The original Alouettes team (1946–1981) won four Grey Cups and were particularly dominant in the 1970s. After their collapse in 1982, they were immediately reconstituted under new ownership as the Montreal Concordes. After playing for four years as the Concordes, they revived the Alouettes name for the 1986 season. A second folding in 1987 led to a nine-year hiatus of CFL football in the city.

Montreal Concordes

On May 14, 1982, just a day after the original Alouettes franchise folded, Montreal businessman and Montreal Expos founder Charles Bronfman came to the rescue and founded a new team under the name Montreal Concordes. This team inherited the Alouettes franchise history and its players.

The Concordes sported a 2–14 record in 1982 under head coach Joe Galat – the worst record in franchise history (just percentage points below the 1969 Als). The Concordes featured quarterback Luc Tousignant, the only Québécois quarterback to start a CFL game besides Gerry Dattilio. The dismal club also featured star collegiate running back David Overstreet who rushed for just 190 yards in six games before ending his season on the injured reserve list. The Concordes lost their last nine games of 1982. Other stars on the club included quarterback Johnny Evans, quarterback Turner Gill, slot back Nick Arakgi, running back Lester Brown, wide receiver Brian DeRoo, local kick returner Denis Ferdinand, defensive tackle Glen Weir, safety Preston Young, defensive end Gordon Judges, kicker-punter Don Sweet and linebacker William Hampton. The team gradually rebounded, even making the East final in 1985.

In 1986, the team attempted to embrace its predecessor's history and regenerate flagging fan interest by rebranding itself the "new" Montreal Alouettes. This would not prove to be successful, on or off the field. On the field, the team posted a dismal 4–14 record, this time missing the playoffs in spite of once again finishing third in the East on account of the new "cross-over rule" the CFL had implemented for the 1986 season. Off the field, financial losses continued to mount. The new Alouettes folded on June 24, 1987, just a day before the 1987 season started. So late did the Alouettes' demise come that the June 28 Washington Post still announced an ESPN broadcast of an Alouettes–Stampeders game, a game that would never be played. The team did play two preseason games before folding.