TORONTO — I was talking to a Canadian international recently who told me that he, along with many others, disliked playing at BMO Field, the home of Toronto FC.
One of the main and obvious problems with the ground is that it’s open to Mother Nature’s elements. Being in the stands certainly isn’t suitable for vegetarians: I’ve swallowed all manner of insects, from the irritating and unforgiving sprightly specks that are fruit flies, to creatures so large and bug-eyed that their nearest relative must be Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil.
And if you’re not coughing up abdomens and wings, you’re shaking like a defecating dog in Nunavut. After all this time it still catches me by surprise. Even though my journey to BMO starts at Ossington and Dundas, a mere three kilometres away, I’ll arrive to the stadium with my mum’s voice ringing in my ears, “You should’ve packed a jumper, Daniel!’
In the early and latter parts of the MLS season, the wind may be less laden with insects, but it’s still bloody freezing. The relentless wind whips around the stadium and, if it’s accompanied by rain, you have no chance for escape — you’re splattered at all angles by massive blobs.
On summer nights, you’re going to get struck by lightning, or at the very least find yourself cowering underneath the stands while the end of the world passes over. Not putting a roof on the stadium is definitely an error in such a changeable climate.
From a fans’ perspective, the only gripe I can add is the price of beer. It’s going to get worse: next season Carlsberg is ousted and the club’s main beer will instead be Budweiser. King of Beers? No chance.
The above points — well, excluding the beer moan — mean BMO Field can’t be great to play in. Long balls go astray in the wind and, when supporters find time to defend themselves from Toronto’s adverse weather conditions, their encouragement escapes between the stands or above.
The Vancouver Whitecaps’ impressive BC Place has a plastic pitch, so the only feasible non-artificial pitches available are BMO Field and Montreal Impact’s newly improved Saputo Stadium. Therefore, there will be many more Toronto outings on the international calendar.
Home sides at BMO Field should learn to use the uncomfortable aspects to their advantage. Players of fourth-tier Accrington Stanley in Lancashire, England get used to the wobbly pitch and the shabby surroundings, and use it as a tool to unsettle their visitors — it’s known to be a bad away day, and Stanley make the most of this.
So it seems like I’ve come to a rather strange conclusion. For an away team, there is definitely such a thing as a bad ground. For the likes of Houston Dynamo, leaving the desert heat for Toronto’s uncovered BMO Field in October wouldn’t be particularly appetizing.
However, a home team should never be unsettled in their own backyard. They should thrive in these conditions.
So my message to Toronto FC and Canadian national team players is this: BMO Field isn’t a bad ground at all.
Get on with it.
Daniel Rouse is a columnist and podcaster for Red Nation Online, and a short story writer. He moved from England in 2011. Follow him on Twitter.