would set the stage for the team’s entrance into the modern era of Canadian professional football.
The Saskatchewan Roughrider Football Club is what it is today because of the commitment and support from former players, coaches and fans who fought to continue the game of football in Canada. We not only recognize and thank veterans who were apart of the team but also those who sat in the stands and who have and will continue to keep the country safe.
“I am struck at how resilient this team and the fans have been following setbacks during the war years. I don’t know how well the team, or even the league will fare at the conclusion of the 2021 comeback season but perhaps players, team officials and fans can find some inspiration from the examples of strength and durability this team and its fans have shown following the disruption of play during the two world wars.” – Dale Richter