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December 4, 2021

At 103 years-old, Ralph Wild looking forward to attending West Final

It’s tough to judge what is most impressive about Ralph Wild: Could it be that he can remember every important moment in his life dating back to 1918? Is it that his mind is still as sharp as ever at 103 years-old? Or, is it the fact that he’s been a fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers almost since the team’s inception and is so dedicated that he’ll be in his seat for Sunday’s Western Final at IG Field.

Wild wasn’t always a football fan: Spending the first 20 years of his life in England, he’s a soccer fan by nature. In 1938, he was called up to the Air Force for six months of training before eventually serving in the Battle of Britain. The Englishman volunteered for overseas service in Winnipeg shortly after the battle ended, leaving for more than three years. In 1943, just three weeks before he would be called back to Britain, he met and married his wife, a registered nurse at Grace Hospital, who insisted on joining him in his return home. The couple had three children and spent 57 years together before she passed in 2000.

“We had a wonderful life together,” he said. “I couldn’t do enough for her, and she couldn’t do enough for me.”

Wild admits life hasn’t been the same without his partner, but he’s thankful for the constant that the Bombers have been in his life since he moved back to Winnipeg in 1949. Wild’s father-in-law introduced him to football and the Winnipeg Football Club shortly after he arrived and almost instantly, he was hooked. The then-nimble fan would walk from his nearby apartment to Osborne Stadium more than twice per week to watch players like Jack Jacobs and Buddy Tinsley run around the practice field.

But Wild remembers it wasn’t until Bud Grant arrived that his love for the team really took hold.

“[Grant] made the Blue Bombers,” he said. “Everything seemed to click, and he could find where the faults were in no time at all.”

Wild calls the Grant era the peak years of Blue Bombers football.

“He was the best. Every game you went to, you were convinced they were going to win,” he said.

Wild grew close with Grant over his tenure with the team, often joining him and players for monthly luncheons where the Bombers coach would talk about anything under the sun. Inevitably, the group discussion always fell back to football.

“He was a fabulous man,” Wild recalled. “I’m a real Canadian football fan because of him.”

Wild has been a season ticket holder since that time, watching the team and the game evolve before his eyes. He’s watched the run-heavy, rugby-style of the game morph into the high-flying product that it is today.

“It’s more lively now,” Wild said. “You used to sit through a full game and just get seven points between the two teams – two field goals and a single.”

Throughout the years, it’s never been hard to spot Wild during games. He wears the same beige trousers, a blue and gold jersey, and one of his three Bombers ball caps during summer games. As the weather turns cold, he’s force him to add another layer in the form of a Bombers parka. And Wild doesn’t mind the cold. He endured through his spot in the south-west corner of Canad Inns Stadium, where “the wind used to howl,” as Wild described it. Some of his greatest memories come from the games accompanied by the harshest weather – those afternoons and evenings that tested his fandom the most.

“I used to put empty egg cartons on the ground to keep my feet off the cold concrete,” he remembered with a chuckle.

Wild’s children bought him a blue and gold sweater for his 99th birthday. The knitted zip-up features a “99” on the sleeve and it’s been his go-to outfit during the winter months.

“Most of the time, they know I’m a Blue Bombers fan, I tell ya.”

Although Wild doesn’t make it to every home game anymore, he’s still beloved in his section.

“Whenever he shows up, everyone knows who he is and says hi to him,” said Wild’s son, Craig.

When Craig was in junior high, Ralph introduced him to the Blue Bombers, just like his father-in-law did with him. And just like Ralph, the game and the team is now instilled in Craig. Ralph will be at IG Field for the West Final Sunday afternoon, and although the weather won’t allow him to sport his typical game day outfit, he has no doubt that his Bombers will beat the Riders and whichever team they face in the Grey Cup.

“Oh, they’ll win this year. They have to.”