I recently started a new job working for a financial institution on Bay Street in downtown Toronto. Next door is First Canadian Place Tower, the HQ of Toronto FC sponsor, the Bank of Montreal.

Earlier this afternoon TFC held it’s annual season “kick-off” event with the players and coaching staff being introduced along with the Voyageurs Cup on display. Being in the office tower next door I thought, why not…. Let’s go over on my lunch break and check it out.

The Coaching staff and players were introduced to the crowd to generally warm applause. Tom Anselmi and DeRo spoke to the crowd (which appeared to be well over 1,000 in number) and offered up their thanks and generic rah rah hopes for the season. The players also were seated in tables of four and settled in for over an hour to give autographs to fans.

Mo Johnston was nowhere to be seen, but Jimmy Brennan was lingering around the back of the stage chatting with a few staffers.

Sad Realities – Nametags and Photographs

After the speeches the players were hustled off to the side of the room and were seated in group of four to a table. Then fans lined up to get their chance to get things like soccer balls, scarves, jerseys and posters signed by the players.

And this was for me the saddest part of all. The saddest part of the event was that at each table there was a little card on the front stating the player’s names next to a photograph of them.

Here we are in year four of this journey and we need bloody place-cards with photographs on them in order to identify who our players are!

Unbelievable.

This has to be one of the most severe indictments of the job that Mo Johnston has done with this club. Many dedicated knowledgeable fans from supporters groups were there that I am sure follow their club religiously. And even they needed to see photos in order to know who they were getting autographs from. A fourth year club should not feel like an expansion team all over again. TFC year 4 certainly does.

Video from today: