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Chris Lawton

@cflfanuk.bsky.social

Unofficial UK ambassador for CFL football: I write about the CFL for thetouchdown.co.uk

1,430 Followers  |  1,360 Following  |  5,493 Posts  |  Joined: 17.10.2023
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Posts by Chris Lawton (@cflfanuk.bsky.social)

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Breaking down the Ottawa Redblacks depth chart after 2026 CFL free agency The Ottawa Redblacks have had quite an offseason, adding impact free agents following a disappointing campaign. Vice president of football operations Shawn B

Breaking down the Ottawa Redblacks depth chart after 2026 CFL free agency

3downnation.com/2026/03/03/b...

#Ottawa #Redblacks #RNation #CFL

04.03.2026 18:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image 04.03.2026 20:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3331    ๐Ÿ” 530    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 54    ๐Ÿ“Œ 22
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๐Ÿ’ฏ accurate

04.03.2026 05:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6507    ๐Ÿ” 531    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 178    ๐Ÿ“Œ 53
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5 receivers that moved the sticks in 2025 - CFL.ca CFL.ca looks at the five receivers who kept offences on schedule in 2025, leading the league in receiving first downs according to PFF.

#CFL

04.03.2026 15:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Everything wrong with the Way-too-Early Power Rankings - CFL.ca Did you disagree with CFL.ca's Way-too-Early AMSOIL Power Rankings? So did CFL.ca's Jamie Nye. Here are his thoughts on what was wrong with them.

#CFL

04.03.2026 15:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
a pack of kittens closes in a a large dog standing on a chair

a pack of kittens closes in a a large dog standing on a chair

David Attenborough [whispering]:

โ€œAs the predators close in on their helpless prey, we can only watch in silent horror, for it is not manโ€™s role to interfere in the hierarchy of nature.โ€

04.03.2026 13:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7478    ๐Ÿ” 1539    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 134    ๐Ÿ“Œ 68
John Candy seated and leaning slightly forward, shown from the chest up. He is wearing round glasses, a patterned knit cardigan in blue and gray tones, and a dark shirt underneath. His short, light-colored hair is brushed back. His hands are clasped together in front of him. The background is softly blurred with diagonal bands of light and shadow.

John Candy seated and leaning slightly forward, shown from the chest up. He is wearing round glasses, a patterned knit cardigan in blue and gray tones, and a dark shirt underneath. His short, light-colored hair is brushed back. His hands are clasped together in front of him. The background is softly blurred with diagonal bands of light and shadow.

On this day in 1994, John Candy died.
Born on Oct. 31, 1950 in Toronto, he became a Canadian icon. He rose to fame on SCTV and had a successful film career through the 1980s and early 1990s. He won two Emmys, a Grey Cup and has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

04.03.2026 12:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 141    ๐Ÿ” 34    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5

The play that crashed the #CFL stats system in 2011

#ForTheW #PullTogether

04.03.2026 06:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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IPSO have published their verdict on The Daily Telegraphโ€™s fake ยฃ345,000-a year banker couple who claimed they couldnโ€™t afford five holidays.

The paper declined to explain to the watchdog how the article came to be published - but our reporting at the time sets it outโ€ฆ

