Canadian MLS club is christened Toronto FC

Major League Soccer’s first Canadian franchise will go by the name Toronto FC.
 
Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, which owns the team that will play in a 20,000-seat stadium in 2007, unveiled the club’s name and logo.  There’s no coach, GM, players or offices, but those running the club believe local football fans – despite the historic lack of support –will head to MLS games once everything is in place.
 
“Our sense is that it's the right timing and the right place for (a) team. ... We feel we have the right combination, and that soccer has developed in this city and is ready for a pro team,” MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum said.
 
MLSE believes football, with its global appeal, is perfectly suited to Toronto, one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.
 
“Toronto provides the perfect backdrop for the world's No. 1 sport, given our city's diversity and affinity for soccer,” said MLSE chief operating officer Tom Anselmi, who will spearhead Toronto FC's development.
 
The name was chosen after at least 40 percent of online respondents selected it.
 
“I think we will draw people who follow the English Premiership and the European leagues,” Tanenbaum said.
 
That would buck the trend. A lack of fan support led the Blizzard to join the American Professional Soccer League in 1993, its fourth and final league, before folding.
 
Toronto FC owners hope an expansion draft in which they can pick players from the other 12 MLS teams will allow them to select name players such as Dwayne De Rosario, a Canadian national team striker who plays for Houston Dynamo.
 
The franchise will pursue Canadian-born players from local teams. With the MLS’s blessing, Toronto can fill its 28-man roster with a minimum of 16 Canadians, instead of the 16 U.S. citizens, as required for the other 12 teams.
 
Officials from MLSE and the Canadian Soccer Association hope this will encourage young Toronto players.  That could help develop players for the Canadian national team, as well, as the nation has only qualified for one World Cup – in 1986.
 
MLS commissioner Don Garber said the league is largely responsible for the rise of the U.S. from football obscurity to its current ranking of fourth in the world.
 
“If you ask anyone with US Soccer, they'll tell you the fact their players played in the MLS really helped the program along,” said Garber.