Not many people know that our mascot is actually called Colin. Even fewer people know how this came about, or how we even ended up with our little referee as the face of our brand at all.

When we decided on Cross Check Clothing, we gave a design brief to a designer with the name and our rough ideas and concepts. His early logo samples came back and of the many he pitched, we fell in love with the referee imagery, and so this was what eventually became Mr Cross Check.

At the same time, we were regular attendees of Sheffield Steelers games, and our seats were always behind a Scottish man named Colin. We’d have a lot of great conversations with Colin about hockey, and eventually, as we became friends more, about life/work/family. Colin was a huge hockey fan, he knew the rulebook from A to Z and enjoyed nothing more than watching “good hockey” no matter who was winning. He’d followed the Steelers since their inception and despite the hype regarding many import players, his regular phrase was “he’s not fit to lace up Tony Hand’s skates.”

Sadly, in the summer of 2014 Colin passed away due to complications from diabetes. We had lost our hockey friend. It was therefore decided that our referee mascot would be named Colin, as a tribute to the man who had made our match nights for many years a little bit different. Rest Peacefully Colin.