Essex Ravens Football Club

Special Awards | Teams | 2024

The Essex Ravens Football Club is Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame’s 2024 team of the year.

Recognizing the success of the club over almost three decades dovetails nicely with the 2024 induction of club president Glen Mills into WECSHOF’s builder’s category.

The Ravens were established in 1997, offering competitive contact football during the summer months.

Essex District High School coaches Ross Spettigue and Greg Wood started tossing around the idea of summer football and applied successfully to join the Great Lakes Football League that year.

The club now offers teams for ages 11 through 18 and competes with other clubs from across Ontario. Their home field is Alumni Field at the University of Windsor.

Since their inception, the Ravens have proven to be among the league’s best.

While the league name has changed from Ontario Varsity Football League, to Ontario Summer Football League, to Ontario Provincial Football League, the success of the Ravens has remained a constant. They have appeared in 11 championships games and won 10 titles.

“This is a reflection of the quality of the Raven's organization, the players, volunteers and coaches at the forefront,” said Mills in his president’s message on the club website.  “The underlying purpose of the Essex Ravens’ program is not only to develop premier football players, but also to contribute to their maturation as valued members of society.”

A number of Ravens’ graduates have gone to play at the highest levels of the game both in Canada and the U.S.

Luke Willson played eight seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Seatttle Seahawks. Oshiomogho Atogwe played seven NFL seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams.

Brian Bulcke, Daryl Townsend, Mike Atkinson, Pawel Kruba and Andy Fantuz all moved on to play in the Canadian Football league where Fantuz was the Canadian MVP of the 2007 Grey Cup.

Many more went on to success at the CIS and NCAA levels.

“Greg Wood and I look on with great pride at a program that began in the cold winter of February those many years ago,” Spettigue said. “The relationships and bonds forged together with the players, coaches, support staff, parents, and fans will leave a lasting imprint upon our memories.”