Victor Spencer

After playing football at Toronto's Upper Canada College, where he was the team captain in 1942, and for a year with the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, Victor Spencer returned home to Vancouver (where he had also played two years of senior football) in 1947-48 and spearheaded a group that was seeking a British Columbia franchise in the WIFU.

Spencer and John Davidson, elected Directors of the aspiring franchise, attended WIFU meetings in 1951 and 1952 before getting approval in 1953 from three of the league's four teams (Regina, Calgary and Edmonton; Winnipeg abstained) to grant Vancouver a franchise beginning in 1954. Spencer, team President Art Mercer and Director Bill Ralston recommended Annis Stukus to the Board of Directors as the B.C. Lions' first coach. The team played in brand-new Empire Stadium.

Spencer had served on the stadium committee and also joined a group that helped organize the 1954 British Empire Games inside the stadium. Because the team didn't have any players, Spencer enticed local rugby players to join the Lions. Spencer also attempted to establish an arrangement with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams to use their cuts, which was not agreed on. This resulted in the B.C. Lions having to sign NFL players such as Lauri Niemi and Arnie Weinmeister all-Pro Tackles from Washington Redskins and New York Giants. This led to the owners of the New York team taking the Lions to court. As Weinmeister was from the state of Washington, the case was heard in Seattle. An American Judge ruled in favor of the British Columbia Lions, which set the precedent for U.S. players to play in Canada. Spencer was one of three Directors in the courtroom.

Spencer, who was born Nov. 21, 1924, in Vancouver, spent nine years on the Lions executive and helped Vancouver attract the 1955 Grey Cup. He was nominated as a life member of the team's Board of Governors, which lasted until the team was no longer community-owned. Spencer also contributed a residential property, which the Lions used as a fraternity house.

Being among the First Founders of Convocation of Simon Fraser University in 1965 there has also been a Victor V. Spencer Athletic Scholarship each year to offset a football players education costs. When the B.C. Lions were in financial trouble in 1976, he was awarded the inaugural Lionbacker Certificate to kick-start a franchise-saving bond drive. He was inducted into the Lions Wall of Fame in 2002.