* * * * *

Home Debut

Toronto FC v Chivas USA
6/9/08

Of course I knew who Toronto FC were, I knew who Mo Johnson was from his Rangers days and I knew all about Danny Dichio from his Premier League seasons. I had also spent a number of weeks every summer since the turn of the century in Toronto so I knew the Toronto sporting scene and when at home I followed hockey and baseball through Canadian websites with great interest. So when it was announced that Toronto were to get an MLS team for the 2007 season I knew about it as soon as anyone else and I knew right then that if I was ever going to follow the MLS with more than a passing — “look at who is top of the league this season” — kind of interest, then Toronto would be my team.

I even had a Toronto shirt before I seen them play. My parents brought it home from a trip to Toronto in the summer of 2008, in all my trips over since the team started playing in Spring 2007 I hadn’t gotten around to buying a shirt — mainly because in the teams first season the shirt with the BMO sponsor logo on the front was so hard to come by. Every shop you would go into on Yonge Street that sold sporting shirts would tell you they had the latest kit only to try and sell you what was the teams training top. It was nice, but I was saving my money for the real deal.

Then, and to cut a long story short, on 30 August 2008 I immigrated to Canada to live full-time. Upon arriving and along with securing myself a Social Insurance Number and a job, I checked out the sporting fixtures in the city and looked into what games from various sports I might be able to attend. I got bad news with Toronto FC.

Every single game for the entire season and all media reports would lead you to believe you had no chance of snagging a ticket. With the season already heading into September there wasn’t much time left and I felt my chances of catching a football game before next summer were looking grim. I shouldn’t have been too upset though, it isn’t like I took advantage of local football when living in Northern Ireland. But with all due respect to the Irish League in which there was a time when I went week-in-week-out, it isn’t quite the MLS just like someone who had a season ticket on the Kop for Liverpool might say “With all due respect to the MLS it isn’t the mighty Premier League”.

Then my fortunes changed. My girlfriends sister, the most non-football fans of all non-footballing fans told me she had acquired tickets through a friend or work to a ’soccer’ game involving ’some team from Toronto’ and would I be interested in going along?

“You’re dam right I’d be interested in going along”.

And so I went along.

I didn’t really know what to expect since I had never been to a Major League Soccer game before but when I got outside the ground and felt a real party atmosphere. This was a non-footballing market by nature but everyone around the ground was in a football mood. People were chanting songs, eating from hot dog stands and generally in the mood to get inside the ground and watch some football.

But then I seen some fans who clearly didn’t have tickets, who were soaking up whatever atmosphere they could with those around them before those around them cleared off inside the ground and they were left to go find a pub to watch their beloved team. I felt like a hypocrite. All my life I had been anti non-fans going to watch sports events in the place of the real fans who couldn’t afford or couldn’t get hold of tickets. You see this a lot at sports teams like Manchester United and Toronto Maple Leafs. Both these teams are filled with corporate suits or tourists who are happy to splash out on the big priced tickets while the real fans of these teams are often sitting in bars around the ground or at home watching it on T.V.

But what is a real fan? Is it necessary to go to every game to be a real fan? I mean I am a Liverpool fan and have been since being a little kid. I have invested in team shirts, merchandise and a hell of a lot of hours in front of television sets watching them play yet I never go to Anfield to watch them play. On top of that new fans to a team have to start somewhere and the first game for newbies can be very important, it can hook them in and strengthen a teams fan-base. So I took comfort in that as I went in for the first time with my ticket in place of some fans who had maybe gone often to games but couldn’t go this time. I knew as a football fan I would enjoy what I came to see, and I knew that I would do my utmost to get hooked and want to come back for more. That wouldn’t be hard for me personally, though I had a feeling I would be the only one in our group that day that would transcend into a die-hard fan.

