1969 Schedule

1969 Schedule

With the addition of the Minnesota Serpents this season, the schedule was going to need a revamp to make sure everyone gets their 12 games in. After a long process of working out the matchups, a new scheduling format was put forth and a schedule was made. This season the 13 teams will fit in one of 3 possible schedule outlines: EAST, WEST A, and WEST B.

EAST - (BOS, HFX, LI, MTL, OTT, PRO)
8 Divisional Games
      2 games against 3 East Division opponents (Including rival team) (6 Games)
      1 game against the remaining 2 East Division opponents (2 Games)
4 Inter-Divisional Games
     1 game against 4 randomly drawn West Division opponents (4 Games)

WEST A - (BUF, LDN, MIN)
8 Divisional Games
     2 games against 2 West Division opponents (Including Rival Team for BUF-LDN) (4 Games)
     1 game against the remaining 4 West Division opponents (4 Games)
4 Inter-Divisional Games
     1 game against 4 randomly drawn East Division opponents (4 Games)

WEST B - (IND, LOU, PIT, TOR)
9 Divisional Games
     2 games against 3 West Division opponents (Including Rivals and fellow WEST B teams) (6 Games)
     1 game against the remaining 3 West Division opponents (3 Games)
3 Inter-Divisional Games
     1 game against 3 randomly drawn East Division opponents (3 Games)

Since one division has an additional team the interdivisional games don’t match up perfectly leaving 4 West Division teams with only 3 inter-divisional games, so those teams will then play each other one additional time to balance out the schedule. Unfortunately, just one season after the mid-season bye week was introduced, the league will have to change to a rotating bye week for this season. However, how each bye week was determined was based on a selection. Teams would get to pick which week they would like to take off from the ones they could (certain weeks had to have an East team on bye and others a West team). Minnesota was the only one who didn’t get to pick since they would need to take a bye during the league’s rivalry week. Halifax picked first and the rest followed in reverse-draft order.

Below we have the final schedule for the 1969 season. The year will kick off in Halifax for the first time and the Mariners and Victors meet for a McCallister Cup rematch. Then on Friday night, Minnesota will be welcomed to the NAAF with their first game at Midgard Stadium against the Thunder. Saturday sees the Royals and Raiders clash in Ottawa before Pittsburgh hosts Buffalo on Saturday Night Football. Finally, Sunday sees the Independents host the Tigers before the Rouge head down the road to Toronto. Providence ended up with the bye week for week 1. 

Other notable games are Canada Day between the Royals and Tigers. A 4th of July double-header featuring Buffalo and Louisville and then Boston and Providence. Rivalry week is during Week 6 as per usual. Labour Day once again features a pair of games with Toronto hosting Pittsburgh and Indiana hosting Louisville. 

I have also included each team's individual schedule outlook for this season.

Legend: VS = Home Game, @ = Away Game, Colours match with the special indicators on the big schedule (SNF, FNF, etc.).

EDIT: The Raiders will wear their alternate throwback uniforms against the Mariners in Week 6 and Blue Wings in Week 10