2004
Fall
- The first promotional material for FlagPlus Football League emerges- 5x7 flyers, and radio ads on the ‘Team 990 AM’ during Gabriel Morency’s Sports Rage radio show.
Timeline
2005
Winter:
- The inaugural opening weekend of FlagPlus Football takes place on January 8th and 9th. Games are played on fields 3 and 4 inside the Catalogna Soccerplexe Dome, which is divided into four quarters. The dome field has been divided into thirds since 2006.
- 18 teams participate in the first season.
- The Young Guns defeat the Hurricanes 46-12 in the first ever Championship Game. The Young Guns finish the season undefeated; Playoff MVP goes to QB Carmine Pollice.
2006
Winter:
- A spotlight article on FlagPlus Football, written by David Yates, appears in the Grassroots subsection of the Montreal Gazette Sports page.
- A second division (Division 2) is added to the mix, as well a second location: Complexe Val-des-Arbres in eastern Laval. 46 teams participate in the Winter 2006 season; 22 in Division 1 and 24 in Division 2.
- Daron Basmadjian is brought on board to write a league-wide weekly article.
- The Wolverines (Division 2 Lachine) upset the Trojans (Division 2 Laval) in the inaugural Division 2 Championship game. Tony Tabet wins playoff MVP.
Spring
- The first Spring season is launched; games are played in the main building at the Catalogna Soccerplexe for the first time. 18 teams participate in the Spring 2006 season.
- After two seasons as the head scorekeeper and statistician, Richard De Melo, resigns from FPF. Marc Paliotti takes over and holds the position for several years.
- The original referee assigner Bill Rowden is replaced by a new head official, Sollie Gliksman, who would hold the position of head referee for four years.
- The original website, and it’s navy blue and crimson color scheme is replaced by a newer, fresher green design.
- The Irish, who are led by QB Kevin Wyeth, fall to Carmine Pollice’s Young Guns in the Spring 2006 D1 Championship Game. This is the Young Guns third championship in as many seasons. The team would break following the season.
- In Division 2, the Kings defeat the Titans in the Championship Game.
- Game format is changed from two halves of 24 minutes, to two halves of 22 minutes plus an additional five untimed plays at the end of each half.
2007
Winter
- A third division (Division 3) is added.
- FlagPlus Football grows to 72 teams; 12 in Division 1, 32 in Division 2, and 18 in Division 3.
- The inaugural Division 3 Championship Game sees a team mostly made up of Free Agents, cleverly named ‘The Strangers’, defeat the Wolfpack.
- Reebok becomes the official sponsor of FlagPlus Football, with player and Reebok employee, Dale Williams being the liaison between the league and the apparel company.
- After several seasons of having players borrow its flag belts prior to each game, FPF now requires teams/players to purchase their own flag belts.
- FPF player Scott Kelly, creates the first FlagPlus Football Facebook Group. The group would serve as the unofficial forum for the league until FPF creates an official group a few months later.
- Tom Nikoletpoulos becomes the first ever player to secure the Double Championship (two championships in one season), by winning the D2 championship with Notre Dame and the D3 crown with Strangers.
- David Yates of the Montreal Gazette attends the championship finals and writes a recap for the sports page. (http://www.pressreader.com/canada/montreal-gazette/20070423/282329675499137).
Spring
- Due to the lower caliber of the top division in the current Spring season compared to the previous Winter’s, FPF decides to not have a Division 1, and categorizes its two divisions as 2 and 3, respectively. This is the last time numbered divisions are used in the Spring season.
- Following the Spring season finals, Daron Basmadjian would leave his role as writer, after four seasons.
- For the first time in league history, a female official, Francesca Danserau, officiates an FPF game.
- At the end of the season, players are voted into an All-Star game for the first time. FPF selects 24 players (12 from each conference) from each of its two divisions and has the conferences face off in an exhibition game. Over the next decade, the format would change multiple times, including: conference A vs conference B, inter-division, division all-stars vs division champions, fantasy draft (inter-division and intra-division).