The game wasn’t much of a classic though. I wasn’t very familiar with many players and in a way I was kind of disappointed by the standard of the Toronto players. I had been lead to believe MLS football was lower level Championship quality from England or at worst good level League One, but today looked more like Irish League. Not that there is anything wrong with any standard of football so long as the game is competitive, but for the price of ticket, the size of crowd I felt I was looking for something more. It wasn’t necessarily a Toronto win, though that would have been nice — they went down 3-1. The highlight of the game was the opposition goalie being carried off only to be dropped when one of the medics let go of the stretcher.

It was only after getting home when reading reports on the game that I realized what the standard might well have been below average. It was an international week with both Canada and the U.S.A. off playing in World Cup qualifying games. The MLS in their madness do not suspend fixtures during international weeks and if it means you lose a number of star players then too bad, you must play on. In Toronto’s case they had not only players missing on International duty but also players out through injury. It meant that Toronto could barely field a team and had to bring in some local amateur-pro players that played in leagues throughout the Toronto area to help fill out a starting 11. It was no wonder some players looked horribly below par. I wondered if I had brought my boots along could I have gotten a game myself?

So it explained my distress at the standard in return for price paid and left me feeling that I would need to experience the team playing again with a full line-up in order really see what the MLS was all about.

If anything though I was amazingly impressed by the fans at the game. The atmosphere was as good as anything you would see week-to-week back in the UK and certainly better than any equivalent capacity of stadium. There was definitely a passion for the sport and the team in the city and that at the end of the day is half the battle to enjoying the game.

My first tailgate and a visit to the BMO Kop

Toronto FC v New England Revolution
23/5/09

I am sorry to say it took another eight and a half months for me to get back to BMO Field. The 2008 season came to a quiet end and with only a handful of home games following my only visit I never got round to going back though I did say I would make a greater effort the following year. So suddenly April was upon me and the MLS season was kicking off. I had no tickets booked and again all reports suggested that every game would be a sellout. Was scalping a rip-off ticket outside my only option?

It took me another two months before I got myself in gear to find out. I was assuming I had little chance and so put off getting a ticket. I followed the fortunes of the team in the newspaper and online but I rarely sat down to watch the games on TV as I was completely immersed in the fortunes of Liverpool’s title run-in. By the time I did get to the game against New England Liverpool’s season had come to a disappointing end and I was looking for my footballing season to continue.

I went online, signed up to the Red Patch Boys forum and managed to link up with Justin who was able to get hold of a ticket for me along with an invite to the pre-game Tail Gate party.

The Tail Gate Party for the British sporting fan is the thing of urban legend — something that happened in another country but was never tried of tested in our shores. It is something you seen in movies about American sports or maybe on camera outside a stadium before the big American Football game kicked off. Fans at the back of their cars, cooking up food on their Barbecue and drinking lots of beer. In Britain the weather never allowed such an event to take place before a football game. I couldn’t imagine standing in a car park near Windsor Park on a Saturday afternoon in mid-November trying to spark up the BBQ while sheltering from the gale force winds and driving rain. On top of that I couldn’t imagine standing in a car park, in Glasgow, in our Rangers tops, doing the same actions in the same weather as a bus full of Celtic fans pulled alongside.

But this day I got to experience my first Tail Gate Party in real life, though there was a lack of beer due to it being illegal to drink alcohol in the streets of Toronto, but that didn’t put me off. I went along to pick up my ticket but also experience the real side of the Toronto FC fans for the first time. What can I say, by the time I finished the first burger I was hooked. The weather was good, the fans in a party mood and everyone chanting songs — back home this would have been seen as a Cup Final day — even the travelling fans from New England had come to join in, a big no-no in certain footballing cultures.

Eventually everyone moved inside the stadium and the first thing that I noticed that I must have forgotten about from my visit eight months before was that they served beer in here. I was used to beer at sporting events from Ice Hockey and Baseball but I had never been to a football match before (other than the last TFC game I suppose) that I could sit/stand in the stands and drink booze.

