1980

The 1980 season was a disappointing one for the Lions as the club missed the playoffs by a single point behind Calgary who took two of three contests. BC won back-to-back games only once in 1980 and went 3-6 against the strength of the West. Harry Holt had a fine season to achieve All-Star status alongside fixture at C Al Wilson and K Lui Passaglia. Young LB Kevin Konar was drafted from UBC and became in immediate contributorr along Glen Jackson and Ole Bakken. QB Roy Dewalt was signed to replace Jerry Tagge and split duties with holdover Joe Paopao, while the receiving corps saw the addition of John Pankratz who would play the first of his eight seasons with the team. Al Charuk was once again BC’s leading receiver while Leon Bright continued to dazzle with another pair of long kick return tds as he led the WFC in punt return yardage.

1981

The 1981 BC Lions opened in spectacular fashion posting a 5-game win streak and 7-1 mark at the halfway mark. With QB Joe Paopao playing his finest football (3,777 yards and 28 tds) and hooking up with WR Tyron Gray who set (then) a club record with 1,428 receiving yards on 63 catches, the Lions could score from anywhere on the field. RB Larry Key recorded his third 1,000-yard rushing season in four years for a balanced BC offense that scored 27.4 ppg. A pair of wins to close out the season assured another post-season berth and a trip to Winnipeg. BC had never won a road Semi-Final game before and surprised Winnipeg 15-11 by holding them to just 194 yards of offense. John Henry White’s 154 rushing yards were a club record at that time and set up yet another try to reach the Grey Cup through a trip to Edmonton. This time it was much closer but the Eskimos prevailed 22-16 to deny the young Lions team a third trip to the Grey Cup game. Key additions in this season included DT Rick Klassen, DBs Nelson Martin and Larry Crawford. Crawford would go on to Wall of Fame honours and eventually become the Lions’ all-time kick return (6,029 yards) and interceptions leader (51).

1982

The 1982 season had the QB position gradually pass on to Roy Dewalt from Joe Paopao but was an up and down year for the Lions. A 7-3 start was followed by 4 losses in the final 6 games to finish in fourth place yet again. The lack of progress meant another coaching change as Vic Rapp was let go in favour of Don Matthews in the off-season. The 9-7 record of 1982 meant that Coach Rapp would finish with more victories than any other BC coach to date and a mark of 53-39-4 over six years. West Division Rookie-of-the-Year Mervyn Fernandez had a big impact in his first year with 64 catches for 1,064 yards and 8 tds, while Larry Key added 820 yards rushing in his final season. On defense, LB Glen Jackson and DE Nick Hebeler had big years (14 sacks) while DB Larry Crawford picked off 4 passes. In the last CFL game ever played at Empire Stadium, the Lions faced the very first opponent to play the Lions on that historic field way back in the 1954 pre-season. The MONTREAL Alouettes brought their struggling team to the old stadium on Hastings Street and were beaten soundly 32-16 in front of 15,071 fans in the last of 132 home games to be held at the stadium built for the 1954 British Empire Games.

1983

1983 was a re-birth for the Lions both with the hiring of Coach Don Matthews and the opening of B.C. Place Stadium. The new facility saw record attendances for CFL games as the Lions averaged 45,550 per game and would be pleasantly surprised at the results. All of the development that had occurred under Coach Rapp came to fruition with a fine 11-5 record and a first place finish for the first time since 1964. The 1991-point scoring record of West leader Lui Passaglia plus five other All-Stars (John Blain, Mervyn Fernandez, Larry Crawford with a club record 12 INTs, Kerry Parker and Mack Moore) keyed the resurgence which carried over into the West Final vs Winnipeg. BC prevailed 39-21 to end a long drought and return to the Grey Cup at home. Though the Lions did not the Cup in 1983, losing 18-17 to Toronto in front of 59,409 fans, this season saw the start of a great run of success on the field and in the stands. Roy Dewalt’s passing accounted for 3,637 yards as Fernandez, John Pankratz and Sammy Greene each caught 60+ passes. The defense accounted for 8 tds themselves in one oif the finest season in BC Lions history.

1984

The Lions’ success picked up where it left off and by season’s end BC had secured their second straight regular season West title at 12-3-1. K Lui Passaglia once again led the CFL in scoring with 167 points and newly-acquired DE James Parker (CFL Top Defensive Player) set an all-time CFL record with 26.5 sacks. Offensively, WR Mervyn Fernandez set a new club record with 1,486 receiving yards and 17 td receptions. QB Roy Dewalt amassed 3,613 passing yards and 21 tds for the Lions relying on five different players to grab at least 40 passes. BC was heavily favoured to defeat Winnipeg in the 1984 West Final having beaten the Bombers 20-3 to end the regular season. A second straight trip to the Grey Cup was not to be as Winnipeg shocked the Lions, who were without an injured Roy Dewalt, 31-14 outgaining them 421-178 in the process.

