Football Manitoba Hall of Fame Welcomes Class of 2024 – Winnipeg

The Manitoba Football Hall of Fame for 2024 includes a pair of multiple Gray Cup winners, a longtime CFL official and a pioneer of women's soccer in the province.

A total of nine, along with members of the 2011-2014 St. Paul's Crusaders teams, will be honored at an official induction luncheon and ceremony set for Aug. 21 at Princess Auto Stadium's Pinnacle Club.

The list includes:

Player: Ted Milian was a member of the 1972 St. John's Tigers Winnipeg High School Football League championship team, he was also an All-Canadian in two of his five seasons as an offensive lineman for the University of Manitoba Bisons. After being drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1977, Milian joined Edmonton the following year – just in time to be part of five consecutive Gray Cup championships with the green and gold from 1978 to 1982.

Player: Andrew Harris began playing football at the age of nine with the Eastman Raiders, then the Grant Park Pirates and Oak Park Raiders in the Winnipeg High School League. Harris' soccer journey took him to Vancouver Island as a teenager and then to the Canadian Football League, where he won four Gray Cups with BC (2011), Winnipeg (2019/21) and Toronto (2022). Harris was a four-time CFL All-Star and won the CFL's Outstanding Canadian Award in 2017, the Gray Cup Most Outstanding Canadian Player in 2011 and 2019, and the Gray Cup Most Outstanding Player in 2019.

Referee: Al Bradbury was assigned to officiate six Gray Cups during his 22-year career as a Canadian Football League official. Bradbury has been involved with the Manitoba Football Officials Association as a recruiter and mentor and remains an important member of the CFL's officiating department as an officials manager and leader with the league's training and development program. He also serves as supervisor of officials for Blue Bombers home games.

Player/Coach: Andrea Backlund was a star in the Manitoba Midget Soccer League before embarking on a 15-year career in women's soccer that culminated in her second appearance as Team Canada's starting center at the 2022 World Cup. Backlund moved into coaching as one of the driving forces behind the success of the St. Vital Mustangs First Down program in addition to working in the Manitoba Junior Soccer Association, Manitoba Girls Soccer Association and Winnipeg High School League games.

Player/Coach: Corey Hanssen was an elite-level quarterback in touch football for 30 years, leading his teams to a record five Division One titles in the Ultimate Touch Football League. Hanssen is involved in sports as a coach and organizer.

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Coach/Builder: Brian Marks played for the St. John's Tigers in the 1980 championship and returned to his alma mater as head coach in 1992. Mark held that position until retiring as a teacher in 2015, but continued to be involved with the school's football program as an assistant coach.

Builder: Ed Pilat is well known in the Manitoba soccer community for his excellence in medical practice and has also served as the head physician for the Winnipeg Rifles, U of M Bisons and the Women's Soccer League. He continues to serve as a mentor to athletic therapists across the city and province.

Coach/Builder: Neville Scarlett coached Sturgeon Heights and West Kildonan at the high school level and the Winnipeg Rifles at the junior high level and also participated in the Manitoba High Performance Program. He will be appointed posthumously in March 2020 at the age of 50.

Coach: Rich Urbanovich started coaching community club football in the '80s, jumped to the Winston Churchill Bulldogs of the Winnipeg High School League, and then spent 32 years on the staff of the U of M Bisons football program. Urbanovich was also named the 2005 Gino Fracas Award winner as the U Sports Training Assistant.

Rounding out the Class of 2024 induction in the team category are the 2011-14 St. Paul's Crusaders, who won an incredible 39 consecutive regular season and playoff games and three straight titles over a four-year span.

Tickets for the August 21 dinner and presentation can be purchased by emailing [email protected].

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