History of Maritime Football League

As someone who wrote a Thesis on the deveolpment of Canadian Football in the maritimes it is a pleasure to see this league ‘revived’…here is a brief history of the ‘rebirth’

Maritime Bowl
In 2002 a Maritime Championship game was arranged between the champion of the then New Brunswick Senior Football League and the champion of the Nova Scotia Senior Football League. Terry McIntyre, one of the founders of the NBSFL, donated a trophy for the winner of this game. In 2005 the McIntyre Cup was adopted as the championship trophy for the newly formed Maritime Football League.
Mariner Bowl
In 2007 it was decided that the Maritime Football League would hold a separate round of playoffs for teams finishing 5th through 8th in the regular season. The name “Mariner Bowl” was adopted for the final game in this round of playoffs.
Burchill Trophy
During the 1950’s and early 1960’s the G. Percy Burchill Trophy was emblematic of football supremacy in New Brunswick. A Moncton team called variously the Trojans (until 1955), Hubs (1956-8) and Royals (1959-60); the Saint John Wanderers, Mount Allison University Mounties, University of New Brunswick Red Bombers, St. Thomas College Tommies of Chatham, St. Joseph’s College of Memramcook and Prince of Wales College of P.E.I. all competed for this hardware.
When the university teams joined the all-University Bluenose Football Conference there were insufficient teams left to keep the G. Percy Burchill Trophy tradition alive. For nearly 40 years it sat forgotten in the basement of former Saint John Wanderers player Randolph Hope until 2001 when the New Brunswick Senior Football League took flight. In 2005 the N.B.S.F.L. became the New Brunswick Football Conference of the Maritime Football League.
In 2007 a decision was reached to abolish the conference structure of the Maritime Football League. Henceforth the the G. Percy Burchill Trophy will be awarded to the New Brunswick team finishing highest in the final regular season standings of the Maritime Football League.
In 2009 the league divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The G. Percy Burchill Trophy will be awarded to the team finishing in first place in the Western Conference at the end of regular season.
EFC Cup
In 1996 the Nova Scotia Senior Football League was formed. The creation of this league revived community based adult tackle football after an absence of 30 years. The N.S.S.F.L. operated as a four team league until the end of 2001. In 2002 the remaining two teams, the Halifax Shockers and the Halifax Buccaneers, played an interlocking schedule with the three teams of the second year New Brunswick Senior Football League. By 2003 only the Shockers were operating in Nova Scotia. They played games against the four teams in the New Brunswick Senior Football League.
In 2004 the Dartmouth Knights and P.E.I. Privateers franchises were formed, bringing the number of teams outside New Brunswick to three. The name Maritime Football League was used in 2004 and then changed to Eastern Football Conference in 2005.
In 2007 a decision was reached to abolish the conference structure of the Maritime Football League. Henceforth the the EFC Cup will be awarded to the Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island team finishing highest in the final regular season standings of the Maritime Football League.
In 2009 the league divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The EFC Cup will be awarded to the team finishing first in the Eastern Conference regular season standings.

Source: MFL Website