Toronto FC

Toronto FC

Full name	Toronto FC
Nickname(s)	TFC, Reds
Founded	2006
Ground	BMO Field (Capacity: 20,522)
Owner	MLSE
Head Coach	John Carver
League	Major League Soccer
2008	Eastern Conference: 7th Overall: 12th Playoffs: DNQ
First game	Toronto FC 0–2 C.D. Chivas USA (Home Depot Center; April 7, 2007)
Largest win	4–0 vs FC Dallas (BMO Field; June 17, 2007)
Largest defeat	0–4 vs New England Revolution (Gillette Stadium; April 14, 2007)
All-time top scorer	Danny Dichio (11)
Supporters groups	see Toronto FC fans
Honours	None
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Toronto FC is a Canadian professional soccer club located in Toronto, and the first non-American team in Major League Soccer (MLS). The club's first regular season match was April 7, 2007 at Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, a 0–2 loss to Chivas USA. Although they did not make the playoffs, Toronto FC was a financial success in its inaugural season, selling out every home game in the 20,522-seat BMO Field and capturing media attention. Toronto FC sold all of its 14,000 season tickets in the first year and all 16,500 of its second year season tickets. The team's second season saw them host the 2008 MLS All-Star Game at BMO Field and be named a finalist for the 2008 Sports Business Journal Pro Sports Franchise of the Year award.

History

Club Identity

After Toronto's expansion was announced in 2005,^[1] the name of the club was officially announced on May 11, 2006 by the team's owner, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE).^[1] The "FC" in the team's name is the conventional initialism for Football Club, but in official media and documents the team has only been referred to as Toronto FC. Larry Tannenbaum, chairman of MLSE, stated at the team name's unveiling that "I think the way we spell it is 'futbol'."^[2]

The announcement followed an online consultation in which the public was invited to vote on the name during a limited period. The voting options were "Toronto Northmen," "Inter Toronto FC," "Toronto Reds," and "Toronto FC." MLSE's strategy in choosing "Toronto FC" following this process was based on two reasons. Firstly, over 40 percent of the online vote supported the simplified Toronto FC name during the consultation; secondly, MLSE hoped that the fairly generic name would help the new club earn a more organic nickname from the Toronto fans rather than having one imposed upon the club. The team has been called "TFC"^[2][3] and "the Reds"^[4][5] by the media and the club. The official team colours are red, white, dark grey, and light grey.

Toronto FC Supporters

Main article: Toronto FC fans

Richard Peddie, CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. has stated that he and the ownership would be content with between 13,000–15,000 fans per game at Toronto FC home games,^[3] however, this range has been exceeded. The club capped their season ticket sales at 14,000 on March 15, 2007, setting a league record.^[4] For the 2008 season the cap was raised and Toronto FC announced that they have sold 16,500 season tickets and will again sell out every home game. There are 9,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets.

The fans have been called enthusiastic^[6] but excessive^[7] by North American standards. After celebrations during the club's first victory in a MLS match at home to Chicago Fire, the Toronto FC front office sent an email to season ticket holders reminding fans to refrain from throwing objects or running onto the field.^[5][6]

Competitions

Toronto FC play in MLS but are ineligible for the U.S. Open Cup; instead, they took part in the 2008 Canadian Championship, losing out to Montreal Impact in the first edition of the annual tournament to determine the Canadian Soccer Association's representative in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Toronto's league games against Columbus Crew were given special significance in 2008 as the deciding games in the Trillium Cup, a competition decided by the team's regular-season results against each other.^[8] Toronto's 2008 season opener in Columbus was attended by 2000+ travelling fans,^[9] who witnessed a 2-0 defeat en route to losing the first edition of the Trillium Cup.

Ownership and management

Toronto FC are owned and managed by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., who also own and operate the Toronto Maple Leafs, a National Hockey League team; the Toronto Raptors, a National Basketball Association team; and the Toronto Marlies, an American Hockey League team. Along with sports ventures like Leafs TV and Raptors NBA TV, the company is also involved in real estate and property management, owning such sports venues such as the Air Canada Centre and Ricoh Coliseum. Tom Anselmi, COO and executive vice-president of MLSE, has "overall responsibility" for the team^[10] and is an Alternate Governor of MLS, while Director of Soccer Mo Johnston is also club manager (although head coach John Carver performs much of the day-to-day coaching).^[11] Paul Beirne currently serves as Director of Business Operations.^[7]