2008
Winter:
- Operations expand into Ontario with a league in Toronto at the brand new BMO Field, and Ottawa at the Ben Franklin Superdome.
- A fourth division in Montreal is added to further segment teams and aim for more parity.
- FPF migrates from Val-des-Arbres to a newer facility in Laval, Complexe Multi-Sports Bois-de-Boulogne.
- Daron Basmadjian becomes host of a new weekly webcast show named the Weekly Extra Point Live (WEPL). Daron recruits familiar faces Moe Khan, Ross Castelton and Rehan Sarwar to complete the four-man panel. Episodes for the first season were filmed in the Engineering Building at Concordia University’s Loyola Campus. The studio would move to the Catalogna Soccerplexe starting in the Spring of 2008 and would stay there until the show was replaced in 2013. The original show was filmed and edited by Michael-Anthony Paolozza.
- Brent Bodkin replaces Daron Basmadjian as the writer for FPF. Brent would write a weekly article covering all four divisions.
- The first ever ‘Press Conference’ interviews are held before the finals- in this inaugural version, the four semi-finalists from each division were invited to come on camera and answer questions.
- The league grows slightly to 74 teams. Division 1 has 9 teams, Division 2 has 22, Division 3 has 27 and the new Division 4 has 16.
- Hype is the inaugural Division 4 champion, defeating the Marauders in the finals. Scott Mironowicz is the Playoff MVP.
- The first ‘FPF Road Show’ takes place in what are the last championship games played in the Dome at the Catalogna Soccerplexe. The Winter finals would then move inside the main building.
- Kevin Challenger becomes the first active-CFL player to play in an FPF game.
Spring
- The third spring season features lettered divisions for the first time: Divisions A, B and C.
- Instead of one writer covering all divisions, FPF evolved to one writer per division: Moe Khan, Rostyn Castleton and Rehan Sarwar expanded their roles to both writers and WEPL hosts.
- The ‘Player Release’ rule is introduced. The first two players to switch teams during a season are Carmine Pollice (from Panthers to Demons) and Justin Menassa (from Mustangs to 49ers).
- Rob Campana and Daron Basmadjian are featured in an in-studio interview on ‘Sportivi:360’ which aired on ICI Television.
2009
Winter:
- A new website is introduced; it features individual player profiles that include a photo and logs game, season and career statistics. Game by game boxscores are also now available and were not prior.
- Individual photos of each player are taken for the first time, helping the league limit the use of illegal players playing under a faulty name.
- FlagPlus Football unveils its new logo. Moving away from the “PLUS” lettered logo to the current ‘FPF’ shield. The league was never referred to as FPF prior to the updated logo.
- The Game of the Week (GOTW) is first introduced. It is filmed and edited by Eddy Tarabay.
- FPF Toronto is dropped after only one season, the Ottawa league sticks around for a second winter, but is also disbanded thereafter.
- Montreal’s Finest and the Hurricanes square off in their third straight Winter final. The Hurricanes had won in ‘07 and ‘08, the Finest would prevail in 2009, winning in the first ever Championship Game needing overtime.
Spring
- FPF joins Twitter as @flagplus, and uses the platform as another way to share news and information.
- The Texas All-Stars started the season in Div B, but after adding a new player a few games into the season, they found themselves with an illegal Division B roster (with three Division A players). They either had to cut a player or explore being bumped up. They opted to move up, and the struggling Thundering Herd volunteered to swap places and drop down to Division B. As it stands, this is the first and only time two teams swapped divisions mid-season.
2010
Winter
- A fifth division is added. The inaugural D5 champions are ‘The Family’, they defeat the ‘Love Cows’ in the championship game to cap off a perfect season.
- A new show called ‘Breaking the Huddle’, hosted by Ross Castleton, is introduced. The show is a weekly broadcast that features a panel made up of multiple FPF members being interviewed. The guests on the inaugural episode are John Patrick Mancini, Frank Grenier, Donald Shepherd and Nathan Taylor. The show would air for four seasons; JP Mancini and then Daron Basmadjian would also serve as hosts.
