Montreal Beavers

{{Short description|Defunct American football team}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2021}}

{{Infobox sports team

| logo = Montreal Beavers logo.jpeg

| owner =

| pixels =

| founded = 1961

| folded = 1968

| league = United Football League, Continental Football League

| history =

| arena = Beaver Stadium

| city = Montreal, Quebec, Canada

| colors =

| championships = 1 (1964)

| titles = 0

| mascot =

}}

The Montreal Beavers were a professional American football team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The franchise began as the Indianapolis Warriors of the United Football League in 1961, where they played for four seasons. During that time the Warriors made the UFL playoffs three times, and advanced to the league championship in 1964. The team moved to Fort Wayne in January 1965,{{cite news|title=Warriors Moving To Fort Wayne|work=The Indianapolis Star|date=January 19, 1965}} and became a charter member of the Continental Football League (CFL) when it was formed the next month.

Unable to find financial success in Indiana, team owner Al Savill sold the Warriors to a group from Montreal led by construction magnate, and former Montreal Alouette,{{cite web |last1=O'Brien |first1=Andy |title=Montreal'S Johnny Newman failed in his bid to buy Alouettes so he went shopping in the U.S. |url=https://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=-sgyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P-0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3430,2749778&dq=john+newman+alouette&hl=en |website=Google News |publisher=Weekend Magazine |accessdate=16 March 2019}} Johnny Newman{{cite web |last1=Gravenor |first1=Kristian |title=Construction magnate Johnny Newman and his Montreal Beavers |url=http://coolopolis.blogspot.com/2008/01/hmm.html |website=Coolopolis.blogspot.com |accessdate=16 March 2019}} in March 1966.{{cite news|title=Fort Wayne Warriors Go To Montreal|work=The Indianapolis Star|agency=Associated Press|date=March 26, 1966}} Led by former South Carolina head coach Marvin Bass, the Beavers finished with a 7-7 record in 1966 and a 4-8 mark in 1967. The team denied rumours of a sale in early 1968, but folded before the season began.

The Indianapolis Capitols were considered "an outgrowth" of the team when the expansion franchise was established in 1969 to play in the CFL.{{cite news |title=Caps To Open MFL Title Defense At Detroit July 13 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75686312/the-indianapolis-star/ |newspaper=The Indianapolis Star |via=Newspapers.com |date=May 31, 1974 |access-date=April 13, 2021}}

==Season-by-season==

class="wikitable"
Team name	Year	League	W	L	T	Finish	Coach
rowspan=4|Indianapolis Warriors | 1961 || rowspan=4|United Football League || 6 || 3 || 1 || 2nd, Western Division || Gene Gedman
1962	9	3	0	2nd, Western Division	Ken Carpenter
1963	5	8	0	2nd, Western Division	Ray Nolting/Lynn Lynch/John Talley
1964	10	4	0	1st, Eastern Division	Ken Carpenter
Fort Wayne Warriors | 1965 || rowspan=3|Continental Football League || 8 || 6 || 0 || 2nd, Western Division || Ken Carpenter
rowspan=2|Montreal Beavers | 1966 || 7 || 7 || 0 || 3rd, Western Division || rowspan=2|Marvin Bass
1967	4	8	0	3rd, Atlantic North Division