The 1963 BC Lions finished the season in first place in the Western Conference for the first time ever with a 12–4 record.
Over the course of the season, the Lions' defense allowed an average of only 14.5 points per game while running back Willie Fleming rushed for 1,234 yards and an astounding 9.7 yard average. It was first time the Lions finished with a perfect home record. A total of seven Lions would make the CFL all-star team and Tom Brown would win the Schenley for Most Outstanding Lineman.
On September 7, a crowd of 36,659 watch the Lions versus the Calgary Stampeders, the largest crowd ever to watch a CFL regular season game at that point in time.
After claiming first place, the Lions earned a bye into the West Finals where they beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders two games to one. They made their first Grey Cup appearance in franchise history, losing to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a score of 21–10 at Empire Stadium.
The Lions changed their jerseys. The orange and black stripes were replaced with thick orange shoulder stripe with TV numbers including within.
Regular season Season standings + Western Football Conference Team GP W L T PF PA PtsBC Lions 16 12 4 0 387 232 24 Calgary Stampeders 16 10 4 2 427 323 22Saskatchewan Roughriders 16 7 7 2 223 226 16 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16 7 9 0 302 325 14 Edmonton Eskimos 16 2 14 0 220 425 4
Season schedule Game Date Opponent Results Score Record 1 Aug 8 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 16–7 1–0 2 Aug 12 vs. Edmonton Eskimos W 31–12 2–0 3 Aug 19 vs. Toronto Argonauts W 22–12 3–0 4 Aug 26 at Calgary Stampeders W 22–19 4–0 5 Aug 29 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 15–16 4–1 6 Sept 7 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 37–21 5–1 7 Sept 9 at Saskatchewan Roughriders W 8–2 6–1 8 Sept 16 vs. Montreal Alouettes W 20–9 7–1 9 Sept 21 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 21–38 7–2 10 Sept 23 at Ottawa Rough Riders L 17–23 7–3 11 Sept 30 vs. Calgary Stampeders W 32–14 8–3 12 Oct 5 at Edmonton Eskimos W 40–1 9–3 13 Oct 12 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders W 26–6 10–3 14 Oct 19 vs. Edmonton Eskimos W 32–6 11–3 15 Oct 27 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 26–34 11–4 16 Nov 3 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 28–10 12–4
Playoffs West Finals + Western finals – Game 1 BC Lions @ Saskatchewan Roughriders Date Away Home November 16 BC Lions 19 Saskatchewan Roughriders 7 + Western finals – Game 2 Saskatchewan Roughriders @ BC Lions Date Away Home November 20 Saskatchewan Roughriders 13 BC Lions 8 + Western finals – Game 3 Saskatchewan Roughriders @ BC Lions Date Away Home November 23 Saskatchewan Roughriders 1 BC Lions 36 BC wins the best of three series 2–1. The Lions will advance to the Grey Cup Championship game.
Grey Cup
November 30 51st Annual Grey Cup Game: Empire Stadium – Vancouver, British Columbia Western Champion Eastern Champion BC Lions 10 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21 The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the 1963 Grey Cup Champions.
Offensive leaders Player Passing ydsRushing ydsReceiving ydsTD Joe Kapp 3011 43805 Willie Fleming 123453912 Nub Beamer 91412812 Sonny Homer 06083 Jerry Janes 03903 Pat Claridge 03773 Mack Burton 03523
Awards and records CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award – Tom Brown (LB) CFL's Coach of the Year – Dave Skrien Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy – Joe Kapp (QB)
1963 CFL All-Stars QB – Joe Kapp, CFL All-Star RB – Willie "The Wisp" Fleming, CFL All-Star OG – Tom Hinton, CFL All-Star OT – Lonnie Dennis, CFL All-Star DE – Dick Fouts, CFL All-Star LB – Tom Brown, CFL All-Star LB – Norm Fieldgate, CFL All-Star
References