- Games are added at the newly constructed Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
- In one of the most infamous playoff upsets in FPF history, the 4-6 Express knock off the 9-1 reigning champion, Montreal’s Finest in the D1 semi-finals. The Express would then defeat the Expos in the D1 Finals. This game would live on in FPF infamy.
Spring
- Eddy Tarabay takes over for Michael Paolozza as the cameraman and editor of the WEPL. He would hold that position until the WEPL is supplanted by the podcasts in 2013.
2011
Winter
- Games are scheduled at the Concordia Stinger Dome at Loyola Campus in NDG for the first time.
- Head scorekeeper Alex Porras began live tweeting games under the handle @score_keeper. He also famously announced the result of each play through a megaphone at the field.
- The ‘Road Show’ is officially moved to Brossard, all championship games are now played at the Bell Complex.
- The first ever ‘FPF Hall of Fame’ class is named, Carmine Pollice, Kevin Wyeth, Rochdi Benabdelkader, Patrick Chenard and Kishon Thompson make up the inaugural group.
Spring
- The first weekday Spring season games are added. Thursday nights at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
- FPF outsources its disciplinary rulings to a newly formed ‘Disciplinary Committee’. The group includes a referee, staff member and two players, one of which is the chairman, Edward Shoshan.
2012
Winter
- The first weekday Winter games are scheduled, Wednesday nights at Stade Hebert in Saint-Leonard.
Spring
- Division D writer Andrew D’Anna starts a weekly podcast, that was produced by Alex D’Aquila and co-hosted by Paolo Della Rocca. The trio then piloted a live streamed audio-only play-by-play of the Division D finals between #NoRegard and Project Mayhem. The following season, they would combine with the FPF Road Show group to start the first Road Show package featuring live, on-site play-by-play commentary. The play-by-play commentary was previously recorded in post-production.
- Simon Dagenais pens the first ever French language weekly article.
- Adam Crystal of the Hall of Famers becomes the first ever receiver to surpass the 1000-yard mark in a season. He would accomplish the feat again the following season. No other player has surpassed 900.
Fall
- The first overnight Charity tournament is hosted at the Bell Complex in Brossard. Games are played overnight, exclusively, and 100% of the proceeds of the tournament are donated to the Greater Montreal Big Brothers and Big Sisters Foundation.
2013
Winter
- Monday evening games at Stade Hebert are added to the schedule.
- A major snowstorm hits Montreal on December 27th, 2012 and causes the dome at Stade Hebert to collapse. The dome does not reopen until week 7. As a result, 18 games per week for the first six weeks of the season, had to be re-scheduled on short notice. Weeknight games are played in Brossard and at Complexe Sportif College Saint-Jean-de-Vianney on the eastern tip of the island.
- The WEPL is supplanted by the FPF Podcasts, which feature a different show for each division. The new format is headed by Alex D’Aquila and Paolo Della Rocca.
- The Road Show finals are the first to include on-site play-by-play commentary for each game.
- Adam Crystal of the Hall of Famers finishes the ten game regular season with 35 touchdown receptions, eclipsing his own record of 28. No other player has exceeded 27.
Spring
- After losing to the Maniax the previous week, DA Finest bounce back to defeat the Roosters & Donkeys on June 30, 2013, they would then go on to win 41 straight FPF games (regular season and playoffs) until the streak is snapped on May 18th, 2015 by the same Roosters & Donkeys. The streak is by far the longest by any franchise in league history. (Montreal’s Finest/DA Finest).
- A fifth summer division is added, Division E. The Eskimo Brothers are the inaugural champions, defeating Tomahawk Nightmare in the championship game.
2014
Winter:
- FPF’s official Facebook Page is created and used as a more formal method of sharing information, photos and news. The FPF group is kept on as more of a forum.
- Tuesday night games in the west island of Montreal were originally scheduled to be played at the new Baie D’Urfe Dome, however after several opening date delays, all Tuesday games are eventually moved to Stade Hebert.
