Whole Hog -- The Birth of Toronto FC

When in February 2003, the Canadian Soccer Association broke the MLS taboo and admitted they wanted into the American pro-soccer league, few would have imagined 20 000 young fans chanting and singing at every match in four years' time. The headline, tucked in the back pages of the Globe and Mail sports section, probably drew little attention. Those that did bother to read the missive would likely have scoffed in indignation -- why go through all this agony for a sport no one would want to watch at home? Hadn't we had enough pro-soccer failure in Toronto?

The city had some bright lights pulling for the move, among them the Globe's Stephen Brunt, who was one of the few (if only) pundits who predicted the club would take off with a younger generation brought up watching club football on cable without deep-seated childhood memories of 'Old Country' glory holding them back. But overall the mood among sports professionals was at best cautious, at worst, outraged.

When Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment announced their intention to meet MLS Commisioner Don Garber's requirements for an MLS franchise, including the construction of a soccer-specific stadium, it renewed a long relationship in Toronto between soccer and hockey. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the darling of Steve Stavro, the same man who helped convince Sir Stanley to help out little Toronto City back in 1961, and it was fitting that MLSE CEO Richard Peddie ran with the CSA's desire to bring the MLS to Toronto against the many, many naysayers who had no time for another boondoggle in our backyard.

The road was long and arduous, filled with bureaucratic back-biting, financial pitfalls and political point-scoring (you can read all about it if you dare). The suburban right-leaning city council members played cheap for the sticks (a running-gag since the city amalgamated in 1998), no one could agree on location, and some left-wing critics did not like the idea of a public/private partnership. Meanwhile, the Toronto press, local North American sports-journo bore Dave Perkins, did some heavy-duty sniping as a deal slowly rose to the surface. The city was pissing its money away he said, no one would come to watch he said, look at the MLS' numbers down south he said.

By October 2005, Garber got tired of waiting for the MLSE and the city to sort itself out, and imposed an end-of-month deadline. Readers of this series will know the real miracle isn't that Toronto FC would sell it's season tickets before its first kick-off, but that the city's soccer organizers finally managed to agree on a co-financing plan for the stadium. This was something new in the annals of soccer administration in the city of Toronto -- consensus. It may not have been a coincidence that the slogan for ticket adds is "All For One."

We know how all the rest unfolded. The announcement was made, the franchise named six months later, and an internet following began on sites like this. There were no Steve Stavros or David Forsyths there to witness the throngs descend on BMO Field on April 28 2007 for Toronto FC's first home game, and it's hard to know what they and all of Toronto's football-faithful who struggled against war, politics, racism and indifference to push for the game we all love in the city they called home, would make of it all. One thing they would agree on; football wasn't coming home -- it had been loved, neglected, gloried, and shamed for over one hundred years, while we were busy making other plans...

I'd like to dedicate this series to the memory and spirit of David Forsyth. A More Splendid Life will round things off tomorrow with a brief discussion on the importance of soccer history in Toronto and North America. Some thanks now, to pitchinvasion.net, runofplay.com, thisisextratime.com, theoffside.com and The Voyageurs for posting much-appreciated links, to the Soccer Hall of Fame, particularly John Vanderkolk and Bill Hoyle, to you the reader, and most of all, to Colin Jose, without whose efforts this series, and indeed most of what we know about the roots of soccer in North America, would not exist. We need many, many more like him, else this rich heritage disappear. I will continue working with the Soccer Hall of Fame over the next few months so expect periodic forays into Canadian soccer history...