VANCOUVER - Victor Spencer, a co-founder of the B.C. Lions, has died at the age of 90.

The Lions announced Spencer's death on their website Wednesday.

Spencer, a Vancouver native, was part of the group that gained approval for the Lions to begin operations in 1953 and got the franchise up and running the following season at Empire Stadium. He also served on the organizing committee of the 1954 Empire Games.

Spencer spent nine years on the Lions' executive board and was instrumental in the franchise's successful bid to host the 1955 Grey Cup. He was named to the BC Lions Wall of Fame in 2002 before being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as a builder in 2006.

Five years later, Spender was enshrined in the BC Football Hall of Fame as a builder.

Spencer played football at Upper Canada College in 1942 as well as for the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Rugby Football Union before playing senior football in his native B.C. in 1947-48. He also spearheaded a group seeking admission into the Western Interprovincial Rugby Union, what would later become the CFL's West Division.

"If football in British Columbia has a father then it's Victor Spencer," Lions president/CEO Dennis Skulsky said in a statement. "Without his vision, his efforts and his love for our great game, it likely would have been many years before British Columbia had a professional football team to call its very own.

"It was under his leadership that we have been blessed with gridiron heroes such as Annis Stukus, Willie Fleming, Norm Fieldgate, Bob Ackles and countless others. We are incredibly saddened by his passing and equally grateful for his many contributions to this great organization."

CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge said Spencer's contributions to the sport will never be forgotten.

"Mr. Spencer's leadership, vision and passion for our game led to the establishment of a professional football team in B.C. in the early 1950s – a team for fans in Western Canada to call their own," he said in a statement. "I know that members of the B.C. Lions organization are deeply saddened by this great loss, as we all are.

"Victor's immense contributions to Canadian football, across our entire country, will live on and be forever remembered."