Redblacks one loss away from tying modern-era CFL record for longest losing streak

New coaching staff, same old results for the Ottawa Redblacks.

Despite bringing in two-time Grey Cup-winning head coach Ryan Dinwiddie this season, the Redblacks fell to 0-7 with a 34-13 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on Friday in the nation’s capital.

Dating back to last season, it marked the 13th consecutive loss for a Redblacks team that has not won a playoff game since 2018. It was also Ottawa’s 13th loss in a row against its closest geographical rival.

The latest loss puts the Redblacks just one defeat away from tying the modern-era — since the creation of the CFL in 1958 — league record for most losses in a row.

The record was set by the Shreveport Pirates, who lost their first 14 games in their expansion season in 1994.

The Pirates were owned by former Ottawa Rough Riders and Renegades owners Bernie and Lonnie Glieberman, who presided over some dismal days in Ottawa football.

The Gliebermans bolted from Ottawa late in the Rough Riders era to start the Pirates franchise, which lasted two years in Louisiana before the CFL gave up on its American experiment. The father-son duo returned to Ottawa in 2005 for the final year of the Renegades before that franchise folded. Bernie passed away in 2024.

The Redblacks, who brought Ottawa back to the CFL in 2014, will have their hands full avoiding the record book. They play their next three games on the road, starting next Friday in Saskatchewan, followed by contests in Winnipeg and Montreal.

Six other teams also lost 13 games in a row before avoiding a 14th consecutive defeat.

The Redblacks still have a ways to go to match the all-time Canadian football record, set by the Ottawa Senators and Rough Riders, who lost 25 in a row from 1928 to 1932. The Hamilton Wildcats sit second, with 16 straight defeats from 1948 to ’49.