Great Canadian Soccer Road Trips: Take Me To Boston

USector In Boston

By Kris Fernandes

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Another Great Canadian Soccer Road Trip

On a Friday night, most people usually go out for dinner or take in a movie. Some even head out to a club for a drink and dance it out. But for a group of 60 die-hard soccer supporters in Southern Ontario, they decided to add all those elements of a fun night out and put it on a bus where they engaged in a raucous 11-hour journey to the Boston area to catch the Toronto FC vs New England Revolution match.

At midnight, folks leaving movie theatres were left wondering what on earth was going as they saw these super-supporters decked out in red scarves and jerseys, banging on drums and unraveling gigantic flags in the middle of the parking lots.

The trip was thrown together by the USector, Toronto FC’s largest supporters group. They have gone on trips before but never of this size and never for TFC who had played their first ever match only the previous week.

The bus cruised along towards the border at Buffalo as the fans boisterously sang songs while indulging in more than a few drinks. One fan in particular missed the stop in Mississauga, ON but drove his own car across the border to catch the bus. He left his car in the middle of a parking lot not knowing if it would be towed away. Hailing from Japan, the fan simply known as Tac barely speaks a lick of English, yet showcased as much dedication as any of the Canadian-born fans.

When asked why he made the extra effort to get on the bus he proudly proclaimed, “I go on bus to Boston for TFC, yeah!”. Even the traditionally-strict US Customs officer mustered out a laugh as he heard what Tac had done.

Like Tac, a lot of the U-Sector road trippers had never met one another before but were all connected and united in their undying love for the beautiful game through the fan website. Daily, they spend hours on the site talking all things soccer, and after generating enough members they ended up selling over 200 season tickets in section 113 of BMO Field, Toronto FC’s newly built home stadium.

After partying hard – and treating Tac like royalty – until the early hours of the morning, they arrived in Boston with baggy eyes and cracked voices. The first order of the day was to have a pint at the famous bar, Cheers. Their excitement was short-lived however as the bar bore little resemblance to the one featured on the popular 80’s TV sitcom, and even with three floors it was still too small for the entire group.

The group then trekked around Boston on foot, taking in the gorgeous scenic route along the main river marching towards another famous Boston landmark, Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox Baseball Club. Locals frequently stared them at as the possibility of soccer fans emerging in their baseball town seemed rather outrageous.

One observer bellowed, “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the Blue Jays?

“Naw, we don’t like watching slow sports,” replied one U-Sectorite. The local then looked at him as if he were an alien; shocked that one would call baseball boring in ‘Beantown’.

With the soccer game only a few hours away, they fuelled up on beer while bowling at a tremendously oversized bar overlooking the “Green Monster”, the legendary outfield wall inside Fenway Park.

After throwing a few strikes and downing a few pints of Sam Adams, it was back to the now semi-destroyed bus to head to the TFC match.

The faces of many dropped and pressed against the windows as they approached the gigantic Gillette Stadium. Home to the New England Patriots of the NFL, it still hosts the Revolution until a new stadium is built for the team. MLS is focusing on developing soccer-specific stadiums to enhance the atmosphere at games but sharing facilities built for American football with NFL teams is still common throughout the league.

The bus unloaded as the crew marched around the stadium, singing in unison, to the tune of “Jesus Christ Superstar”; “T-O-R, O-N-T, oh oh oh oh TFC!”; or my personal favourite, “We don’t pay for healthcare na na na na.”.

Like the fans outside of Fenway, this shocked the soccer locals that were only used to witnessing this display of passion for the Patriots and Red Sox. Many pulled out their cell phones and cameras to take pictures and videos as they grudgingly nodded in approval.

The game itself was a bust for Toronto FC as they were dismantled 4-0. But that didn’t stop the fans, oh no. To travel so far and sing for a few minutes would have been a waste of time and money. From before kickoff to the final minute they sang joyfully at the top of their lungs, as more than 18,000 fans from around Massachusetts were simply astonished. Many watched the Canadians instead of the game itself; waiting to see which witty chant they would conjure up next. Quite a few invited the visitors for a beer afterwards and even the New England television commentator expressed his deep admiration for such an enthusiastic and devoted following.

After the match, Toronto FC striker Alecko Eskandarian made his way over to the corner to thank the supporters and apologized profusely on behalf of the team for such a dismal performance. Instead of berating him and the team the group applauded his honesty and thanked him for a hard day’s work.

So as the bus rolled back towards Toronto, the look of satisfaction on the faces of the TFC loyal was evident. Indeed they were sad about the loss, but confident that this trip was the beginning of something special, something grand and desperately needed in the Toronto sporting scene.

Whether kickoff starts at 3PM or 3AM, you can bet your last dollar that the boys and girls of U-Sector and the other Toronto FC supporters groups will be there to cheer on the team, win or lose. There is no question that that kind of loyalty will inspire a team hoping to make professional soccer a staple in Canada and a city dying for a major sports championship.

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