Sun + Beer + Noisy Crowd + Football = A Dam Good Time

Our seats were in the South Stand … in the corner … near the back … but I soon found out that we wouldn’t be using the seats. Everyone in here stands, much like the Liverpool fans still do to this day in the Kop when they ignore the seats and even ignore calls from the P.A. system to sit down, were on their feet for the full 90-minutes though here in BMO Field they don’t even bother with such announcements to ‘please sit down’.

The section, along with many portions of the ground, was noisy from start to finish, waving numerous flags, chanting Toronto FC songs and cheering on the team. Even the standard was a dramatic improvement on the last visit, much to my delight.

I watched the game intently and although I was thoroughly entertained for 90 full minutes as the team pulled out a fine 3-1 victory, my memories of the day were elsewhere. It was my first ‘official’ induction into the passionate world of Toronto FC coupled with my relaxed, easy-going time at the Tail-Gate Party and my post game drinks in the nearby bar that didn’t see me home until the small hours of the morning that impressed me as much as anything I had seen on the field.

I was certain, so long as I could continue to get a hold of a ticket, that I would be back and when the opportunity may arise in the future I would be purchasing a season ticket. My only regret was that I had missed the first eight home games of the season. Thankfully Justin and his girlfriend Gillian came through in fine style and ensured that I should be able to get a ticket for most of the games the rest of the way through the season.

Protests against the regime

Toronto FC v Los Angeles Galaxy
6/6/09

I got hold of another ticket for the Saturday afternoon game and got down to the stadium good and early to not only take in the atmosphere but to take in a few burgers at the tail-gate party. The team had lost a couple of away games since my last visit but I was still optimistic they could turn it around in front of their own support. It was Los Angeles Galaxy in town minus David Beckham — he was still over in Europe having just finished his season with Milan and now playing World Cup qualifiers with England so without the big draw of ‘Golden Balls’ it probably made it easier for me to acquire a ticket. I didn’t mind whether he played or not and him not playing probably gave Toronto a better chance of winning.

Unfortunately they went behind early and never really recovered. Danny Dichio the fans favourite levelled the score but Los Angeles were the better team throughout and inevitably grabbed their winner.

One thing is common for all football fans the world over, maybe even all sports fans: If your team isn’t winning something then you are never truly satisfied. You find out quick enough as a football fan that the old saying, “You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time”, was written for football supporters.

Before the game I had read rumors that fans were going to boycott wearing their club colours in protest against the ownership of the club. Some fans were even threatening to walk out just before kick-off to show their disgust, but everything I read, all the reasons for the fans anger just didn’t add up to going to such extremes, especially considering the club is in its formative years and obviously trying to find its feet in a competitive league.

For that reason I decided to wear club colours and was a little curious upon heading to the ground if I would be the only one in red? As it turns out not too many fans did protest … one look around the stadium and it was clear to see a sea of red and only a handful walked out of the stadium but it made no noticeable difference.

Poor form, the artificial turf, the price of tickets for the Real Madrid friendly and the lack of a designated player were the main reasons the fans were on edge. But most of these issues had an explanation and gave me no reason to lose faith so soon. I’d only been a ‘proper’ fan a matter of weeks and so walking out was always going to be a little to-much-to-soon for me. But I was amazed that it was to-much-to-soon for anyone considering the team was only two and a half years old. It takes time to put a consistent and winning team on the field and while we all wish the owners would spray the cash around for fun, they are business men at the end of the day and will want the club to stand on its own two feet and make a profit before pouring money back into the team for things like designated players and owning the stadium.

Besides this season is not even a done deal yet. While the club sit 9th out of the 15 teams overall they are just three points back from forth place and five points away from third. The poor showing in the Canadian Cup against lower level teams was disappointing but these things happen in football and the team can do nothing more than learn from them.

The Toronto FC fans are some of the best I have seen in my years of watching all kind of levels of football and they are a lot of fun to go watch games with, and as for entertainment? Well regardless of what happens on the field, these latest rumblings among the fans have certainly gave me plenty to read about and debate about between games and really gave me the opportunity to delve deeply into the core of the club and its fans and that is one of the best things about being a fan of sport and football that not many other walks of life can give. Seriously, if we couldn’t argue, debate and get passionate about our football clubs then all we would have to argue and get worked up about is the amount of tax we pay.

