While the 2011-2012 season will see the Marlboro minor teams entering their 81st season of competition the actual birth of the hockey club dates back to the turn of another century.

It was in the late 1800's that a group of local sportsmen decided to form a new athletic club in downtown Toronto. The name they chose was "The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club".

The club was named after a long line of English Noblemen, the Dukes of Marlborough. The Dukes family name was Churchill, and in fact, the VIII Duke of Marlborough was an uncle to the legendary British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Through the years the Churchill name had become synonymous with leadership, courage and their ability to rise to the challenge in times of adversity. In short, the Churchills provided the perfect role model for the young club.

It was then club secretary Fred Waghorne who wrote to the IX Duke of Marlborough, Charles Spencer-Churchill, in England, for permission to use the storied name and crest.

In choosing its logo the club took the Marlborough family crown and added the initials "A.C." for Athletic Club. It wasn't until the late 1950's that the crown was set against the present day Maple Leaf.

This historical background of the name also lead to its teams being nicknamed "The Dukes".

There is concrete evidence of the club having participated in baseball, football and boxing dating back to the mid 1890's.

Conversely the first sign of the Marlboros "hockey history" can be found in a Toronto Star article dated November 29, 1900 where the Marlboros announced a meeting that evening at their "clubhouse", then located at 192 Spadina Avenue. The purpose of the meeting was to "reorganize" its hockey teams and decide which leagues they would be entered in for the upcoming (1900-1901) season.

This tells the club had indeed played during the late 1800's. Unfortunately sports coverage and results were somewhat intermittent in those times.

Hockey season in those days would start in late December or early January. All the ice surfaces, including those indoors, were made of natural ice and depended heavily on the weather conditions of the day.

The Dukes went on to win the Junior Division of the Toronto Lacrosse Hockey league in 1900 - 1901 in what would be the beginnings of a mini dynasty for the young club.

The following season the Marlboros entered both Junior and Senior teams in the Toronto Lacrosse Hockey League with the 1901 - 1902 Senior's emerging victorious at season's end.

In 1902 - 1903 the club entered a Junior team in the much stronger OHA for the first time and walked away with the crown, defeating Kingston in that initial championship final. The club also entered an intermediate team in the OHA, winning the Toronto area group before losing in the provincial finals.

These titles were followed up with Senior OHA championships in 1903 - 1904 and 1904 - 1905. The former having moved on challenge the famed "Ottawa Silver Seven" for the Stanley Cup, losing in a two game total goal series, while the latter defeated Smiths Falls for the provincial title the next year.

Also of note during these early years was the Marlboros entering a Junior team in the first ever incarnation of the Toronto Hockey League (THL) in 1901. The league was the predecessor of today's GTHL.

The first ever game in the new league saw the Marlboros defeat the Toronto Lorne's 6-1 in a match played at Varsity Arena.

While the club continued to operate both Junior, Intermediate and Senior teams in the early 1900's it wasn't until 1927 that the Marlboro name really came to the fore.

It was during this year that the late Conn Smythe bought the N.H.L.'s "Toronto St. Pats" and changed their name to the now famous "Maple Leafs". Smythe realized the importance of a strong farm system and eventually made the Marlboros part of the Leaf organization.

In the beginning both the Leafs and Marlboros practiced and were headquartered out of the old Ravina Gardens in Toronto's west end. Their games were played downtown at the Mutual Street Arena.

The 1929 season saw the Marlboro Juniors win their first Memorial Cup. Before the juniors were disbanded following the 1988-89 season, the club would have won a record seven Memorial Cups (Canadian Junior Champions) and have sent in excess of 250 players and coaches to the N.H.L. ranks.

The Marlboro Minor teams first came onto the scene in the 1931-32 season when the club decided to enter a Bantam team in the then "Toronto Hockey League" (T.H.L.). This coincided with the opening of the new "Maple Leaf Gardens" where the Bantams would practice in the early morning before school. That pioneer team captured the T.H.L. Bantam crown and went on to win the Midget "A" title the next year. The early years would often see the young Marlboro clubs practicing and playing on local outdoor rinks with natural ice, as long as Mother Nature co-operated!

On May 28, 1937 the original "Hot Stove Club" was formed at Maple Leaf Gardens with a mandate to raise funds in support of the Marlborough Hockey Club and amateur sports in general. It wasn't until 1963 that the Hot Stove Club was given a permanent home with premises and a restaurant at Maple Leaf Gardens.

It was in the 1941-42 season that the club added a Minor Bantam team to the organization and seven years later in 1948-49 the Pee Wee team made its first appearance. Sponsored by the "Shopsy's Food Company" that year the Pee Wees went on to win 8 T.H.L. championships in the next 14 years.

Other highlights include the Marlborough Midgets winning 11 T.H.L. titles in 13 years including a record 8 straight championships.

Up until the N.H.L. instituted the present entry draft in 1967 the Maple Leaf organization through its Marlborough minor system could virtually groom players from as young as nine years old to work their way through the minor system, to the Junior "A's" and ultimately to the Leafs. Needless to say, this process laid the foundation for many Leaf Stanley Cup teams and produced a long line of legends ranging from Joe Primeau and Busher Jackson in the 1930's, to "Hockey Night in Canada's" Frank Selke Jr. in the 1940's, Bob Pulford, Bob Nevin, Carl Brewer and Billy Harris in the very successful 1960's, and players such as Mike Palmateer and Mark Napier in the 1970's.

Over the years the club also developed a long line of legendary executives, coaches and managers including such names as W.F Christie, Art Halliwell, George Humphries, George Legge, Jack White, "Curly" Davies and present day Maple Leafs development coach Paul Dennis.

Following the disbanding of the Junior "A's" in 1989 the Maple Leafs discontinued it's direct sponsorship of the minor system, but through the permission of then Maple Leaf owner Harold Ballard the Minors were allowed to retain and carry on the Marlborough name.

The 2000 - 2001 season saw the club celebrate the 100th anniversary of its first official season and during that year the club made two significant presentations in celebration of its roots. Specially designed framed logo plaques were presented to both John Spencer-Churchill the current and XI "Duke of Marlborough" and to "Marlborough House" in England which was the official home to the Marlborough family before moving to their present home at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock just north of London.

Recent years have seen the Marlboro Hockey Club retain it's stature as the "premier" minor hockey organization in the country, sending a steady stream of players on to the O.H.L and University ranks as well as producing some of the N.H.L.'s current bright young stars in Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators, Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Oshawa General's John Tavares.

A lot has changed over the years including shortening the spelling of the name, but some things remain the same: the colours, the crest, and the proud tradition that goes with being a Marlboro.