The Guelph Royals are a semi-professional baseball team based in the downtown area of Guelph, Ontario, and are a member of the Southern Ontario-based Intercounty Baseball League. The club was founded in 1861 as the Guelph Maple Leafs, and after winning the "Canadian Silver Ball Championship" three times between 1869 and 1872, went on to become world semi-professional champions in 1874, and hold brief membership in the International Association for Professional Base Ball Players during the 1877 season, rivalling National League teams. In 1919, they joined the Intercounty Baseball League, and underwent a series of name changes (the Guelph-Waterloo Royals in 1954; the Guelph Plymouths in 1957; the Guelph Merchants in 1958; the Guelph Royals in 1962; the Guelph CJOYs in 1964) before being officially renamed the "Royals". From 1861 to 1925, the team divided its home games between various ballparks in the city, before the construction of a stadium in Exhibition Park led them to permanently play there. In 1986, they moved into a new stadium, David E. Hastings Stadium, also in Exhibition Park. In spite of only winning one Intercounty championship between 1932 and 1993, the team has done well in recent years, winning four since. They currently hold nine Intercounty championships, behind the Kitchener Panthers, with 12, and the Brantford Red Sox, with 10, and are one of only two remaining charter franchises in the league, along with the Kitchener Panthers.