Most of Toronto FC’s current side wasn’t around for the team’s darkest years. But when the full-time whistle blew on the second leg of the Conference Finals, there were fans looking on from the stands who most definitely were. For those who’d purchased their first season tickets before the club even had an official name, it was a charged moment. “I’m not someone who tears up very easily,” says George Sou, a proud member of the supporters’ group the Original 109. “But every game we got closer [to the Final] you feel that emotion.”
The chance to see their team host the MLS Cup against the Seattle Sounders Saturday night at BMO Field “feels like a reward for all those people who stuck it out,” says Mike Newell, capo for another supporters’ group, the Kings of the North. But after 10 years of pain, TFC’s most rabid fans still had to stick it out for 10 more days—the time between that victory over the Montreal Impact and the Final. Waiting is usually the hardest part, but the Reds faithful used it to develop a plan of attack.
Of course, the first order of business was clear: get tickets.
Since the Final is a MLS event and not run by TFC, many season-ticket holders had to enter a lottery to get seats. What’s worse, supporters’ group members who didn’t own season tickets weren’t guaranteed tickets at all. The increase in demand saw seats that would normally go for $50 soar as high as $1300 on secondary ticket sales sites. In the supporters’ section at the south end of the field, tickets could climb to 10 times their face value as scalpers attempted to sell the experience of watching amongst the hardcore fans—even if that practice priced out many of the fans that have shed blood, sweat and tears with the club.
Still, the exorbitant costs of supporting their team both home and away are nothing new. “For banners and travel and everything, you’re looking at over $5,000—closer to $10,000” Sou calculates. “It’s not something you think twice about spending because you’re so passionate about it. I don’t think about financials. I do it, it makes me feel happy.”
Ticketing hassles aside, that happiness is now multiplied by the long-awaited return on their investment. And make no mistake, Saturday will still be the supporters’ moment.
All six supporters’ groups will collaborate on a banner for the Final—one that will cover the entire South End. The groups will also congregate in Liberty Village, a residential area just north of BMO Field, and march in unity to the pitch.
“Football is a way of life,” Sou says, explaining the fans’ passion. “The city is very ethnic. I think TFC, from day one all cultures could connect with it.”
Newell agrees, though he also believes it has as much to do with the nature of the game as it does the place. “Football is the most tribalistic sport left on earth,” he says. “Once you’re a supporter of a team, you don’t change, you don’t half-support this team and half-support another. It’s like the Raptors and Jurassic Park. You’ve waited so long for a team, when you get one that represents you, you want to see them do well. You want to express the joy that they bring you, so that’s why we see these mass gatherings with Jurassic Park and it relates to TFC supporters in the same way.”
And what will their reaction be if the fairy tale comes true and the Reds win on home soil?
“I’m just hoping I don’t have a heart attack,” Sou says. “I’m going to drop the ground and start crying or go nuts. It is just something I don’t want to jinx right now.”
Newell looks to the bigger picture: “If they’re up in the 90th minute and it’s clear they are going to win, I think you’ll see a joy most Toronto sports fans are not used to seeing.”
