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As the end of another brutal season – and more importantly, the time for season ticket renewals – is upon us, Toronto FC announced it would be turning back time to year one seat prices. This means it will cost 20 dollars for my father and I to watch each game – I’d say that’s a fair price.
I remember the first time prices were this low, I was 14 years old.
I remember when I thought beers being hurled down on whoever it was that scored against us in the 2007 home opener was the funniest thing I had ever seen.
I remember Danny sliding the ball in against Chicago, the seat cushions flying and thinking there was nowhere in the world I’d rather be. I’m now constantly trying to remember this feeling.
I remember passing the giant Toronto FC banner over our heads.
I remember when beer sales got cut off in our section because it was too rowdy.
I remember when Landycakes Donovan got covered in pink streamers.
I remember when the stadium looked like 20,000 floating scarves while the national anthem played.
I remember singing the national anthem at the 2008 All-Star Game after they only played the British and American ones.
I remember thinking opposing goalies could have laid harassment charges for the things we chanted at them.
I remember when we used to be able to use “Oh it’s just year one”, or two, or three as an excuse.
How did it come to this? From packing the Sky Dome (err...Rogers Centre), to feeling like the numbers were rounded up a few thousand when attendance is announced at the end of the game. From not being able to find a single ticket on game day, to not being able to give one away. From 20,000 voices chanting in unison, to one guy a couple of rows back yelling, “I’ve got the whole row to myself!”.
I can’t miss team success down at BMO field, but I do miss when we were the best fans in MLS. In 116, we used to have the same fans every game, now it has been taken over by sitters, some of whom have complained to us for standing.
Over six seasons, people have come and gone, but there has been cluster of regulars in our row who have turned into friends over the years. No matter how badly we did on the field, you could always count on a good time because of these people. I can’t remember the last time we all showed up.
We have the guy who supports Coventry City FC, his wife and their daughter, Chloe, may be four but has been coming since she could stand.
There’s the son and his mother who always asks what my name is again, but I can never bring myself to ask hers.
The bulk of our rows are taken by a group of friends who are probably somewhere in their twenties. They include James, who always had a cap and sunglasses on no matter what and cheered Eckersley as king of the gingers.
Then there’s the guy who I think they call Cosby, whose forte was mocking other people’s chants and letting referees know their performance was sub-par at best. Next is Noel, always there when you want someone to actually talk soccer with.
Tying them – and our rows – together is Big John who always started chants too offensive to put on paper. His real specialty though, was leading us in a “He’s a paaaaaart-time supporter!” when anyone passed our rows toward the exit before the game was over. Now we’re lucky if John shows.
“It took six years, but they finally broke my spirit,” he semi-jokingly commented during the last home game (that horrible 1-0 loss to D.C., in case you forgot).
A recent tweet from The Yorkies 1812 blog summed the situation up nicely:
“BMO Field now officially one of those half-empty MLS stadiums that BMO Field used to make fun of.”
The fact that this is just one sob story that sounds like thousands of others from all over the stadium is clearly a huge problem, and today MLSE has taken a first step to reconciliation. As fans, we have made it clear TFC will not be another Maple Leafs – where team success and ticket prices are absurdly on opposite sides of the spectrum.
However, ticket prices will never take the place of team success. This is only a first, small, step towards the vision we all had for Toronto FC six seasons ago. It shows that MLSE may actually respect fans (or at least they want to look like they do). They have a long way to go.
But this is a start. A start that gives me hope, though I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode where George exclaims to Jerry,
“I don’t want hope, hope is killing me. My dream is to become hopeless.”
While hope is slowly killing me, as it has done to many other TFC supporters, it’s the only thing I have left. And I’m keeping it.
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