The History of football in Rural Southwestern Manitoba goes back as far as 1958 when the first league The Southwestern Manitoba High School Football League held its first championship with the winner being the Boissevain Rams. That league continued with various teams coming and going until 1982. In 1983 the league was renamed the Rural Manitoba High School Football League (RMFL) as several teams outside of Southwestman joined. From 1983 - 1986 the league played in 2 divisions and had separate championships designated "A" for the smaller schools and "AA" for the larger schools. In 1987 the league returned to a one league format with 9 teams each playing each other once. At playoff time the top 4 teams played for the "AA" title and the next 4 played for the "A" title. This continued until 1992 when the number of teams was down to 7 teams and it was decided to again play for only one championship. This has been the case since then The low point for football was in 1996 when only 3 teams were left: Neepawa, Dauphin and Souris, but the following year Virden came back and then Vincent Massey rejoined, then Crocus returned and finally in 2003 Sanford entered. In 2018 The Interlake Thunder joined and won their first championship, going undefeated in their inaugural season.
Below is a partial history of the champions as taken from the old trophies: (If anyone has more info please contact me)
Southwestern Manitoba High School Football League:
1958 - Boissevain Rams
1959 - Virden Oilers
1960 - Virden Golden Bears
1961 -
1962 - Souris Canucks
1963 - Souris Canucks
1964 - Krugers
1965 - Virden Golden Bears
1966 -
1967 - Killarney Raiders
1968 - Killarney Raiders
1969 - Deloraine Colts
1970 - Killarney Raiders
1971 - Killarney Raiders
1972 - Deloraine Colts
1973 - Killarney Raiders
1974 - Neelin Spartans
1975 - Neelin Spartans
1976 - Neelin Spartans
1977 - Killarney Raiders
1978- Virden Golden Bears
1979 - Virden Golden Bears
1980 -
1981 - Neelin Spartans
1982 - Neelin Spartans
Rural Manitoba Football League "A" Division "AA" Division
1983 - Virden Golden Bears
1984 - Souris Sabres - MacGregor Mustangs
1985 - Macgregor Mustangs - Souris Sabres
1986 - Boissevain Broncos 29 - Souris Sabres 14
1987 - Killarney Raiders Dauphin Clippers
1988 - Souris Sabres Warren Wildcats
1989 - Souris Sabres - Killarney Raiders Warren Wildcats
1990 - MacGregor Mustangs 18 - Souris Sabres 16 Warren Wildcats
1991 - Boissevain Broncos
Rural Manitoba Football League
1992 - Warren Wildcats 40 - Virden Golden Bears 21
1993 - Neepawa Tigers - Virden Golden Bears
1994 - Neepawa Tigers
1995 - Neepawa Tigers
1996 - Neepawa Tigers
1997 - Neepawa Tigers 28 - Virden Golden Bears 18 (Swan Valley won the Provincial title)
1998 - Neepawa Tigers (Swan Valley won the Provincial title)
1999 - Vincent Massey Vikings (Swan Valley won the Provincial title)
2000 - Vincent Massey Vikings 42 - Souris Sabres 20
2001 - Vincent Massey Vikings 58 - Virden Golden Bears 12
2002 - Crocus Plains Plainsmen 46 - Souris Sabres 8
2003 - Neepawa Tigers 16 - Vincent Massey 6
2004 - Vincent Massey Vikings 28 - Dauphin Clippers 24
2005 - Crocus Plains Plainsmen
2006 - Southwest Sabres
2007 - Southwest Sabres 50 - Neelin Spartans 29
2008 - Stonewall Rams 33 - Southwest Sabres 21
2009 - Dauphin Clippers 32 - Stonewall Rams 31 (OT)
2010 - Dauphin Clippers
2011 - Dauphin Clippers
2012 - Dauphin Clippers
2013 - Dauphin Clippers 39 - SouthWest Sabres - 7
2014 - Swan Valley Tigers 44 - Neepawa Tigers - 14
2015 - Dauphin Clippers 17 - Swan Valley 16 OT
2016 - Dauphin Clippers 34 - Moosomin Generals 8
2017 - Dauphin Clippers 48 - Moosomin Generals 40
2018 - Interlake Thunder 42 - Swan Valley Tigers 20
source - http://schools.shmb.ca/FOV1-00024BD2/FOV1-0000E030/RMFL%20History.htm
Date last modified: Nov 11, 2018