Passion is Saputo’s business
When Impact president Joey Saputo talks about soccer, you can hear the passion in his voice and see it in his eyes.
What makes that somewhat surprising is that Saputo never played soccer as a kid. His boyhood hero was Guy Lafleur.
“Like all Quebec-born or Canadian-born youngsters, I grew up with hockey,” Saputo said. “I played hockey … I never played soccer. It was just by chance Saputo (Inc.) was a sponsor of the Montreal Manic back in the 1980s, and that’s where I got my first taste of soccer. I was the company representative for the sponsorship, or partnership, we had with the Montreal Manic. We continued to support soccer, we continued to sponsor the game, and then in 1993 we had the opportunity to actually own the (Impact), going from the sponsorship level to an ownership level. That’s where the passion came from.”
Saputo wasn’t in Vancouver Friday, on the eve of the Impact’s Major League Soccer debut against the Whitecaps. Instead, he was in Calgary visiting close friend Michael Cammalleri, the former Canadien who was traded to the Flames this season. Saputo attended the Flames-Winnipeg Jets game Friday night before flying to Vancouver Saturday morning.
Not a bad way to help calm the nerves.
“Being away from Montreal and being away from Vancouver, you don’t really feel it, but I’ll be there tomorrow,” Saputo said over the phone Friday afternoon from Calgary. “I think it will be more anxious nervousness than anything else. There’s a lot of work that went into this … it’s going to be interesting tomorrow. I’ll probably be really nervous as we get close to game time.”
Saputo realizes the Impact could have a bumpy road during its inaugural MLS season. The Whitecaps, who made the same jump from the North American Soccer League last year, finished their first MLS season in last place in the Western Conference with six wins and 10 ties in 34 games. Saputo says he’d like to see the Impact win more games than it loses this season and make it into the playoffs.
But if that doesn’t happen, it won’t be the end of the world for Saputo or the Impact. The team is more than a business to Saputo ... it’s a passion.
“It’s not a business,” he said. “Obviously, we try to run it as a business and try to be as fiscally responsible as you can possibly be. But we want the passion to come out … we want our fans to be as passionate about the team as we are. When we started this team, it was a way for us to give back to the community. We wouldn’t have made the jump to MLS if we didn’t feel that Montreal would really rally behind the organization and the club and the growth of soccer in the province of Quebec.
“Our goal was always to be at the highest level of soccer possible,” he added. “We had our chance back in 1996 when the MLS started, but we
“If you can teach an old guy like me to love the game of soccer, I’m sure we can convert a lot of new fans.”
IMPACT PRESIDENT JOEY SAPUTO
weren’t ready and we didn’t feel the city was ready. But it was always our intention to be at the highest level possible. When the MLS did start, our goal was to be in MLS, and it just took a little bit longer than we expected, but we’re happy to be there now.
“It would be unfair not to give Montreal the opportunity to be at this level,” Saputo continued. “The reason why we did move forward is that we think Montreal will really embrace what we’re doing. It’s not so much an aspect of dollars and cents, it’s an aspect that we really feel Montreal wants it, so we’re able to give it to them.”
The team’s motto – Tous pour gagner – says it all.
“That’s what we want,” Saputo said. “We want this team to be embraced by the city and we want the fans to recognize this club and the game of soccer at a major-league level.
“If we can work and market the club and play well and get the right players and really become part of the sports community, where fans talk about us in the same breath as the Canadiens and the Alouettes, then I think that we’ve done our job this year getting the sports community really involved with the club.”
After Saturday’s season opener, Montreal fans will get their first chance to see the Impact in action next Saturday when the Chicago Fire visits Olympic Stadium. Saputo said more than 43,000 tickets have already been sold, and he has set a goal of 58,000.
“You know what, if you can teach an old guy like me to love the game of soccer, I’m sure we can convert a lot of new fans,” Saputo said with a laugh. “We want to create an atmosphere and put on a good enough show that fans will want to come back for the April 7 game against Toronto, and we all know what Montreal-toronto means, whether it be in hockey, soccer, football or whatever.”
Saputo said he will probably watch Saturday’s Vancouver game from a private suite, but will be sitting in the stands as part of the crowd at the Big O for the home opener.
“When you watch a game at that level with the fans, I think you appreciate the game that much more,” he said.
Sort of the way Saputo – and all Montrealers – used to appreciate the Canadiens.
“I keep telling my kids, ‘You’ll never understand the Canadiens the way I did,’ ” Saputo said. “Every year was a potential Stanley Cup.” Tous pour gagner. Has a nice ring to it.