The decade without a name review: Part III - The day the club game mattered

No. 8 - July 22, 2008 - Montreal wins Voyageurs Cup in front of hostile Toronto crowd



It mattered. There were 20,000 people in attendance. The atmosphere was every bit the same as a cup final anywhere in the world. You had all the drama that make cups what they are -- a hugely popular "big" club that is hated as much as it is loved taking on the plucky underdog.

There was an edge in the air. Traveling support from Montreal wasn't there to tour the CN Tower before tailgating with the locals. Someone from Toronto stole the license plates of the Impact's bus.

For years the club game in this country floundered around, but on that warm July night it was the biggest show in town. By happenstance Don Garber was even in attendance (and I'm willing to bet that it was the day that he pledged to himself to figure out how to get the Impact into MLS). David Beckham was in town. We don't know if he watched, but we do know that soccer was the story in Toronto.

Montreal got the draw it needed to take the cup. In doing so they ensured that the tournament would be taken very seriously by Toronto in year two. It's now, likely, the most important annual event in the domestic game. It looks like a competition that will just keep growing and increasing in importance. I can't wait to tell my great-grandkids about how I was there on 7-22-08. They won't believe me, but I can't wait to tell them anyway. The tournament will be a very big deal then. That, I’m sure of.

And it all started that night....