Marshall Quelch: a look back on a hall of fame career in football

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Published on Friday, August 30, 2013

By: Lanny Stewart

myWestman.ca

A humbling experience. Those are the words of Marshall Quelch who was recently inducted into the Manitoba Football Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Raised in Transcona, Quelch, who now resides near Riding Mountain National Park, spent seven years playing the game in the 1960s and quickly turned heads while playing primarily for the St. James Rams intermediate senior team.

"A lot of great people in there -- a lot of great athletes," said the 76-year-old regarding the hall of fame. "I kind of joked with the guys who called me, asking them if they picked my name out of a hat."

Quelch was known for his toughness and strength during his playing days. He also took pride in his ability to play both sides of the ball as he was an offensive guard as well as a defensive end/linebacker. 

"Senior football was very big in Manitoba back then and all across Canada," he said. "Senior football was a feeder league to the pros."

Quelch credits Pete Piper, who at the time was a coach of the Rams, for getting him involved in football.

"The guy (Piper) taught me everything he knew about football and I really took to the game," he said. "I really enjoyed it." 

During his years with the Rams, where he was a team captain from '62 to '66, Quelch helped the club win the Manitoba Senior Football championship on three separate occasions (63, 64 and 66). In 1963, he helped the Rams defeat the London Lords 16-14 to win the Canadian Senior Football championship.

He wound up attending three Winnipeg Blue Bomber training camps (1962, 63, 64) during his playing days where he impressed players and the coaching staff.

"I did really well," he said while looking back. "In the one-on-one competitions, I won most of them. Usually when you get accepted by the veterans on the team, you think you're in -- you made the team."

Although Quelch was a late cut by the Bombers each time he attended their camp, the CFL club ended up calling for his services in a few games when the team faced injury problems. In 1964, he was contacted and offered a contract with the Edmonton Eskimos. However, the Bombers owned his rights at the time and wound up denying Quelch the opportunity to head to Alberta.

After his playing days were over, Quelch decided to give back to the game he loved so much. He was the offensive and defensive line coach with the Churchill Bulldogs -- a high school team that is known for its remarkable 33 game winning streak during his time with the club. After that, he was an assistant coach with the Manitoba Bisons in the early 70s. After a brief stint with the St. James Rods, he went on to join the coaching staff of the St. Vital junior Mustangs from 1975 to 1977 (Mustangs won back-to-back Manitoba Junior Football League titles in 1977 and '78).

Prior to playing football, Quelch showed off his athletic ability, taking part in numerous other sporting activities. At a young age, Quelch was a boxer, but would later quit the sport due to the polio epidemic which was sweeping the nation at the time.

"Gatherings like boxing [events] kind of stopped so the disease wouldn't spread," he remembered. "I ended up getting into weightlifting."

As a weightlifter, Quelch held Manitoba records from 1958 to 1968 and was a Canadian champion in the sport in 1959. Quelch also took part in an Olympic trials, but was unable to crack the Canadian weightlifting team.

He also held a black belt in judo and was a midwestern Canadian champion in 1967-1968 and Northwestern United States Open champion in 1969. 

Quelch was joined by several other inductees at the Manitoba Football Hall of Fame induction luncheon Aug. 8 in Winnipeg. Those of which include Joseph Salay who played a key role in building/coaching the Rivers Rams high school team in early 1960s and Doug Steeves, who is considered by many to be the 'Godfather of Brandon football'.

In photo: Marshall Quelch

Photo courtesy of Football Manitoba Hall of Fame