Book Review - Come On You Reds: The Story of Toronto FC

I recently purchased my copy of "Come On You Reds: The Story of Toronto FC," written by Joshua Kloke, and as someone who has been around the club since its inception, I felt it was my obligation to provide a book review, and give my thoughts.

First, there was a sore need for a book like this, and I would like to commend the author for providing his best effort in writing a publication detailing the fascinating history of Toronto FC, as this is a tale that the world needs to know. My expectations going into reading this book were that it would be as objective as possible, largely free of any biases from the author, and that it covered all perspectives, especially during the worst years of the club (which were most of the years). I was hoping for some juicy details, not just about the many coaches and general managers that served the club, but also about the figures at MLSE and their decision-making during the club's worst years. I had some fears when I saw that there would be a foreword by Michael Bradley, because why would he provide his thoughts on a book that could realistically put some figures of TFC and MLSE in a bad light?

Nevertheless, I read the book, and my thoughts are below:

Overall, this was a well-written book. The author seamlessly linked the events of Toronto FC's history in order to create a coherent story. As I was reading the later chapters of the book, the writing felt a bit more laborious and fatigued, due to the descriptions of the in-game moments for the significant Toronto FC matches, but it was important to explain these moments in order to convey the feelings going on at the club at the time.

The author did a fantastic job profiling each Toronto FC coach throughout the club's history. From Mo Johnston to Greg Vanney, the author detailed their personalities, their coaching habits, and how they interacted with the personalities around them, including the players, coaching staff, and the media. I jokingly thought to myself that the author could rename this book "How Every Coach Failed at Toronto FC" and the book's contents would still be relevant. I also liked how the author portrayed the views of certain players in the light of certain coaching decisions, which made for interesting tidbits of information that I certainly did not know about. In terms of the events related to the Toronto FC players and coaching staff, it was comprehensive and bursting with information.

However, in terms of the events with TFC and MLSE management, I was only partially satisfied with what was in the book, but I also was not sure what kind of access the author had when it came to decision-making among the MLSE figures. I was hoping for some kind of information regarding what was going through the heads of people like Tom Anselmi and Richard Peddie during Toronto FC's worst years. The only time MLSE management was explicitly in the spotlight in the book was when the town hall meetings were going on at the end of the 2010 season, and even that, it seemed like there was only the view of management figures like Paul Beirne, and not from the Toronto FC supporters.

I was glad to see in the book that Tom Anselmi was correctly outed for his failings during his term overseeing Toronto FC. On the other hand, the book went far too easy on Paul Beirne, the former VP of Business Operations at Toronto FC. In the book, the author described Beirne as "the founding father" of Toronto FC, and even though he was instrumental in bringing an MLS franchise to Toronto, he has harmed the club and the supporters in a significant way that contributed to the toxic relationship between the club and the supporters at the time. Throughout the club's worst years from 2010 to 2012, Toronto FC ticket prices rose to unsustainable levels, pricing out hard-working and passionate supporters from going to matches. Beirne certainly had some input in this decision, if not, actually making the final decision himself to raise ticket prices. There was hardly any mention of this in the book. The author mentioned various supporter-related issues, such as the #VanneyOut movement at the end of the 2015 season, and the "No Argos at BMO" protests, but barely anything on the ticketing situation. With the club failing to improve on the pitch and Beirne's terrible PR at the time, fed up supporters walked away from the club. Beirne reset ticket prices back to Year 1 levels for the 2013 season, but at that point, he already inflicted the wounds. There are soccer fans who simply will not go back to Toronto FC matches while they are still an MLSE property.

(One thing to note: with Michael Bradley providing the foreword for this book, I was not surprised to see that there was zero criticism of him in the book).

If you are a casual soccer fan or Toronto FC supporter that wants to learn more about the club, then I absolutely recommend this book, as it extensively covers the club's history from the beginnings, to their MLS Cup triumph in 2017. If you're a seasoned and hard-core Toronto FC supporter, then I will leave the decision up to you on whether to read this book or not. I undoubtedly learned some new things while reading this book, and I reckon you will as well. Contrarily, you may not find this book very satisfying if you wanted to hear more about the management/MLSE side of things, which was what I felt. Regardless, this was an enjoyable read, and I found myself reminiscing of the significant moments of the club, whether I was in the stands at BMO Field, or just catching up on news online and lurking the supporters' message boards. This was a job well done.