Toronto FC fans
TORONTO – When Jim Brennan returned home from a decade playing in England to lead Toronto FC in its inaugural MLS season, the defender from Newmarket, Ont., said he never quite imagined the reception he would receive.
It took his breath away.
"I’ll never forget that first game, when I walked out against Kansas City, and to see 20,000 people stand up and sing the national anthem, with their scarves in the air, it was something else, it’s something that will stick with me," Brennan said Thursday.
Toronto FC wrap up their first season when they host the New England Revolution at BMO Field on Saturday. It’s been a roller-coaster campaign for the first-year team, which was struck by several devastating injuries, a long losing streak, and a goalless drought that set an MLS record for futility.
But off the pitch, Toronto has drawn near capacity crowds from that first game on, and the players rave about the support they’ve received in this soccer-starved city.
"It means everything to us," said Brennan, the first player signed to Toronto FC. "When you go down to a place like Kansas City and you walk out and there’s only a couple thousand people, it’s hard to get yourself going for games like that.
"But when you come here and you’re playing in front of a home crowd of 20-odd thousand people, passionate fans that we have, it means everything to us."
Toronto (6-17-6) heads into its final game tied for last in the MLS with Real Salt Lake. New England (14-8-7) is headed for the playoffs, facing the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Toronto fared well until early July when it went into a tailspin, going 0-8-4 to drop to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The new team was outscored 17-3 in those 12 games, including an MLS record 824 minutes without a goal.
It wasn’t pretty. The losses piled up as several key players went down with injuries, including strikers Jeff Cunningham and Danny Dichio and winger Ronnie O’Brien.
"We kind of started on a good run and we thought maybe we could push for the playoffs," said Dichio. "I know people say sometimes it’s an excuse, but we’ve had some major injuries to very important players on the team, and that always causes unrest and a little bit of misfortune, and you could see the drop in our results."
Head coach Mo Johnston has promised to shore up his roster so he won’t be caught short-handed again. To that end, the coach brought in Serbian forward Savo Milosevic for an audition. Milosevic, who played with Osasuna of Spain’s La Liga last season, practised with Toronto on Thursday, and his ability to finish around the net was obvious.
"We have anywhere between 20 and 25 names we’re looking at and it’s a good chance to get a look at a good striker," said Johnston. "You could see in his finishing, his finishing is quality."
With some help on the way, Dichio is excited about the prospects for his team next season.
"If we can get a good playoff game here, and obviously do well as a team next year, this roof will come off I think," said Dichio.<
The 32-year-old former Millwall forward has the honour of being the first player to score for Toronto FC, with a strike in the 24th minute on May 12 in the team’s first win – 3-1 over the Chicago Fire.
FC fans commemorate the goal at every home game, singing the Danny Dichio song in the 24th minute.
"They’ve got my two young boys (Franco and Luca) singing it now at home when I’m trying to go to sleep so I blame (the fans) for all my headaches at home," Dichio said, laughing. "No, it’s fantastic to be recognized by the team and I’m a humble guy, but it’s a nice feeling when the fans are singing your song."
Toronto FC, the first non-American team in the MLS, has averaged about 20,000 fans – among the top in the league – and sold a league-record 14,000 seasons tickets in its first season.
The franchise was a long time coming for soccer fans here, said Andrea Lombardo, a Toronto native and FC forward.
"The fact that Toronto had a team in every major league, and the fact there’s the MLS and there wasn’t a team in Toronto, it was something that everyone was waiting for," said Lombardo. "Soccer is the biggest sport in the world and the No. 1 sport in Toronto and in Canada, participation-wise. Everyone was just waiting for it. They were dying to come out and watch a soccer game, rather than having to watch it on TV at home."
Despite the sketchy results on the pitch this season, the fact they’re part of soccer history in Toronto isn’t lost on the 20-year-old Lombardo and his teammates.
"Whenever there’s an expansion team, it’s always something special, it’s history, being on the first roster of a first-year team," said Lombardo. "Hopefully in 50, 60 years, Toronto FC will still be around and they’ll look back and there will be the first-year roster and my name will be there, and that’s something to be proud of."
Source: www.tsn.ca
