This was supposed to be the year everything was to change, but another miserable Toronto FC season drew to a close with a futile 1-0 loss to New England Revolution last Saturday (October 25). Cold comfort for fans and TFC their final game was on the road.
During their last home game at BMO Field a week earlier, fans booed them off the pitch and held up signs proclaiming the year a “Bloody Big Bust,” following another half-hearted effort, this time a 1-1 draw against the Montreal Impact. The resulting chatter on Twitter was equal parts frustration and sarcastic humour among some of the team’s biggest boosters. Even reporters covering the game in the press box got into it.
CBC Metro Morning host and longtime TFC fan Matt Galloway called it a “big bloody disappointment.” Others remarked on the likelihood of a bonfire with players’ jerseys.
Armed with the largest payroll in Major League Soccer, and after the Big Bloody deal that brought in Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley and was supposed to lift TFC to respectability, the team failed to make the playoffs for the eighth year in a row. To add insult, TFC looked lacklustre losing seven of their last 13 games. It’s fitting now that Defoe’s departure after just one season is all but confirmed.
But there were other headscratchers. The firing of Coach Ryan Nelsen midway through the season while the team was enjoying some success with a .500 record, among them. It’s all very familiar to TFC fans.
What happened?
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertaintment CEO Tim Leiweke smiled like a king as fans cheered Defoe and Bradley’s unveiling at Real Sports Bar and Grill last January. And TFC fans were back after seven seasons of futility, their excitement heard at BMO Field and felt at the ticket gates and concession stands. Leiweke’s moves now appear to be more about making a splash to prove the worth of his hiring. (He announced in August he would be leaving MLSE.)
Indeed, Leiweke’s tune began to change during TFC’s slide, a direct contrast to the braggadocio he showed before the season. He’s making yet another ambitious guarantee in the event Defoe goes. More salt on gaping wounds of TFC fans?
At this point, management should probably forget sending season ticket holders a Christmas card. No more promises, slogans or appeals. No more hokey new advertising campaigns to sell tickets. No more pandering. If TFC fans walk away, “fair play” as soccer pundits might say.
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