Riders donning new look, hope to have attendance numbers of the past

By Lethbridge Herald on July 18, 2024.

Graham Kelly 

INSIDE THE CFL

“Let’s show our pride in the Green & White,

We will fight, Green & White

Sing loud and clear till the game is won,

The best is yet to come.

Green is the Colour,

Football is the Game,

We’re all together and winning is our aim,

So cheer us on through the sun and rain,

Saskatchewan Roughriders is our name”.

Tonight, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will wear a new uniform when they take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The home town team will sport the look again Oct. 26 when Calgary is the opponent on Fan Appreciation Day. The rest of the time, Saskatchewan will be clad in the uniform they’ve favoured since the 2007 season.

So “Green Is The Colour”. It wasn’t always that way.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders originally took form as the Regina Rugby Club at a December 1910 meeting held in the sports room at City Hall. (No, I wasn’t there). Wearing purple and gold, they lost their first ever game, 7-6 to Moose Jaw. In 1911, they changed colours to blue and white. In 1912, they donned red and black. Twelve years later, the Regina Rugby Club became the Regina Roughriders. In 1948 the team name changed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

That same year, to take advantage of a bargain, Roughrider executive Jack Fyffe found two sets of green and white jerseys on sale in a Chicago store. Because the price was so low, Fyffe snapped them up and the Kelly Green and White tradition so totally identified with the Wheat Province began. True to the Saskatchewan creed, a penny saved is a penny earned.

In 1985, the team added black and silver to the green and white along with a “S” logo on the helmet. From 2001 to 2006, the club donned black and green at the instigation of GM Roy Shivers who is a 2024 Inductee onto the Plaza of Honour at Mosaic Stadium. After he was fired, the club reverted to the traditional look. And now, for special occasions only, obsidian green, even though experts say obsidian, a form of volcanic glass is always black. A team spokesman said that when the players are in the tunnel, the jersey fabric looks black . When they emerge into the light, the jerseys look green. The uniforms also incorporate emerald green and the traditional Kelly green.

The helmet features a wheat sheaf with 13 kernels, a tribute to the 13th man, the fans, not the grievous error that cost them the 2009 Grey Cup. The words “Rider Nation” appear on the helmet for the first time.

The new look, according to a press release, is to really connect with a younger, new up-and-coming audience, always a concern in the CFL.

Of course, it’s all about another green-the long green kind. Until recently the Roughriders have trailed only the Montreal Canadians and Toronto Maple Leafs in merchandise sales. Last year souvenir sales accounted for 11% of the team’s income or $4,057, 400 of a total club budget of $35,768,992, the amount it takes to operate the Roughriders.

It is hard to believe they led the league in sales when the Rider store was a cubby hole in the wall at Taylor Field. Now they sell out of a beautiful spacious store at their new digs.

Introducing a new look is common place in pro sports. But retrofits are expensive, and a sign that Saskatchewan is in good shape financially. Calgary started the alternative uniform trend in the 1990’s, an all black uniform they wore when a big win was required. Given quarterbacks Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia and Dave Dickenson, that hardly seemed necessary.

In addition to unveiling new uniforms Friday night, the Riders’ opponent is Winnipeg. Attendance at their last home game vs. the Argonauts was the lowest in the history of Mosaic Stadium. Corey Mace has challenged the fans to fill the stands and truly be the thirteenth man.

Meanwhile, in the category of what took you so long, the Edmonton executive relieved Chris Jones of his duties after he almost destroyed the flagship franchise of the CFL. Probably no one is more relieved about being relieved than Jones. Offensive coordinator Jarious Jackson is the new head coach, Geroy Simon the GM. With the franchise continuing to lose games and bleeding money, they had no other choice.