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All together now, breath in, and sing the most important part of the song:
Ready?
“FIVE, A-C-Cs!! Four midfielders, three smart picks, two centerbacks, and a winterized BMO Field!”
Phew.
With five days of Christmas wishes down, we look back at four of the highest points in Toronto FC’s short history – their four consecutive Amway Canadian Championship titles, from 2009-2012. Each championship has netted TFC the Voyageurs Cup, keeping silverware at BMO Field year after year.
With the 2013 season set to start in a few months, Toronto FC has to prioritize the season – to assume the club can vie for both the Amway Canadian Championship and the MLS Cup is foolish; playoffs may still be a year away, but with the proper direction under club president Kevin Payne, Toronto FC can, at the very least, round off their Canadian triumph(s) with a fifth Canadian championship title.
It would also serve to continue to foster a club culture of winning, of tangible success, something that this club may be low in confidence on. The problem with surviving a season like the one Toronto FC had in 2012 is that it demoralizes the team and puts doubt into players’ minds. With a successful foray in the Amway Canadian Championship, not only does Toronto FC get that much-needed boost of confidence again, they also do something far, far more satisfying – keep the media gaze off of Vancouver and Montreal.
The beauty of a national championship is that the winner gets the title as that country’s best team, and that leaves a handful of teams left as losers. The difference between Canada and, say, England or Spain, is that Canada boasts only a handful of teams to begin with; that means that the rivalries are deeper, the results that much more painful.
Should Toronto FC fulfil this wish and pick up their fifth consecutive Amway Canadian Championship, they have five years’ worth of bragging rights; how many teams can say they have won five trophies in a row in Major League Soccer? Exactly zero teams, that’s how many. Toronto FC would, technically, be the most successful club in the history of the league in terms of championship titles won per year over the course of their history. They would boast five years’ worth of wins.
Playoffs may be the focus but the ACC provides Toronto FC with a certain beauty of its own. It’s a sweet gift for a club that has been presented with the cup for four years.
And, one more time, now:
“On the fifth day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC – Five ACCs!”
(It has a good ring to it, too – five times champions).
Related:
• On the 4th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Four Midfielders
• On the 3rd day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Three Smart Drafts
• On the 2nd day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Two Centerbacks
• On the 1st day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: A Winterized BMO Field
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