This fall, the Windsor Lancer football program is celebrating its 50th anniversary, culminating with a celebration on Saturday September 29th.  Over the course of this week, the Windsor Lancers are proud to highlight a few of the best memories of the program in a series of stories.
 
By Chris Zorbas
 
Fifty years ago the Windsor Lancers football program played its first season and came away with a single win in that inaugural year. Despite the baptism by fire, the Lancer program endures today celebrating a legacy that includes three Hec Crighton winners, two championship teams, one of the best defenses ever and an iconic coach to oversee it all.
 
Gino Fracas was a Windsorite through and through, and despite leaving the border city to pursue football before the university had a program; the late coach's wife explains coming back to Windsor was always the plan.
 
"He always felt at one point in his life, he would come back to Windsor," explained Leona Fracas. "The opportunity came up and he was appointed in 1967 as the wrestling coach and the director of intramurals and the school of physical health and education; he was hoping football would follow."
 
Despite some fears about funding, Coach Fracas ended up putting a program in place a year later, securing membership in Central Canada Intercollegiate Football Conference. Their first year in the league was a rough one.
 
"Their first year they had one win," remembered Mrs. Fracas. "I think they kind of expected that because your first year you don't expect too much success…but they weren't discouraged."
 
The very next season however the coaches were excited as they returned all but four of their starters, 19 of 23 according to Fracas.
 
"It was really great," reminisced Fracas on the '69 season in which the Lancers went 5-1 and captured the CCICF Championship. "We weren't surprised, things just sort of fell into place. That 1969 team became very close; to this day, every two years they have a reunion and Gino's last trip was in 2009 in Las Vegas."
 
Mrs. Fracas now attends the reunion in Gino's honour and was honoured by the team last year with a plaque and a letter from former UWindsor president Dr. Alan Wildeman.
 
The Lancers success didn't stop in 1969 either, as the program opened the 70's with its first Hec Crighton winner when Andy Parici took home the honour for the Blue and Gold. Later, in 1975 the Lancers captured the Yates Cup for the first time in program history.
 
The Lancers success under Coach Fracas could be attributed to a few things but singled out one quality about the football program in particular.
 
"I want to say, our football was a family affair," mentioned Fracas. "Our son and his wife took video of the games. Also it got to be quite a story with the players that when the bus would go out of town it would go by our home…and we would be there with our Lancer banner and we even had a dog named Lancer."
 
Going into its 50th anniversary, Mrs. Fracas is proud to see her husband's legacy continuing, "I think it's important we keep his legacy alive."