Between the noise of shipping containers being shuttled around by heavy machinery on the coast of the St. Lawrence River and the tail end of morning traffic on the bustling Notre-Dame Street East, the iconic synthesizer riff of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” rings out from a small speaker near a grass pitch.
Minutes before the song, chosen by CF Montreal’s equipment manager to welcome players to a morning training session, hits its wild crescendo, jovial Canadian defender Alistair Johnston sprints out waving his arms. Nearby players smile at his boyish enthusiasm and shake their heads.
“I don’t need to fight/to prove I’m right”
Wilfried Nancy, Montreal’s head coach, calls his players to a circle. He exhales and then asks his players to close the circle.
They smile just like they have throughout the warm up.
Montreal will welcome you in 2022. After five seasons without a MLS playoff win it seems that life is good and there are many reasons to smile.
The team’s 65 regular season points were far and away the most they’ve ever totalled in their 11 MLS seasons. In that time, they’ve made it as far as the conference finals, losing arguably the best playoff series in league history to their rivals from down the 401, Toronto FC.
Though Montreal has always been perceived as being a step behind TFC in Canada’s MLS hierarchy, they flipped the script this season. They finished second in Eastern Conference with an entertaining style of play and are a serious threat to the MLS Cup. Meanwhile, TFC languished in the league’s basement, having spent much more on their roster than what Montreal has.