The Miracle in Montreal

Montreal Impact v Toronto FC
18/6/09

My plan was to sit down last night while watching the impossible game against Montreal and write about last Saturday’s victory over New York. I attended the game against New York so it would be the one worth writing about. I mean Toronto had to beat Montreal by four goals to qualify for the North American Champions League and while Montreal were already eliminated and were fielding a weakened team it still looked like an impossible hurdle to overcome. I had some faith that something could happen, I know all to well that Football is a funny old game and two goals by half-time and anything is possible, but when Toronto fell behind 1-0 to an early penalty even the most positive of fans must have considered opening a beer to what might have been.

That’s what I did, I went and opened a beer and thought about what I should write about from the New York game. I had a chance to go to the game in Montreal but couldn’t get three days off of work and so I sadly had to decline the invite, but by now in the game I was beginning to think I made a good choice given that Toronto were losing and it was lashing down on the open stadium and hundreds of TFC fans who had made the trip.

I grew a frustrated; Dwayne DeRosario had misplaced a few passes and the tackle that lead to the penalty for Montreal that lead to the lead was stupid and unnecessary. I seen a shot of the Vancouver coach and his players in the stand, getting wet from the rain but looking content at the fact that even though the team they were due to play in a league game this weekend had fielded half of their reserve team, they were still putting one over on the mighty Toronto FC.

Toronto needed someone to step up and step up quick, if even to avoid complete humiliation. At least get the four goals required and then rue the stupid penalty they had given away, do not go out with your tails between your legs boys. Then Toronto grabbed one from DeRosario who was really starting to pick up his pace and starting to pull his team-mates along with him. By the half they he had scored another and at least given the Toronto fans something to cheer about and at least give the team a victory.

For the first half of the first half Toronto had played well, they had controlled possession, not been troubled in their own end too much and played some very nice football in the middle third. It was breaking into the final third were things had fallen apart and not because of the Montreal defense, but their own incompetency to string the all important passes together. Then suddenly it started to come together when they grabbed the two goals that put them into the lead of the contest but no closer to their goal than they were at the start of the game. Back then they needed four goals in ninety minutes. Now they needed three in just forty-five.

It was those words that brought me right back to 25 May 2005. “They now need three goals to win”. Back then I was referring to Liverpool FC, tonight it was Toronto FC. Back then I had been recording the Liverpool game until half-time when they went in 3-0 behind. I ordered the DVD recorder to be switched off, that it was worthless recording something we’d never watch again anyway. Not a good move I know, but it could have been worse, I could have been one of those fans that left the ground in disgust at half-time … I at least kept the game on the TV, waiting to see my team get thoroughly embarrassed … And then it all turned on its head: Liverpool scored a stunning three goals in less than ten minutes and sent me rolling around on my living room floor. I dived for the DVD recorder to start recording again, but of course it was all to late. The legend had been created and all that was left was to see out the game and watch them win the tournament in a penalty shootout.

If it wasn’t for the lessons learned that night in my living-room in Bangor, Northern Ireland, I might well have just turned on a re-run of Seinfeld and left those at the game to suffer out the ‘we won but we didn’t win by enough’ speech. No, the lesson I had learned was that it was never over, that there was always a chance. So I opened another beer, put off writing about the NY Red Bull’s game, sat down on the sofa and waited to see what Toronto could do with the wind in their sails and forty-five minutes left to save their Champions League dreams.

For me there was more than just the Champions League for Toronto up for grabs. There was less than half-a-dozen games left at home this season already and qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League created the hope of nearly doubling that number of games and giving me much more to watch over the summer.

Then it was 3-1, early in the second half, after just 49 minutes to be exact and it was a DeRosario hat trick, the first hat trick in the history of TFC and timely one at that.