1985

In Coach Matthews’ third season at the helm, all of the promise finally came together from start to finish. The Lions averaged 42,336 fans at B.C. Place and did not disappoint with a 13-3 mark for their third consecutive West leading record. A 10-1 mark from the start, an incredible 7-1 road record and wins in the last three games secured a home game in the West Final vs Winnipeg yet again. The Lions were now a solid, veteran group led by Mervyn Fernandez who collected the CFL Most Outstanding Player Award for 1985 joining an amazing nine other teammates on the elite squad including CFL Top Rookie DT Mike Gray. This time the West Final, the Lions overwhelmed the Bombers 42-22 behind the 3 td passes and 314 yards of QB Roy Dewalt and the heroics of Ned Armour. Late season addition Freddie Sims rushed for 116 yards to take the Lions to the 1985 Grey Cup Game in MONTREAL. After BC took an early 13-0 lead, Hamilton stormed back to go ahead 14-13 but they would not see the end zone again until it was too late. A BC club record 394 passing by Roy Dewalt led to 3 tds through the air (two to Armour) and the second and even longer wait for a Grey Cup title was over by a 37-24 count.

1986

The re-emergence of the Edmonton Eskimos ensured a difficult defense of the 1985 title and a 12-6 record was marred by three straight defeats to the Alberta club. BC put together a six-game win streak at one stage but were forced to settle for second and after a 21-14 Semi-Final win over Winnipeg traveled to Edmonton for the West Final. The Eskimos completely dominated the Lions that day by a 41-5 score as Roy Dewalt could not move the club. Matt Dunigan, a future BC QB himself, threw 3 td passes en route to the victory which kept the Lions from going to the Grey Cup once more. Bright spots in 1986 included James Parker and Larry Crawford (All-Stars on defense) and the club record 4,057 passing yards of Dewalt. Jim Mills joined the club in 1986 and would go on to a fine career of 129 games and 3 All-Star spots with BC, and Mervyn Fernandez departed for the NFL leaving a big hole at wide receiver.

1987

The core of the 1980s Lions continued to dominate regular seasons and with a 4-0 start the Lions were on top again. Sitting at 8-3, the Lions fell into a 3-game losing streak following which GM Joe Galat fired Don Matthews and installed Larry Donovan as Head Coach. The players responded with a 4-game winning streak to close out the season (which included a dramatic 33-32 comeback win in Edmonton) and capture their fourth title in five years at 12-6. Roy Dewalt passed for over 3,800 yards with Jim Sandusky and John Pankratz as his main targets in an offense built to the CFL “pass at all costs” standard of the day. The Lions averaged 27.9 ppg and counted a stunning 15 tds from their defense (10) and their special teams (5). The club had a record 11 Western All-Stars led by Dewalt and the club’s four CFL All-Stars in Sandusky, LB Kevin Konar, DE Greg Stumon and DB Larry Crawford. K Lui Passaglia recorded a club record and personal best 214 points including a (then) CFL record 52 FGs. Once again, regular season success did not lead to the Grey Cup as Edmonton came to B.C. Place and dominated the Lions 31-7 to head to the CFL Final.

1988

The 1988 CFL season meant institution of the “competition cap” and this forced the re-tooling of the team. John Pankratz (8 seasons) and John Blain (11 seasons) and DB Nelson Martin (7 seasons) retired, DT Rick Klassen was traded, unsigned QB Roy Dewalt headed for Winnipeg. Matt Dunigan stepped into the lineup in a trade with Edmonton which featured the combination of Tony Cherry (889 yds) and Anthony Parker (851 yds), along with CFL MOP David Williams. Dunigan passed for 3,776 yards and 26 tds with Williams the main target (1,468 yards and 18 tds). The BC defense was led by Mack Moore’s 11 sacks and 7 INTs each from DBs Andre Francis and Keith Gooch. By the start of October, BC had dropped to 5-7 but captured third place with wins in 6 of the last 7 games. BC had the momentum they needed and swept away Saskatchewan and Edmonton on the road (by a combined 79-37) to meet Winnipeg in the Grey Cup. The Bombers staved off a late rally with an interception and prevailed 22-21 to prevent BC from gaining their third CFL championship.

1989

Coach Larry Donovan’s team got off to a slow start and was dismissed after four losses in a row by GM Joe Galat who took over. Despite a 4-game winning streak, the Lions never got back into it as Edmonton won all four meetings in 1989. Attendance remained strong at 31,795 per game as the CFL became even more offensive oriented and a club record 521 points was offset by 557 points allowed. QB Matt Dunigan had two targets reach 1,000 yards in All-Star WR David Williams (1,446 yds and 14 tds) and WR Mark Streater (1,091 yds 6 tds) but weak defense saw the Lions lose 7 games by 7 points or less. K Lui Passaglia continued his assault on pro scoring record with another 175 to reach 2,196 after 14 seasons. Western Rookie of the Year Darrell Wallace set a CFL record with 1,255 yards. The player turnover continued as the Lions lost long-time stars G Jamie Buis, LB Kevin Konar, DB Larry Crawford and DE James Parker during or after this year.