Best foot forward
When it comes to international soccer, Torontonians historically have been keen
By GEORGE GROSS -- Toronto Sun
The last time I saw the SkyDome jammed with fans was in 1992 and 1993 when the then glorious Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series championships.
The same situation could develop during the next few days thanks to the ChampionsWorld Series of soccer with top European professional club teams Liverpool of England, Celtic of Scotland, Porto of Portugal and AS Roma of Italy displaying their talents in T.O.
One couldn't ask for a better soccer show, unless Pele decided to come out of retirement and put on his soccer boots and do backward scissor kicks. Or the great Sir Stanley Matthews would come to life and dribble his way down the entire right wing.
Actually, drawing big crowds to soccer games is nothing new for Toronto. Steve Stavro, former chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. and his able assistant, John (Scotty) McMahon, used to bring top continental European, South American and British teams to Toronto and filled CNE Stadium, Varsity Stadium and, yes, even the late Jack Kent Cooke's Maple Leaf Baseball Stadium on Lake Ontario.
WAVING THE FLAG
Makes one wonder why thousands of fans come to see top foreign teams and thousands of cars are decorated with Greek, Portuguese and British flags when Euro 2004 matches are being played, but only a corporal's guard watches local soccer games in action.
"Torontonians enjoy first-class sports, regardless of whether it's hockey, football, baseball, basketball or soccer," said Stavro, who held the soccer rights to Varsity Stadium for many moons.
"I remember some years ago we staged a match between Glasgow Celtic and AC Milan of Italy and we had in excess of 30,000 fans at CNE Stadium. On another occasion we invited Olympiakos of Greece and Inter Milan of Italy, which was then coached by the master of defence, Helenio Herrera. We couldn't get CNE Stadium, there was something on at Varsity and we had to play in the baseball stadium on the lake, but still attracted a sellout crowd of more than 20,000 fans."
HOPPING FENCES
While the ball park was sold out for that match, several hundred fans climbed over the fence to gain access. A similar situation happened when Stavro brought to Toronto the Brazilian club Santos with Pele in the lineup. It was almost impossible to buy a ticket, so fans jumped the fence.
"One of the biggest stunts we pulled was the year we invited the Glasgow Rangers to play Sparta Prague on a Wednesday," Stavro said. "We flew the teams in, paid them for their appearance and flew them home in time for their respective Saturday league matches."
He didn't fail to mention that Toronto City, a local pro team during the 1960s, invited French champion Rheims, with nine World Cup stars in its lineup, and Greek champion AEK Athens for friendly matches, again attracting sellout crowds to Varsity.
Toronto City, after beating both visiting teams, was recruited by the British Columbia Soccer Association to play Real Madrid of Spain in Vancouver. Real Madrid was in those days the best team in the world, with superstars such as Ferenc Puskas, Santamaria, Di Stefano and Ghento in the lineup. More than 30,000 attended the match in Vancouver. Madrid won 4-1 after City held it to a 1-1 draw at halftime.
Liverpool with Michael Owen, Roma with Totti, Porto with Costa and Celtic with Chris Sutton should help fill the SkyDome again. It is the Liverpudlians' second visit to Toronto in 51 years. They played here in 1953 and beat a team from Northern Ireland 3-1.
Hopefully, one of these years, Toronto soccer fans will support the sport locally, no matter where the players come from. Moreover, I hope they'll support the Canadian team the way they cheer for their country of origin because, after all, they live and earn a living in this country.
