The British Columbia Football Conference is saddened this week to learn of the passing of Lorne Cullen, for whom our league championship "The Cullen Cup" is named.

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Lorne Cullen was a great friend and supporter of the BCFC. He was a mentor to many and one of the true gentlemen of the game.

Lorne’s first encounter with junior football came in 1946 as a member of the Vancouver Blue Bombers. In 1947, he was a member of the Blue Bombers who defeated the Hamilton Tigers in a two-game total point series (19-8) for the Canadian Championship. This was the first official year of the Junior Big Four (currently named the BCFC) and it was the first Canadian Championship by a B.C. Junior team.

After his playing days, Lorne joined the Blue Bombers as an assistant coach. In 1950 he took over as head coach. Lorne was head coach of the Blue Bombers in 1950-’51, then again from 1956-1964, and finally three years from 1966-1968.

In all, Lorne was head coach for 13 years amassing an overall record of 68 wins, 28 losses and 2 ties. He was the first coach to reach 50 wins in BCFC history. His Blue Bombers teams finished in first place 7 times, which is second best all-time in the BCFC, and he won 13 playoff games.

Lorne guided the Blue Bombers to 8 BCFC Championships, a record that has not been reached by any other coach. His championship years were: 1950, 1951, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967

In 1979, Lorne was honoured by Football BC with a Builders Award.

In 1997, the 50th anniversary of the BCFC, Lorne was named to the 50 Year Dream Team as a coach

In 2001, the BCFC re-named its’ Championship Trophy the “Lorne Cullen Cup”

In 2006 – Lorne was honoured at the B.C. Lions Orange Helmet Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2011, Lorne was inducted into the B.C. Football Hall of Fame in the Builders Category

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Rest in peace Mr. Cullen