PLAYER #82 - STEVE ACKROYD (1978-84)

Six head coaches in four years. Never in Argo history had there been such a tumultuous time as the 1978-82 period, and it just happened to coincide with the start of Steve Ackroyd's football career.

"Leo Cahill was my first coach in 1978," said Ackroyd, who played defensive safety. "Then we had Bud Riley, Forrest Gregg, Willie Wood and Tom Hudspeth for a few games."

Needless to say, the team was dead last in each of those seasons, bottoming out after a 2-14 campaign in 1981. But then things started turning around, and rapidly.

"Ralph Sazio came riding through in 1981 and fired everybody, and brought in Obie," said Ackroyd, referring to new coach Bob O'Billovich. "O'Billovich came in and turned the team around. He simplified everything, got back down to basics."

And the result was a 9-6-1 record and appearance in the Grey Cup in 1982, followed by a 12-4 record the next year and the team's first CFL championship since 1952. In Ackroyd's final season in Double Blue, the team missed a third straight appearance in the Grey Cup by a single point, in a 14-13 overtime loss to Hamilton in the Eastern Final.

Therefore, Ackroyd's Argo days, which lasted a total of 70 regular season and five playoff games, could be described as a tale of two halves. The first half was a disaster, but his teams came on after the intermission to win a championship and complete a satisfying career.

Born in Montreal and growing up an Alouettes fan, Ackroyd moved to Toronto at age 14 and attended Lorne Park Secondary School in Mississauga. He attended the University of Western Ontario for two years, and then played at Oakville's Sheridan College in 1976 and 1977 in the now-defunct college league.

In 1978, he joined the Argos, but was subsequently let go and picked up by the neighbouring Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was on the Tiger-Cat roster for his first Labour Day Classic, a 19-16 Hamilton win. The year after, he was back on the Argo roster, although the teams did not play a Labour Day game in 1979, just like in 1995. However, public outcry brought the game back this year, and it was a classic in Argo eyes, a 38-7 victory that gave the team its record-tying eighth win in a row.

While he was playing for the Argos, Ackroyd worked as a sales representative for Carling O'Keefe Breweries and International Sports Properties. He was also one of the team's main contributors away from the field, as he was involved in many charity organizations, including being a co-chairman for Big Brothers "Bowl for Millions" campaign, along with Condredge Holloway and Paul Pearson. Pearson and Ackroyd have stayed in touch over the years, and live in the same town, Kelowna, B.C.

"The company I work for is across the street from Paul's deli (Pearson's European Deli)," said Ackroyd, who works with Western Star Trucks, who manufacture Class A tractor trailers. Still single, Ackroyd is an avid golfer and loves the weather and great golf courses of the Okanagan Valley, where he has lived for the past three years.