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What's in a name? For soccer fans, a lot
Toronto's new major league team aims for old-world cachet and a unified fan base
PAUL MATTHEWS
Special to The Globe and Mail
In a league littered with such familiar-sounding clubs as Real Salt Lake (think Spain's storied Real Madrid) and D.C. United (hello Manchester United), it's fitting that Toronto's first Major League Soccer franchise should also seek a bit of overseas magic.
So last week when Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment -- which will be fielding a Toronto MLS team next April -- unveiled its shortlist of potential names, it was no surprise that the selections had a hint of international yearning: Inter Toronto FC, The Toronto Reds, The Toronto Northmen FC, The Toronto Nationals and Toronto FC. (FC stands for Football Club.) The fruit of six months of market research is now being hashed out by fans in an on-line poll at
www.torontoprosoccer.com.
On paper, Inter Toronto FC -- a nod to the Italian League's Inter Milan -- appears to be a calculated appeal to the city's 425,000-strong Italian community. And the name's supporters already have their arguments ready. Inter Milan was originally formed by Swiss and Italian players from what became rival AC Milan who objected to the team's policy of signing only locals, explains Joe Russo, a commentator on Telelatino's Sunday Night Soccer Fanatics show. "Inter is short for Internazionale, which means bringing together players from every country. Given Toronto's multicultural makeup, the name makes sense."
MLSE Executive Vice-President Tom Alsemi, who is overseeing the poll, admits the merit of Inter Toronto lies in its Italian roots. "Most people who look at [Inter Toronto]," he says, "gravitate to Inter Milan and Italian football . . . Those clubs have a hundred years of brand equity, where we're trying to launch something new. I see the Inter name as trying to make this look more like traditional soccer."
Still, Mr. Alsemi says, it's a double-edged sword. "There is a risk of alienating other ethnic communities who may be loyal to some other soccer franchise."
Unfortunately, the other possibilities don't hold much more promise of uniting Torontonians. The Toronto Reds might suggest Communist sympathies, but it's a nod to the soccer tradition of identifying clubs by their colours -- in this case the red of the Canadian flag. The Northmen name, meanwhile, harkens back to a never-ran Toronto World Football League team whose opening season Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau blocked in 1974.
Mr. Alsemi doubts the Reds or the Northmen will be front-runners. Meanwhile, the Toronto Nationals will be an awkward choice if MLS teams sprout up in Vancouver or Montreal. That leaves Toronto FC, which is generic, but at least follows the European naming tradition.
Mr. Alsemi won't reveal which way MLSE is leaning, saying he'll await the poll results. Even then, he emphasizes, "this will not be a vote" -- the results will not necessarily determine the final name.
That may be a good thing, as more than 200 people have added their own suggestions on-line. There may still be hope, then, for our pick: How about Globe Toronto FC?