03.03.2026 16:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 687    ๐Ÿ” 248    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 13    ๐Ÿ“Œ 15
Preview
Less than 30 days out, a look at each team's attendance status for its home opener We are now less than 30 days out from most UFL teams' home openers. One of new co-owner Mike Repole's main objectives was to get more fans in the stands for gameday. Here is how that is tracking for each team's first home games of the season. The estimated capacity is based on my painstaking counting of available sections via the Ticketmaster seat map. My eyeballs are still recovering from that endeavor. I use the term "estimated tickets distributed" because there's no way of knowing how many have been sold versus comps or giveaways. I've included a screenshot of the seating charts from the Ticketmaster website (as of Monday 3/2). Birmingham Stallions Home: Protective Stadium First Home Game: Saturday, April 18 (week four) Actual Capacity: 47,100 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 14,357 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 10,000 Birmingham has the latest first home game of any UFL team this year. Protective Stadium has only opened up to about one-third of actual capacity for Stallions games. You can bet the hard camera will be facing that side of the stadium for TV. If Birmingham can hit five figures consistently, they should be in good shape. The dark blue, representing more tickets available in those areas, are a little misleading because there are so many seats in those sections. So while many behind the Stallions bench feature 100+ tickets left, that's out of between 700-900 seats. Their first home game isn't until week four, giving them extra time to sell. Columbus Aviators Home: Historic Crew Stadium First Home Game: Friday, April 3 (week two) Actual Capacity: About 20,000 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 12,986 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 11,800 When you dig deeper into the numbers on Ticketmaster, almost half of the remaining tickets are of the resale variety, meaning they've already been purchased and there's heavy interest in buying up tickets to put on the secondary market. That's a good indicator of demand (or expected demand), not surprising for the franchise's first home game. If Columbus ended up opening more seats for this or future games, it would be interesting to see if they'd start with the 200 sections or those 100 sections behind the end zone. Dallas Renegades Home: Toyota Stadium First Home Game: Saturday, March 28 (week one) Actual Capacity: 23,900 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 8,465 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 7,465 Dallas has just two sections that have more than 100 tickets available, and one of them may include resale tickets that get them over that number. The limited number of seats made available shows the new initiative under co-owner Mike Repole to make seating more intimate and a better experience for both the live fan and the television viewer. Like most stadiums in the UFL, Toyota Stadium has standing room only sections (112 and 113) which could increase capacity and the ticket distributed number that wouldn't show up on the Ticketmaster seat map. D.C. Defenders Home: Audi Field First Home Game: Saturday, April 11 (week three) Actual Capacity: 20,000 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 14,482 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 11,784 The map looks disappointing at first with plenty of sections featuring 100+ tickets remaining. However, this is another game where a lot of tickets are available for resale. Some of those resellers may end up taking a bath because there are still plenty of good seats remaining at regular price. The attendance figures listed above don't figure in suites, of which Audi Field has several, nor does it count standing room only sections. Nevertheless, for a team with a history of strong attendance and coming off a league championship, you'd like to see even more tickets out at this stage. Houston Gamblers Home: Shell Energy Stadium First Home Game: Sunday, April 5 (week two) Actual Capacity: 20,656 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 15,342 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 13,537 There's a huge caveat to the estimated tickets distributed number here. For the second level, 200 sections, many of the empty seats are in the first several rows. That makes me think they didn't open the entire section. If that's the case, the estimated capacity (which seems rather large for a historically lukewarm spring football market) would decrease by a few thousand, as would the estimated tickets distributed. It's just not possible to tell by simply looking at the seating chart. It also looks like it's they may have recently opened some sections. Louisville Kings Home: Lynn Family Stadium First Home Game: Friday, March 27 (week one) Actual Capacity: 15,304 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 9,589 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 8,889 The team with the most buzz in terms of attendance leading up to week one (thanks in part to a post from Lynn Bowden on Twitter/X about the Kings nearing a sellout), there are fewer than 1,000 tickets left for the Friday night league opener, and maybe around 500 when taking into account those being resold. There are club seats, Supporters standing room only and Waterfront general admission seats that don't factor into that capacity or tickets distributed number. With those, they may be able to get over 10,000 in the building. Orlando Storm Home: Inter&Co Stadium First Home Game: Sunday, March 29 (week one) Actual Capacity: 25,500 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 15,907 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 14,355 Without many tickets on the secondary market through Ticketmaster, it appears as if Orlando has about 1,500 tickets still outstanding for their week one home debut. No section has more than 100 tickets remaining, so it's interesting that the resale market is relatively light. The stadium has 20 suites that are either sold out or were not put on sale. Most of the stadium does appear open, aside from the 100 sections in one end zone and some corner sections. St. Louis Battlehawks Home: The Dome at America's Center First Home Game: Saturday, March 28 (week one) Actual Capacity: 67,277 Estimated Capacity for UFL: 31,609 Estimated Tickets Distributed (as of 3/2): 26,902 This is the first time in the team's five-year existence that the Battlehawks have had the opportunity to play week one at home. The size of the stadium, the largest in the UFL, has allowed the team to open up more sections based on demand in the past. Right now, the team has three levels opened up, and the third level is only on one side of the stadium behind the St. Louis bench. While 40,000 might not be attainable this year given the excitement and newness that wears off year over year, 30,000 is a reasonable number to shoot for. If you fall short to around 25,000, that should still be acceptable for what has become the gold standard in fan support for modern spring football.

Less than 30 days out, a look at each team's attendance status for its home opener by Greg Parks

https://uflnewshub.c... #UFL | #UFLNews | #UFLNewsHub

03.03.2026 17:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Grading every team's 2026 CFL Free Agency so far - CFL.ca CFL.caโ€™s Marshall Ferguson hands out letter grades for every team following a busy opening to CFL Free Agency.

www.cfl.ca/2026/02/11/g...

03.03.2026 00:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

If you're in the UK you can watch CFL games free on CFL+

03.03.2026 17:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Do you agree with TSNโ€™s TOP ๐Ÿ”Ÿ Grey Cups of all time list? Which games should be higher or lower? Which ones missed the cut? ๐Ÿค” #CFL

03.03.2026 02:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

๐Ÿค”

03.03.2026 17:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
The scoreboard at Independence Stadium in Shreveport before the preseason game between Shreveport and Baltimore (1994).

