It’s been a weird few years for football fans in Burnaby. If you grew up in British Columbia, the Simon Fraser Clan football program was basically a local institution. They were the outliers. The guys who decided to play by American rules while everyone else in Canada stuck to the 110-yard field and three downs. Honestly, for a long time, that was their whole identity. They were "Canada’s NCAA team."
But then, everything just... stopped.
If you're looking for the team today, you won't find them on a Saturday afternoon at Terry Fox Field. You won't even find them under the "Clan" name. After years of identity shifts, conference hopping, and a very messy legal battle, Simon Fraser University (SFU) effectively killed its football program in April 2023. It wasn't a slow fade; it was a sudden, brutal amputation that left players, alumni, and the local sports community absolutely reeling.
The Name Change: From Clan to Red Leafs
You can't talk about the program’s demise without talking about the name. For 55 years, they were the Clan. It was supposed to be a nod to the Scottish heritage of the school's namesake, the explorer Simon Fraser. Kinda wholesome in theory, right?
The reality was different. Whenever the team traveled down into the United States to play, the name "Clan" (and the old nickname "Clansmen") didn't exactly scream "Scottish heritage" to people in the American South. It screamed something much darker.
By 2020, the pressure was too much. More than 13,000 people signed a petition to dump the name. The university finally listened, retiring the "Clan" moniker in 2020 and eventually rebranding as the SFU Red Leafs in late 2022. Some alumni hated it. They felt the history was being erased. But for the student-athletes actually playing the games, it was a relief to stop being the punchline of a racist joke they didn't tell.
Why the Program Actually Folded
So, why is there no more Simon Fraser football? Most people think it was just about the name or maybe lack of interest. It was actually a logistical nightmare.
SFU was the only Canadian school in the NCAA. This made them "special," but it also made them a massive headache for conferences. They were playing in the Lone Star Conference, which is based mostly in Texas. Imagine the travel. You’re a student in Burnaby, BC, and you’re flying to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a game. It’s exhausting and expensive.
The timeline of the collapse looks something like this:
- January 2023: The Lone Star Conference tells SFU they aren't renewing their affiliate agreement after the 2023-24 season.
- April 4, 2023: SFU President Joy Johnson announces the immediate end of the football program. No "farewell season." No transition period. Just done.
- May 2023: Players sue the university to try and force a 2023 season. A B.C. Supreme Court judge denies the injunction.
The university’s official line was that they had "no place to play." They claimed that as an NCAA Division II school, they couldn't just jump into the Canadian U SPORTS league (where the UBC Thunderbirds play) without moving their entire athletic department over. An independent report later revealed a massive $1.7 million operational deficit within the athletics department. Basically, the program was broke, homeless, and exhausted.
The Legacy of "The Clan" and Notable Alumni
Despite the messy ending, you can’t ignore the talent that came out of Burnaby Mountain. For decades, SFU was a literal factory for the CFL.
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They produced guys like Lui Passaglia, the legendary BC Lions kicker who is basically a god in Vancouver. Then there’s Doug Brown, who went from SFU to the NFL and became one of the most dominant defensive tackles in Blue Bombers history.
Honestly, the list of alumni is the only reason the "Save SFU Football" campaign gained so much traction. These weren't just names on a roster; they were the backbone of Canadian professional football for half a century. When the program was cut, several high-profile grads actually asked for their names to be removed from the SFU Sports Hall of Fame in protest. That’s how deep the resentment went.
Is There Any Hope for a Comeback?
As of 2026, the situation is... complicated. SFU officially finalized the decision to discontinue football in early 2025, but they also announced a massive shift in their entire athletic strategy.
In late 2025, the university confirmed it would finally leave the NCAA and pursue membership in U SPORTS. This is the move fans wanted ten years ago. If they get accepted, SFU will be playing against Canadian schools again by 2027.
Does that mean football is coming back? Not necessarily. The "Red Leafs" strategy for 2027 involves cutting five other sports (like outdoor track and field) just to stay afloat. Re-starting a football program from scratch is incredibly expensive. You need equipment, a new coaching staff, and about 90 athletes.
Actionable Reality for Fans and Alumni
If you’re still holding out hope for Simon Fraser football, here is what the landscape looks like right now:
- Watch the U SPORTS transition: The university is applying for Canada West membership. If they get in, the door for a future football team technically re-opens, but it won't happen until at least 2028 or 2029.
- The Endowment Fund: There is still roughly $3 million in a football endowment fund raised by alumni. There is a massive debate right now about whether that money stays at SFU for a "future" team or gets moved to another B.C. school to start a new program.
- Follow the Shrum Bowl: The historic rivalry between SFU and UBC is currently dead. The last game was in 2022. Until SFU fields a team in the same league as UBC, this tradition stays in the history books.
The story of Simon Fraser Clan football is a cautionary tale about the risks of trying to be "different." Being the only Canadian team in an American league was a bold experiment that worked for a while, but eventually, the border and the budget became walls too high to climb.