Television and radio

Toronto FC's opening match against Chivas USA was broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada. On April 11, 2007 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) announced it too had secured rights to broadcast some of the team's matches, along with The Score.^[8] The CBC carried 14 regular-season games in 2007, including the home opener and what had been intended as the MLS debut of David Beckham at BMO Field on August 5.^[12][13][14] Rogers Sportsnet employs Gerry Dobson as play-by-play commentator and Craig Forrest as colour, while James Sharman and Paul James called games on The Score during the first season, while feeds from American broadcasters such as MSG Network, FSN and ESPN 2 were used for the second season. On CBC, Nigel Reed and Jason DeVos handle the broadcasts, with Brenda Irving serving as host and Mitch Peacock performing the sideline role for the national broadcaster.

No radio arrangements have been announced to date.

Head coaches

Coaching history

	Duration	Coach	Seasons		Games	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	GD	W%
1	2006-2008	Mo Johnston	2007	Regular Season	30	6	17	7	25	25	49	-24	20%
				Playoffs	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	---
				Total	30	6	17	7	25	25	49	-24	20%
2	2008-present	John Carver	2008	Regular Season	30	9	13	8	35	34	43	-9	30%
				Playoffs	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	---
				Canadian Championship	4	1	1	2	5	4	4	0	25%
				Total	34	10	14	10	40	38	47	-9	29%

Mo Johnston

Main article: Mo Johnston

• August 25, 2006 to February 1, 2008

Toronto FC confirmed that former Red Bull New York coach Mo Johnston would serve as the first head coach in team history at a press conference in Toronto in August 2006. During the press conference, Tom Anselmi said Johnston "represents the next generation of MLS coaches who have extensive playing experience in Europe and North America".^[9] Johnston's playing career included stints at Celtic, Rangers, and Everton before ending his career with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer and winning the 2000 MLS Cup. At the time of his hiring, Johnston claimed that a "wonderful" assistant coach had already been hired while declining to divulge the person's identity.^[10] This person was later revealed to be former U.S. National Team and Kansas City Wizards coach, Bob Gansler. On February 1, 2008, it was announced that Mo Johnston was moving to become Toronto FC Manager and Director of Soccer.

John Carver

Main article: John Carver (footballer)

• February 1, 2008 to present

John Carver worked on the coaching staff at Newcastle United under Sir Bobby Robson before getting managerial experience as caretaker manager at Leeds United and later as assistant at Luton Town. He was announced as Toronto FC's new head coach in February 2008 with his predecessor Mo Johnston "moving upstairs" into a sporting director role.^[11]

Coaching staff

Chris Cummins

Assistant manager

On May 9, 2008, the club announced the signing of former Luton Town Director of Youth Development Chris Cummins as assistant coach.^[15] Cummins rejoins former Luton colleague John Carver in Toronto. His duties include overseeing the reserve side alongside Nick Dasovic.

Paul Winsper

Strength and Conditioning Coach

On January 11, 2008, the club announced that Paul Winsper had been hired as Strength and Conditioning Coach.^[16][17] In 2007, Toronto's injury woes had quickly exposed their lack of depth, and Winsper, a decade-long veteran with Newcastle United's staff and former colleague of Carver, was brought in to improve the club's fitness. He has previously served as personal fitness guru to David Beckham.^[17]

Eddie Kehoe

Goalkeeping Coach

Kehoe, a former goalkeeper in Ireland, assisted Carmine Isacco with coaching goalkeepers in the team's inaugural season. Isacco's departure at the end of 2007 saw Kehoe, previously editor of Soccer 360 magazine, assume a full-time role as goalkeeping coach.

Malcolm Phillips

Equipment Manager

Phillips hails from Southampton, England, and joined up with Toronto in 2007.

Carmelo Lobue

Athletic Therapist

Lobue was famously red-carded and forced to leave the team's bench during Toronto's home clash with FC Dallas in 2008.^[18]

Dr. Ira Smith

Team Physician

Earl Cochrane

Manager, Team Services

Nick Dasovic

TFC Academy Head Coach, second assistant to the first team

Jason Bent

TFC Academy U-18 Head Coach

Stuart Neely

TFC Academy U-16 Head Coach

Roster

In accordance with MLS policies, Toronto FC is restricted to an 18-man senior roster and a 10-man developmental roster. Like its American counterparts, the squad consists of both domestic and foreign players (though these domestic players are Canadian rather than American).

