The province’s Canadian Football League franchise put the British Columbia into the Lions at a joyous Royal Athletic Park, awash in orange and black Saturday, as 14,727 fans cheered the Leos onto a 38-12 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks at Touchdown Pacific.
It was the first game the B.C. Lions have played outside Vancouver’s B.C. Place, Empire Stadium and Empire Field in the 70 years of franchise history. Vancouver Islanders, and others from across the province and country, made the most of the rare experience. Fans showed up in Lions jerseys, T-shirts and caps of all vintages, and draped in team flags.
Glen Grey Todd of Victoria was there with his three-generation family of 10 — including grandkids Colton, 5, Jackson, 8, Hudson, 9, and Isla, 11 — all clad in Lions gear and from all over the province. Glen Todd’s parents gave him his middle name, Grey, because he was born on Grey Cup day in 1951, which made the moment extra special on Saturday.
The CFL wanted to create a mini-Grey Cup vibe and jerseys of all nine league teams could be spotted in the crowd. Tom MacDonald of Victoria, born and raised in Winnipeg, wore a Blue Bombers T-shirt: “I was a Winnipeg kid but Victoria has done a bang-up job with this game. It is great promotion for our city.”
MacDonald’s friend, Newman Schiphorst, sported a B.C. Lions cap: “I’m born and raised right here,” he proudly said.
Even though in B.C. for 26 years, Ottawa-native Eric Peterkin of Port Coquitlam went against the crowd flow in full-on Redblacks gear, including cape, to cheer for his favourite team: “I’m a born and raised Ottawa boy. My dad, Don, played in the [former CFL team] Rough Riders Band and my friend, Kevin, was the son of [Ottawa quarterbacking legend] Russ Jackson. I’m full-in and cheering hard for the Redblacks.”
He was more than countered by Danny Sanhdar, whose group of five from North Delta, was all-clad in Lions colours. They were part of a large contingent of fans who started the day in the lively watch party at nearby Central Park. A large number of fans took in the Central Park festivities pre-game, but most had tickets and headed to Royal Athletic Park as opening kick-off neared, leaving only a handful of fans to watch the game on the big screens in Central Park.
“I like how they have done it up here in Victoria, although I had to wait 40 minutes for my food from the concession,” said Sandhar, a Lions fan for more than 30 years.
Another issue was the 10-12 deep crowd in the west end-zone party section, that without risers, made it hard to view the game from the back. Most at the back just got frustrated and faced away from the field to watch the game on the big screen behind them in the west end-zone.
The entire week went so well — including Touchdown Pacific festivities at Ship Point and an open Lions practice at Starlight Stadium in Langford — that CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie said: “One hundred per cent we would like to come back.”
