This chapter details the setting up of the John Ross Robertson Trophy competition in 1911 and the matches played up to the outbreak of the Second World War. A list of winners is provided as an appendix in the book.

This chapter gives details of the impact of the decision to restrict the competition to amateurs and the challenges of trying to organise a tournament that all clubs in Canada were eligible for.

A team from Winnipeg won the trophy in 1913 and retained it in 1914. This was the only time from 1911-39 that a team from outside Toronto and Montreal had won the competition. In 1982 the competition into two competitions: east and west. The Manitoba-Ontario border being the dividing line, meaning that Winnipeg teams would never again face those from Toronto or Montreal in this tournament.