- The FPF Ratings System is introduced. Designed by Rainmakers captain (and Actuarial Mathematician) Ryan Kastner, the idea behind it is to allocate a rating to each and every FPF member, and set a maximum cap figure for each division. Teams who surpass the max cap of a given division, would be required to register for the division above. In the past, the term “division dodger” was often used to describe a team who willingly stayed in a lower division, despite the fact they likely belonged in a higher level. This new system would largely mitigate that problem and would lead to more balanced divisions.
- Team captains are able to enter their own players into the database for the first time. Previously, FPF admins would need to enter the roster onto the site after the rosters were submitted on a separate document, only a few days prior to the season.
- A sixth division is added (Division 6). The inaugural Division 6 season has ten teams. The Heismans are the first D6 champions, but not without controversy. Although they respect the D6 cap, their recruitment of D4 QB Gautama Swaminadhan raises questions about a QB-specific cap. FPF would introduce the QB cap in the following Spring season.
- FPF partners with Coast2Coast Studios, and uses their studio and streaming software for its podcasts for three seasons.
2015
Winter
- The ‘Playoff MVP’ award is changed to the ‘Finals MVP’ award. As a result, the selection no longer factors in performance in any rounds prior the championship game.
- Longtime FPF official Thomas Cesari takes over as the chairman of the FPF Rules Committee.
- Fred Viens of Six Fast Guys Plus Ryan finishes the season with an astounding 80.3% completion percentage. No other QB has exceeded 77% with a minimum of 200 attempts.
Fall
- FPF launches FPF Jr; a new league geared specifically for kids. The inaugural season’s games are played at Concordia’s Stinger Dome. Two age categories, Freshman and Sophomore, each include three teams. Season one champions are the Buckeyes in Freshman (coached by Teddy Frenette), and the Longhorns in Sophomore (coached by Dave Allen).
2016
Winter
- Steven Hodhod takes over as the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, after Ed Shoshan moves away from Montreal.
- The podcasts studio moves to the Sportira Cage in Anjou.
- The FPF Record Book goes live, players are now able to access the all-time career, single season, and individual game record holders in all offensive categories.
- The scheduling process is outsourced to the ‘SKEDBUILDER’ automated program, run by former league member Richard Shefteshy. Teams now have the ability to input their conflicts, preferences and blackouts into one uniform document, and the program is able to derive the best possible schedule across the board.
Spring
- Games are scheduled at the brand new Stade de Soccer de Montreal in Ahuntsic for the first time.
Fall
- FPF Jr adds a third age category, Varsity, further segmenting the kids into narrower age groupings. The inaugural Varsity champions are the Horned Frogs (coached by Tony Lalla).
- The fifth annual overnight charity tournament is hosted in Kirkland at Le Club Dome, this time with a different format- games would run for 53 consecutive hours, ranging from Friday evening to Sunday night. For a second year, proceeds went to the Montreal Alzheimer’s Society.
2017
Winter
- After debuting at the overnight tournament, Kirkland’s Le Club Dome is FPF’s newest facility.
- FPF 35+ is launched; the league is run in conjunction with the Kirkland Touch Football League. All games are played on Thursday evenings in Kirkland; six teams take part, and Monster Football is the inaugural champion, defeating the Relics in the championship game.
- FPF Co-Ed is launched; all games are played on Saturday evenings in Brossard. Five teams take part, and Confirmed Positive is the inaugural champion, defeating It’s a Match in the championship game.
- Lance Daniel takes over the FPF Game of the Week duties, and his collaboration with graphic artist David Della Rocca brings the weekly video to another level.
Spring
- FPF collaborates with the NFL to bring an ‘NFL Play 60’ event featuring the New England Patriots to Montreal. Over 300 kids participate in the festivities held at the Stade de Soccer de Montreal.
- Looking to replace the Press Conference format in the week leading up to the finals, Paolo Della Rocca introduces the FPF Media Night where representatives from each team join us in studio to film short clips and interviews that are used in a trailer video released prior to the finals, and during the finals live broadcast.
Fall
- The inaugural Fall Season FPF Cup season is held, an extended tournament format that concludes with multiple Bowl Games for various skill levels.