TORONTO – If you build it, they will come.
Maybe like Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella in the iconic film “Field of Dreams,” Toronto FC president Bill Manning heard a voice and decided to build something for which up until this year the club had little use.
When he first came to Toronto last October, Manning talked about the need to change the culture of a franchise known for its failures on and off the pitch since it entered Major League Soccer in 2007. To that end, Manning ordered that a trophy case be built inside the team’s training facility. The individual glass cabinets are carved into the main wall of the players’ lounge with the titles “Canadian Championship,” “MLS Cup,” and “CONCACAF Champions League” printed just above them.
The three cabinets are unmistakable and unavoidable. Every time a player goes into the lounge to shoot a game of pool, or just relax on one of the couches, they face those cabinets. Since June, the Voyageurs Cup has rested comfortably in the cabinet to the left. Next season, who knows, maybe they can win the CONCACAF Champions League and put the trophy in the third cabinet. But it’s the empty second cabinet, the one labelled “MLS Cup,” that is the most important.
Toronto FC can fill that middle cabinet with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy if it beats the Seattle Sounders in Saturday’s MLS Cup final at BMO Field. In they do win, TFC would become the first Canadian team in the history of the league to hoist the championship trophy.
One of the reasons behind Manning’s bold move in building those trophy cabinets was to motivate. The message got through to the players. The trophy cabinets have been built—now it’s time to fill them.
“It was cool to see them do that. We filled the Canadian Championship spot, and our goal is to fill the MLS Cup spot. It’s served as a reminder each day of what we’re chasing, and of what this club’s ambitions are,” goalkeeper Clint Irwin said.
“We’re one game away from it. It was a goal that we set out at the start of the season, to win [MLS Cup], and we have a great opportunity to do it [on Saturday].”
Manning’s trophy cabinet initiative was also a statement of intent, and has become a symbol of the culture change at TFC. If you build a trophy case, trophies will come. That was Manning’s thinking. From the outside looking in, that seems a tad presumptuous, especially for a team with Toronto FC’s track record. But that’s the entire point. If you act like a winner, you’ll become a winner.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney recognized what Manning was trying to do right from the start.
“It was a sign of the direction that we are headed and where we want to go. You have a trophy case and the purpose of it is to put trophies into it. We’ve got a group that is motivated and capable of doing it,” Vanney said.
“Bill, in particular, was adamant that we needed a special place where we could look at it and say, ‘this is where that trophy goes.’ We’re all behind that, and that’s what our goal is. We put the Canadian Championship in one, and now it’s time to seek out the MLS Cup. It’s time to fill that cabinet.”
Those trophy cabinets not only serve as a symbol of the championship club TFC aspires to become, but also as a reminder of the team they once were—the one that was an embarrassment and the laughing stock of MLS for the longest time. Nobody wants to go back to those days, and the dual message behind those trophy cabinets hasn’t been lost on Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio, one of Toronto’s longest-serving players.
“You obviously spend a lot of your focus on the game on Saturday. But this week, I couldn’t help but reminisce about everything this team has been through, especially since I’ve been here. All the change and how we’ve grown, it’s crazy how far we’ve come in a pretty short time. It’s been an incredible journey,” Osorio told Sportsnet.
As amazing as this has been for TFC there is a real sense within the organization that the journey won’t end on Saturday, even if the Reds win. With three Designated Players in Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore still in their respective primes, solid depth and a balanced roster from front to back, Toronto FC appears built for long-term success.
“That’s what the goal is, that’s what we’ve been built for; not just be successful for one year, but for several years. I think we’re in a position to do that. We have a good young core, a lot of veterans who are not at the end of their careers. It’s a very good mix,” Osorio said.
It was a sentiment echoed by GM Tim Bezbatchenko.
“That’s the plan, that’s the hope and that’s the feeling around here—that we can contend for years,” Bezbatchenko told Sportsnet this week.
“I don’t think when you’re on top you can be stagnant—I think you have to change, and things will change, things you can’t control. Players find form, they lose form, so we [must] be cognizant of that and try our best to stay ahead of the curve. But as of right now, I think there’s a very good chance this team can be competitive for many years.”
This playoff run isn’t a one-off—it’s a starting point. The Reds can be a MLS Cup contender over the next few seasons. That’s what they truly believe. Manning’s trophy case project worked—the culture of Toronto FC has changed.
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