TFC Supporters -The Biggest Fish?

A few years ago when MLSE announced the purchase of an MLS franchise, many football fans in Toronto, myself included, suspended the usual MLSE-bashing due to the sheer excitement of being awarded a real team in a major league. After a few days I thought "well that's great but surely they will screw this up". I envisioned cheerleaders, a big fluffy mascot and a terrible name such as Toronto Strikers, T-Rexx or Ex-Treme! However, as we know, MLSE actually did things right. A real club name, proper kits with a sponsor on the front and an atmosphere at our real football stadium which was cultivated along with the supporters and not forced down our throats with canned cheering and animated clapping hands telling us to "Make Some Noize!!!". They even hired a football man to run the show. Surely the snickers we heard from NY Red Bulls fans about his appointment were just jealousy - right? For those of us who had grown up attending matches abroad in established leagues, we finally had a club of our own. The disbelief continued to be suspended.

The massive waves of excitement surrounding the club's first season did little to quell our appreciation to the previously maligned corporation. Most of us had suppressed that little voice in our head telling us that we were inevitably going to become "Leafs on Turf". Despite the terrible football of the first couple of seasons, the majority of us had a level of forgiveness towards MLSE and knew they wouldn't dare pull the same stunts they had been doing with Leafs and Raptors' fans. Right? It was in the second year though when cracks started to form. Promises of exotic players from South American scouting trips; big investments with the cash we got after selling our most promising player; not-so-subtle hints of a DP in the days leading up to season ticket renewals; and grass - beautiful real green grass to lure great players here. Supporters couldn't help but get excited but these promises disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared - coming and going on the wind depending on that week's results. TFC win: no need to say anything. 3 losses in a row and no goals: rumour has it an International captain/Brazilian wonder kid/World Cup hero is in town on trial and he drove in on a truck with fresh real grass and a construction crew to expand BMO Field. For supporters who were reading between the lines - cracks were emerging.

As Season 3 approached, the purchase of Dwayne DeRosario gave us a whisper of optimism but not long into the campaign, the cracks became larger and more evident. Halfway through the 2009 campaign, it is fair to say that things have gone from glass half-full to grass half-empty quickly. At the time of writing, our tough talking coach, John Carver, abruptly quit under very odd circumstances; the massive holes in our back line are only overshadowed by one of the worst strike forces ever seen in professional football; our pitch looks like a green pair of old man's slacks and now has very visible lacrosse markings on it; our Director of Soccer only appears once a year like a groundhog (except his appearance usually marks 6 weeks until the end of a season without playoffs) and he somehow can't find any suitable players to fit within acres of cap-room; we are all but eliminated from CONCACAF Champions' League by lower division rivals - again; and most obviously, TFC seems to be hitting it's annual mid-season collapse. Sadly, these are not the worst things happening at Exhibition Place.

The most alarming development has been the gradual gap which is widening between the club and its most loyal supporters. The close relationship which was seemingly cultivated for three years has been damaged badly by the Real Madrid friendly-fiasco. The money grabbing move immediately undid MLSE's image as a patron of football and TFC and exposed them as the same group who have been fleecing Raptors' and Leafs' fans for years. The insertion of one-day-only grass has even angered their star player DeRo who feels disrespected by the move. Add to the list a feeling from certain supporters that players aren't as available as they were before; pushing of Marlies' tickets onto ticket packages; hard line security crackdowns at the stadium; blaming the City of Toronto for every ill of the stadium despite having a lucrative lease which no doubt comes with a level of influence; and worst of all, the inevitable fact that in a few short weeks, 2010 ticket packages will be announced with the equally inevitable price increase.

These frustrating facts can only make the loyal supporter ask - was MLSE's good will and football-friendly decision making truly benevolent or are we in the middle of a 3-year marketing plan that has reeled us in to the point where our loyalty to the club is being used against us? Is the real corporate monster about to be unleashed with the supporter's only remaining choice being go to matches and revel in mediocrity or say goodbye to a club you've taken on as your own? It is at MLSE's peril if they take that route because as much as their bottom line would have them believe now, Toronto FC are not "Leafs on Turf"and the casual football supporter will not wait 44 years for a cup.