CF Montréal

Team information

Inaugural season: 2012

Home field: Saputo Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Owner: Joey Saputo and the Saputo family

Team colors: black, gray, and blue

Overview

CF Montreal is a professional soccer club that plays in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact, the team played in the United Soccer League (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) and other leagues before joining MLS in 2011 and rebranding as Club de Foot Montreal in 2021. As the Impact, CF Montreal won the Voyageurs Cup six times and the Canadian Championship three times. Since joining MLS—where it became the third Canadian team in league history—the club has reached the playoffs on several occasions and, in 2016, advanced as far as the Eastern Conference finals. Owned by original Impact founder Joey Saputo of the Saputo, Inc. dairy product company family, CF Montreal plays its home games at the namesake Saputo Stadium. Many notable players have suited up for the Montreal Impact and CF Montreal over the years, including such stars as Didier Drogba, Ignacio Piatti, Mauro Biello, and Marco Di Vaio.

History

CF Montreal is counted among the more than twenty teams that together comprise the MLS North American professional soccer league. Although MLS was initially formed in 1995, the history stretches back to a 1988 agreement between the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). In this landmark agreement, FIFA granted the United States the right to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In exchange, the USSF promised to form a Division 1 professional soccer league in North America. The FIFA/USSF agreement ultimately proved critical for the future of professional soccer in North America. This was in part because the North American Soccer League (NASL), the previous Division 1 soccer league in the region, ceased operations a few years before the agreement was reached. Just as importantly, the 1994 World Cup considerably increased interest in soccer amongst North American sports fans and provided the necessary support to allow for the formation of MLS in 1995. At the time of its inaugural season, MLS began play with roster of ten teams that included the Tampa Bay Mutiny, Dallas Burn, Colorado Rapids, New England Revolution, D.C. United, Columbus Crew, Kansas City Wiz, NY/NJ MetroStars, LA Galaxy, and San Jose Clash.

The history of CF Montreal can also be traced back to 1988. That year, the newly formed Montreal Supra joined the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and brought professional soccer back to Montreal for the first time since the popular NASL squad Manic de Montreal folded after the 1983 season. When the CSL disbanded in 1992, Supra supporters clamored for the club to join the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). When the Supra’s signaled their reluctance to make such a move, Joey Saputo, scion of the Saputo dairy company family, entered the picture. Saputo hired many of the Supra’s coaches and players and formed a new APSL team that he called the Montreal Impact. The Impact played for the first time in the 1993 APSL season and won the league title the following year. The club continued to be among the APSL’s best through the 1990s and into the 2000s, winning a second championship in 2004. The Impact also played in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division, winning that league’s title in 2009. Two years later, Saputo briefly moved the team to the short-lived second iteration of the North American Soccer League (NASL). By that time, there was already an effort underway to bring the Impact to MLS. A deal was reached in 2010, and the team began its transition immediately. Due to the rules surrounding ownership of MLS teams, the new version of the Impact was a separate legal entity from the original team even though its name, records, and club colors remained intact.

The Montreal Impact made their MLS debut on March 10, 2012, in a losing match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Over their first few seasons, the Impact struggled to find success, missing the playoffs several times and enjoying only short postseason runs in other instances. That all changed in 2016, however. That year, the Impact finished the regular season in fifth place within the Eastern Conference and earned a spot in the Knockout Round of the playoffs. After dispatching DC United, the Impact went on to defeat the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals to secure a berth in the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. Ultimately, the Impact’s historic push subsequently came to an end when they were eliminated in the finals by Toronto FC.

Following the 2020 MLS season, Saputo made the decision to rebrand his team and retire the existing Impact name and logo. In early 2021, the club was officially rechristened as Club de Foot (CF) Montreal. Adopting black, gray, and blue as their team colors, CF Montreal unveiled a new logo that took the form of a snowflake in homage to the emblems of Montreal’s Expo 67 and the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games. Many of the club’s supporter groups reacted poorly to the name change, with some even holding protests outside Saputo Stadium. Nevertheless, the CF Montreal name stuck and became the team’s new identity for the 2021 MLS season. On the field, CF Montreal’s struggles continued as the team finished the year in tenth place in the Eastern Conference and failed to make the playoffs. The team fared much better in 2022, finishing the season in second place. They set numerous records during the season, including the highest number of points in a regular season (65). However, CF Montreal was knocked out of the 2022 playoffs by New York City FC with a score of 3-1.

Notable players

The Montreal Impact and CF Montreal rosters have included an array of great players over the years. Perhaps the most notable of these is Ivorian striker Didier Drogba. Although he was with the team for only two seasons between 2015 and 2016, Drogba is widely considered the best player in Impact/CF Montreal history. Twice named African Footballer of the Year, Drogba scored 21 goals in 33 appearances with the Impact. He was named to the 2016 MLS All-Star Game and, that same year, led the Impact on their storied run to the Eastern Conference finals. More importantly, he played a crucial role in making Montreal a major city in the soccer world.

Another noteworthy Impact alumnus was forward Mauro Biello. The only former Impact player to have his number retired as of 2021, Biello played for the team between 1993 and 1998 after having previously played with the Montreal Supra. He is most remembered for leading the Impact to the 1997 regular season title—a feat for which he was named the Impact Team MVP that year. In total, Biello scored 32 goals in 109 appearances during his time on the Impact roster. Following his retirement, Biello also joined the Impact coaching staff, serving as an assistant coach from 2012 to 2015 and later taking over as head coach through 2017.

One of the most productive players in Impact history was Argentine winger Ignacio Piatti. Playing in Montreal from 2014 to 2019, Piatti scored more goals and made more assists than any other Impact player to date. Over 135 appearances, he notched a total of 66 goals and 35 assists. Before he returned home to play soccer in his native Argentina in 2020, Piatti was considered to be one of the best MLS players of his time.

Behind Piatti, the Impact’s second-most productive goal scorer was Italian striker Marco Di Vaio. Arriving in Montreal in 2012 after a long European career, Di Vaio quickly established himself as one of the team’s top kickers. In total, he scored 34 goals in 76 appearances during the career finale he spent with the Impact.

No player has logged more time with the Impact than goalkeeper Evan Bush. Perhaps the best goalkeeper in Impact/CF Montreal history, Bush debuted with the team in 2012 and remained on the roster until he was traded to the Columbus Crew in 2020. During that time, he made a record 176 appearances and 593 saves.

Defender Laurent Ciman also distinguished himself as one of the Impact’s best players. Playing in Montreal from 2015 to 2017, he was particularly known for his skilled tackles and an important part of the Impact’s run to the 2016 Eastern Conference final. Regarded as one of the all-time best MLS defenders, Ciman notably won the MLS Defender of the Year award in 2015. He was traded to Los Angeles FC in 2017 and later ended his MLS career with Toronto FC in 2018.

Other notable Impact/CF Montreal players include Ambroise Oyongo, Alessandro Nesta, Patrice Bernier, and Dominic Oduro. In addition, former players Nick Dasovic, Jason deVos, Lyndon Hooper, and John Limniatis have all been inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

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Crawford, Colin. “Club de Foot Montreal.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 14 Jan. 2021, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/impact-de-montreal. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.

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