The scoreboard at Independence Stadium in Shreveport before the preseason game between Shreveport and Baltimore (1994).

On June 24, 1994, the Shreveport Pirates hosted the Baltimore CFL Colts in a preseason game at Independence Stadium. Here's a picture of the stadium scoreboard published in the Shreveport Times. This was a few weeks before a court injunction prevented Baltimore from using the name "Colts." #cfl

03.03.2026 14:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Match em up.

4 players
4 stats

Can you go 4/4?

#cfl #match #CanadianFootball

03.03.2026 16:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The horror here is not merely that it will happen, but that when it does, it will be claimed that it was no one's fault because an algorithm did it. That's (at least partly) why the military is racing to adopt "AI": it allows for a new era of extreme plausible deniability.

03.03.2026 10:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 81    ๐Ÿ” 31    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Is it me or does it literally not matter what is happening in the world, the lib dems will always poll somewhere between 11 and 14 percent?

03.03.2026 10:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Pirate Ball Comes to the CFL - Canadian Football History Of all the U.S. cities that the CFL awarded teams to as part of its American expansion in the 1990s, Shreveport had to be the most obscure choice. Whereas the other cities had teams in the defunct Wor...

Here's the latest article on Canadian Football History.

"Pirate Ball Comes to the CFL"

In 1994 and 1995, the Shreveport Pirates played in the CFL. They ceased operations when the CFL ended its U.S. expansion. #cfl

canadianfootballhistory.ca/2026/02/27/p...

27.02.2026 18:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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CFL Combine 101: The basics behind every drill - CFL.ca With CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness season set to get under way on Friday with the Invitational Combine, CFL.ca looks at what each test means for the prospects.

#CFL #CFLCombine

03.03.2026 10:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Pirate Ball weekly publication in the Shreveport Times

Pirate Ball weekly publication in the Shreveport Times

Pirate Ball was a weekly publication of the Shreveport Times, a guide to the Shreveport Pirates and the CFL. Here is the cover of the first issue previewing the Pirates' first ever regular season game in Ottawa. The Rough Riders defeated the Pirates 40-10. #cfl

02.03.2026 20:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Three in four women unaware menopause can trigger new mental illness, poll finds Royal College of Psychiatrists says impact on mental health often overlooked and calls for improvements in care

Pretty sure it had a real impact on my mental health, and continues to do so. What was manageable before is no longer so.

#Menopause #MentalHealth

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

03.03.2026 08:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

If you breach copyright to make publicly funded research publicly available they'll come at you with everything. If you turn theft into a business model investors can profit from, they'll change the law for you.

03.03.2026 07:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 339    ๐Ÿ” 145    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Sometimes you have to let goโ€ฆ and start again

Image: www.instagram.com/milanicreative

01.03.2026 18:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 32    ๐Ÿ” 12    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
I'm trapped and under attack
in Dubai - while back home in
Chichester my daughters are
furious, the labradoodles are sick
and, worst of all, I left my Mounjaro
pen in the fridge

I'm trapped and under attack in Dubai - while back home in Chichester my daughters are furious, the labradoodles are sick and, worst of all, I left my Mounjaro pen in the fridge

"War, war is stupid, and people are stupid" as Boy George so famously wrote.8

03.03.2026 07:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 428    ๐Ÿ” 73    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 65    ๐Ÿ“Œ 8
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MPsโ€™ basic salary to rise to ยฃ110,000 by end of parliament, watchdog says Ipsa cites rising abuse and constituency workloads as reasons for above-inflation increase of 5% from April

MPsโ€™ basic salary to rise to ยฃ110,000 by end of parliament, watchdog says.

This should be accompanied by a total ban on second jobs, which in most cases is a corporate bribe. Must end all conflict of interests.

Being a MP is a full time job. MPs must act exclusively as MPs.

03.03.2026 07:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 806    ๐Ÿ” 325    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 61    ๐Ÿ“Œ 17

Good lord. What an abject failure the Blue Labour strategy has been.

03.03.2026 07:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 697    ๐Ÿ” 131    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 17    ๐Ÿ“Œ 14
๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)

#NowWatching #FilmSky
๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ: ๐™Ž๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ง๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ•๐Ÿ–)
tinyurl.com/yhrvjdy4

02.03.2026 09:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 87    ๐Ÿ” 23    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Which QB room are you most excited to watch this coming season? ๐Ÿ‘€

02.03.2026 19:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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02.03.2026 19:52 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 162    ๐Ÿ” 43    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3