O.K. just two goals now required and a healthy 41 minutes plus added time in which to get them. Toronto were in absolute control, coming forward in droves, playing with just two at the back, creating some golden chances that were being squandered, leaving the Vancouver coach in the stands looking much more nervous now, and the only thing to worry about was being caught on the break and conceding another goal.

Open another beer.

4-1.

What on earth is going on here? I said earlier on that a 4-1 victory would be nice in that they had their four goals and could just blame it all on the stupid penalty that cost them … No, no, that would be way to much pain to come so close and blow it like that. With 21 minutes left on the clock this was very much on. It wasn’t quite the Champions League Final that May night in 2005, but it was turning into one hell of a comeback, regardless of the opposition.

“FIVE-BLOODY-ONE”

I was talking to my girlfriend on the phone, she was on her way home from downtown and had called to see what I was up to and the above were the words I screamed into the phone as the ball hit the back of the onion bag. They had done it, against all the odds, on the back of Dwayne DeRosario and with the momentum of a fantastic set of fans getting soaked to the skin from the Montreal rain. And then it dawned on me. “Why in the name of Danny Dichio was I not there”. Three days off of work was all it required, heck Swine flu is pretty fashionable, that would have got me the required time off and maybe even another week to boot, slash, recover. This was history in the making for Tornoto FC, their biggest win, their first hat trick, a huge comeback, qualification to the North American Champions League preliminary round AND their first trophy — the Canadian Cup.

For a moment I grew a little depressed with myself amid all the glory and excitement and turned to another beer, until Guevara scored his second of the night and Toronto’s 6th to absolutely confirm the victory and the championship and the depression disappeared and I delighted in the moment.

Fair play to the Vancouver coach, he was still standing there while the Toronto players were taking turns lifting their first ever trophy up to their celebrating fans, but I couldn’t tell whether it was the rain dripping down his cheeks or tears? It was definitely fury on his face though, directed right towards the Montreal coach for fielding such a side in what was such a vital match for his club. The morals of that are always up for debate, but this wasn’t the time for a Toronto fan to worry too much about it. No doubt his team could take it out on their rivals during their league matchup in a few days — these scores are better settled on the field anyway.

So I turned off the T.V., finished my beer, dreamed of being in Montreal for a few moments, decided against writing about the New York game last Saturday and headed to bed. It was too wonderful at the moment to put pen to paper and describe this game right away … I’d leave that until tomorrow when I would also check prices for flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico … Toronto FC’s first destination in the North American Champions League.

Out with a wimper

New York Red Bulls v Toronto FC
24/10/09

Toronto’s season came to an abrupt end on Saturday night when they got completely stuffed by the last placed New York Red Bulls 5-0 in a game that had they won they’d have secured a playoff spot. Nothing like a bit of pressure to sort the men out from the boys.

That poor showing brought to an end my first full season as a fan of TFC and it’ll be a season that’ll live long in my memory, not because there was anything spectacular that happened on the field … maybe aside from the big comeback win against Montreal that I watched on my living room sofa, but because it was my first.

I went to the majority of home games through the first half of the season but then with the arrival of visitors from ‘back home’ weekend after weekend I missed a whole host of games through what some fans might call ‘The business end of the season’, when playoff positions are really won and lost. It was disappointing but I continued to keep tabs on the team as they fought bitterly to hold onto a playoff position while doing everything in their might to throw it away.

Even Danny Dichio retired before the entire thing imploded around them, calling it a day for the betterment of the team, allowing them to free up salary cap space to bring in Julian de Guzman. Dichio’s starts appeared to become limited at about the same time as my appearances at games dwindled and I had to resign myself to watching the experienced bald headed proto-typical ‘big man’ forward coming off the bench from time to time. Danny knew his time was up and called it, leaving the sport on his own terms and on good enough terms with the club that he has earned himself some roll behind the scenes.

