The history of the Saskatchewan Roughriders dates to 1910 when they were founded as the Regina Rugby Club and became charter members of the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union. The team changed their name to the Regina Roughriders in 1924 and became charter members of the Western Interprovincial Football Union in 1936. They began using their current moniker in 1946 and adopted it officially in 1950. The Roughriders became a charter member of the Canadian Football League when it was founded in 1958.
Although the Roughriders were not the first team to play football in Western Canada, the club has maintained an unbroken organizational continuity since their founding. The Roughriders are the fourth-oldest professional gridiron football team in existence today (only the Arizona Cardinals, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts are older), and one of the oldest professional sports teams still in existence in North America. Of these teams, the Roughriders are both the oldest still in existence that continuously has been based in Western Canada (as well as the oldest surviving team in the CFL's present-day West Division) and the oldest in North America to continuously have been based west of St. Louis, Missouri. They are also the continent's oldest community-owned professional sports franchise, older than every American professional sports team outside baseball other than the aforementioned Cardinals (who, unlike the Roughriders, no longer play in their original city, and have moved twice in their history) and older than every Canadian sports team outside football except the Montreal Canadiens, who were founded about nine months prior to the Roughriders.
Regina dominated the SRFU prior to the establishment of the WIFU, winning all but two provincial league titles. Since the establishment of the WIFU, the Roughriders have finished first in their division eight times, but they have won the Western championship a record 28 times throughout their history. They have played for the Grey Cup 19 times, most recently in 2013 when they captured their fourth national championship.
The Roughriders played their home games at historic Taylor Field from 1936 to 2016; in 2017, the team moved to the newly constructed Mosaic Stadium at Evraz Place. The team has had 20 players inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Club origins, Regina Rugby Club (1910–1923)
The team was founded as the Regina Rugby Club on Tuesday, September 13, 1910, adopting the colours of old gold and purple. The team was also a founding member of the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union as it was organized on September 22 of that year. Regina played their first game against the Moose Jaw Tigers on October 1, 1910, at the Moose Jaw Baseball Grounds where they were defeated 16–6. After going winless in their inaugural season, Regina quickly became the strongest team in the province. For the 1911 season, the team changed their colours to blue and white to match the Regina Amateur Athletic Association.
Regina went 3–1 in their second season and captured their first SRFU championship by winning a one game tiebreaker playoff against Moose Jaw. Meanwhile, the Western Canada Rugby Football Union had been formed within the three prairie provinces with the intent of creating a playoff format to determine a Western champion. Much to the displeasure of the SRFU, the Albertan and Manitoban unions had agreed to a format (ostensibly to minimize travel) in which the MRFU champion would host the Western semi-final and the ARFU champion would host the Western final. Regina balked at the prospect of playing up to two road games, and refused to participate in the inaugural WCRFU playoffs.
The Regina Rugby Club changed their colours again in 1912 to red and black. Meanwhile, the WCRFU agreed to change the playoff format so that the SRFU champion was given a bye to the Western final in exchange for the Saskatchewan champion agreeing to play the championship game on the road. Regina began an era of western football dominance. From 1912 through 1920, Regina not only won six consecutive WCRFU titles, but went undefeated in competitive play during that span. Due to World War I, no Western playoffs were held in 1916 and in 1917 and 1918 league play was halted altogether.