Boyle Trophy
The Boyle Challenge Cup 1904 to 1971
St. John's Hockey Association

In 1904 Governor Charles Cavendish Boyle donated a trophy intended as a perpetual Newfoundland Hockey Association Challenge Cup. It was to be awarded to the winner of a competition between the British Colony of Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes. A regular series didn't materialize so Governor Boyle agreed that the cup would be awarded each year to the City League champions. The Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the Boyle Trophy, is the third oldest known ice Hockey trophy in the world which was contested until 1971.

The original cup is made of sterling silver with three handles shaped as lions that are looking up into the cup. The cup was mounted on a base of locally turned mahogany. The names of all the winners up to 1918 are engraved on the silver cup. After 1918 the winners' names are engraved on plates attached to the wooden base.

Inscribed on the cup is the verse "We Love Thee Frozen Land" from Ode to Newfoundland, composed by Governor Boyle in 1902. Several months after Boyle donated the cup, Ode to Newfoundland was adopted as the official national anthem for Newfoundland, then a self-governing British Colony. It was re-adopted in 1980 as our provincial anthem.

When sun rays crown thy pine clad hills,
And summer spreads her hand,
When silvern voices tune thy rills,
We love thee, smiling land.

We love thee, we love thee,
We love thee, smiling land.

When spreads thy cloak of shimmering white,
At winter's stern command,
Thro' shortened day, and starlit night,
We love thee, frozen land.

We love thee, we love thee
We love thee, frozen land.

When blinding storm gusts fret thy shore,
And wild waves lash thy strand,
Thro' spindrift swirl, and tempest roar,
We love thee windswept land.

We love thee, we love thee
We love thee windswept land.

As loved our fathers, so we love,
Where once they stood, we stand;
Their prayer we raise to Heaven above,
God guard thee, Newfoundland

God guard thee, God guard thee,
God guard thee, Newfoundland.

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The first winners of the Boyle trophy were the Terra Novas in 1904. In 1971, the last St. John's Senior League Boyle winners were the Guards.
St. Bon's, or the Bluegolds as they were known won the most championships at 27 including a remarkable 16 wins in a row from 1944 thru 1960. Since 1985 the Boyle Trophy has been awarded to the 4A high school champions of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Boyle Trophy Winners / St. John's Senior League Champions
1904 - Terra Novas
1905 - Terra Novas
1906 - Fieldians
1907 - Victorias
1908 - Crescents
1909 - Victorias
1910 - Crescents
1911 - Crescents
1912 - Crescents
1913 - Crescents
1914 - Crescents
1915 - Fieldians
1916 - Terra Novas II
1917 - Victorias
1918 - Terra Novas II
1919 - Terra Novas II
1920 - Fieldians
1921 - Fieldians
1922 - Fieldians
1923 - Guards
1924 - Fieldians
1925 - Fieldians
1926 - Terra Novas II
1927 - Fieldians
1928 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1929 - Terra Novas II
1930 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1931 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1932 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1933 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1934 - Holy Cross
1935 - Guards
1936 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1937 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1938 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1939 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1940 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1941 - Royals
1942 - [no competition]
1943 - [no competition]
1944 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1945 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1946 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1947 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1948 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1949 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1950 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1951 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1952 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1953 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1954 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1955 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1956 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1957 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1958 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1959 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1960 - St. Pat's
1961 - St. Pat's
1962 - Guards
1963 - Guards
1964 - Guards
1965 - Memorial University Beothuks
1966 - Guards
1967 - Memorial University Beothuks
1968 - Memorial University Beothuks
1969 - St. Bon's / St. Bonaventure's College
1970 - Guards
1971 - Guards