By the weekend my only chance of seeing TFC again in 2009 was if they made the playoffs and I managed to snag myself a ticket. I got an e-mail from the club a few days before the big game telling me that since my name was on the waiting list for a season ticket that I would be given a ’secret password’ that would allow me to sign on a day or two earlier than everyone else to buy myself playoff tickets. They finished the e-mail by assuring me this wasn’t them jinxing themselves with the decisive game still to come, but rather just doing some sensible prior planning in preparation for the potential rush, if the team won.

Lucky I am not the superstitions type though following that e-mail and then the 5-0 whipping I am reconsidering my stance on superstition. I shouldn’t have believed them for a minute and should have deleted the e-mail without reading it.

I was sitting on my sofa in and around 7 p.m. watching the opening shifts of the Toronto Maple Leafs game — a real beacon of success if ever there was a model for TFC not to follow. I was keeping an eye on the GOL TV channel for the kick-off of Toronto’s game in New York ready to see if they could get the job done. I had already watched three Premier League games earlier in the day and as much I love football, only a positive game for Toronto was going to keep me zoned in on this match.

When the opening exchanges took place I seen straight away the nightmare conditions the players were facing. Not only was the rain beating down with such fury that I had to hear it confirmed by the commentators that the game was indeed taking place in New York and not some monsoon hit jungle in Malaysia, but to make matters worse the game was in Giants Stadium on a field painted in NFL markings with the MLS markings in a yellow paint on the fake turf that was hard to make out. I can only assume it was easier to understand at field level but watching on the TV was a nightmare. I know there have been some historic games played at Giants Stadium and that this was New York’s last before moving into their own ground, but the move cannot come sooner from what I seen. Besides the stadium was 90% empty.

But regardless of the conditions, the NFL markings and the empty stadium, it was the same for both teams and is no excuse for the performance that followed. By the second half I was back watching the Leafs game flicking back to the TFC game every five minutes or so to see what the latest damage was. I gave up at 4-0 and found out the next morning the embarrassment stopped at five.

So no playoff tickets for me and Toronto move into their off season. The beauty of the MLS playing their games through the summer isn’t the golden tan I picked up over the summer months from standing in the open top stand watching them, but that their off season coincides with the bulk of the Premier League season and so unlike friends at home who have to go through the Premier League off-season counting down the days until its return, my football now lasts 12 months per year.

When I started writing a few days ago Toronto’s coach John Carver was still in his job, though all reports suggested he wouldn’t be coming back. As I continue this chapter of my TFC story today he has been released with a new coach pending.

There are many positives to be taken from the season. The big win against Montreal will be the highlight, as will the big defeat to the storied Real Madrid, a game I didn’t attend, not because I couldn’t but because I wasn’t willing to shell out $140 for a seat that normally costs me $25. The biggest positive to be taken from the fans is the steady improvement of the team, they have got better year on year since their first season back in 2007 and there is no reason that will not continue into next season. Of course the biggest concern is what happens if they do not progress and fail to make the playoffs for a forth straight year. The TFC fans have been rightfully patient, giving their brand new team time to get where they want to be. They have accepted the improvements that have came each season but how long will the patience last if they do not make the jump next year?

My own biggest concern is the MLSE company that own the team. They have been a good owner to the club so far but their success stories with their other teams, Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors are nothing to write home about and they are generally regarded as an ownership that, over the years, have not worried too much about the Leafs success just so long as the fans were packing into the seats and the money was coming in.

I hope that wouldn’t be the case here, but lets face it, the fans are packing into the seats. How long will that continue when the team isn’t making the playoffs? Football fans can be a fickle bunch and you have to wonder if many fans are still in the ‘new team honeymoon period’, not yet too concerned about the lack of playoff football?

From what I have seen though, I am not too concerned about fans drifting in big numbers if they do not improve, at least not in the short term, the atmosphere at games is electric to the point that it isn’t just people coming along to see what this ’soccerball’ sport is all about. Generally the fans know the game and there is enough passion in the seats to keep the place bouncing for a long time yet.

Anyway, what does it matter, I think they will improve and this time next year I’ll have my playoff ticket confirmed long before the final game of the season. Oh and they will have real grass as well.