In 2007, the club was allowed thirteen international players, of which no more than eight could be non-Americans (8+5). Following former coach Mo Johnston's complaints that the player constraints set by the league are too strict, MLS relaxed these regulations for the 2008 season, allowing Toronto FC 16 international players, of which no more than eleven can be non-Americans (11+5). This new measure is to compensate for the smaller talent pool in Canada, thus keeping the league appropriately competitive (American teams are permitted up to eight international players, including Canadian players). Thus, Toronto FC is required to field fewer domestic players than its American counterparts,^[11] and at one point in 2008 had traded for more spots to bring their total number of international spots to 18,^[19] potentially allowing the club to not field a single Canadian player.

Current squad

As of December 2, 2008

No. Position Player 1 GK Greg Sutton 3 DF Julius James 4 DF Marco Vélez 5 MF Kevin Harmse 7 FW Abdus Ibrahim 9 FW Danny Dichio 10 MF Rohan Ricketts 11 MF Jim Brennan (captain) 12 DF Todd Dunivant 14 DF Tyrone Marshall 15 MF Tyler Rosenlund 16 DF Marvell Wynne

No. Position Player 17 MF Joey Melo 18 GK Brian Edwards 19 FW Chad Barrett 20 MF Amado Guevara 25 FW Carlos Ruíz 26 MF Derek Gaudet 27 MF Gabe Gala 28 FW Johann Smith 29 DF Nana Attakora 33 MF Carl Robinson (vice-captain) 36 MF Kilian Elkinson

Notable former players

Main article: Toronto FC appearances

• Jeff Cunningham
• Maurice Edu
• Ronnie O'Brien
• Laurent Robert
• Andy Welsh
• Collin Samuel

TFC Academy

Main article: TFC Academy

The TFC Academy was established in 2008, with Nick Dasovic named as head coach.^[20][21] The squad plays in the National Division of the Canadian Soccer League, the highest professional soccer league within Canada. TFC Academy plays their home games at Lamport Stadium in Toronto.

Stadium

Main article: BMO Field

A packed BMO Field with the CN Tower to the east.

Before the 2007 season started, construction was completed ^[12] on a new stadium at Exhibition Place in Toronto. On September 20, 2006, MLS's official website announced that BMO Financial Group had officially purchased the naming rights for the new stadium.^[13]The stadium holds 20,195 people and is the largest soccer-specific stadium in Canada. As the National Soccer Stadium, it served as a major venue for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, including hosting the opening match and final.

The stadium is owned by the City of Toronto,^[22] while MLSE, the team's owner, operates it.^[23] The cost of the stadium is estimated at $62.5 million.^[24] The 2008 MLS All-Star Game took place at BMO Field, and MLS Commissioner Don Garber has stated that an MLS Cup will also take place there by the year 2012.

Statistics and records

Main article: Toronto FC records

Year-by-Year

Main article: Toronto FC seasons

Average attendance

regular season/playoffs

• 2007: 20,134/missed playoffs
• 2008: 20,108/missed playoffs
• All-Time: 20,121

Honours

For more details on this topic, see Toronto FC seasons.

Canadian Championship:

• Runners up
  

2008

Invitational

Carolina Challenge Cup (pre-season):

• Runners up
  

2007

Texas Pro Soccer Festival (pre-season):

• Third place
  

2008

References

• Toronto FC to join MLS lineup

Footnotes

See also

• Canadian Championship
• Canadian National Team
• Canadian Soccer Association
• Canadian Soccer League
• Toronto Lynx
• Toronto Blizzard
• Trillium Cup
• Former Toronto FC Players

External links

• Official website
• Official website of MLS
• MLS Live

Video

• Press conference announcing the hiring of Mo Johnston (Click on "350k)"

Toronto FC Toronto, Ontario The Club History • Seasons • Records • Players • All articles Stadiums BMO Field • Lamport Stadium (TFC Academy) Culture and Fan Base U-Sector • Red Patch Boys • North End Elite Tribal Rhythm Nation • Ultras 114 Rivalries Columbus Crew • Montreal Impact • Red Bull New York • Chicago Fire Important Figures Jim Brennan • Danny Dichio • Maurice Edu • Mo Johnston • Greg Sutton Key Personnel Owner: Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment • General Manager: Paul Beirne • Director of Soccer: Mo Johnston • Manager: John Carver Major League Soccer • Canada Cup Toronto FC Seasons (2) 2007 • 2008 www.torontofc.ca

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