Now the wondering starts again.

Even before Toronto FC faced the Seattle Sounders, and lost to them, in the Major League Soccer final, soccer fans across this nation could be seen, fingers crossed and breath held tight, for a clear sign that the so-called “Beautiful Game” is headed at last to legitimate major-league status on Canada’s sports calendar.

Many, including Albertans, have been waiting for such a miracle since long before the Oakland Stompers became the Edmonton Drillers of the North American Soccer League in 1979. At that time, Peter Pocklington’s rush to buy an existing pro franchise was hailed as something special.

Only three years later, the experiment ended in failure. By 1982, spectator soccer for adults in this neighbourhood was restricted primarily to the indoor game although Joe Petrone and Ross Ongaro and others kept dreaming that, one day, the masses would realize the appeal of 22 well-conditioned athletes running for up to 90 minutes in form-fitting shirt and shorts.

This new situation clearly the potential for major and positive change.

First and foremost, the MLS final — 5-4 for Seattle on penalties after a persistently dull regulation session — took place at BMO Field in Toronto. Note: Toronto remains self-selected centre of the sporting universe; some things never change.

That the announced crowd of 36,000 was larger than any gathering for a Toronto Argonauts event in the same facility seemed significant at first. On second thought, beating the Argos on the field or at the gate for CFL games has not been a challenge for the last dozen centuries or so.

More impressive, I suspect, is the increase in MLS attendance top to bottom and the specific boost in home games for FC Toronto. Coast-to-coast Canadian viewing numbers for the final may provide further support for development of soccer at all levels in this country.

Year after year, soccer boosters beat their chests about the massive numbers playing their game through infancy and age-class competition, except possibly when head coach John Herdman puts his national female team on display against credible opposition in a major event at a large city such as Edmonton.

In case you didn’t know, Herdman is a magical spokesman for his game and his team. His commitment and sheer energy combined to give Canada’s national female program a spot among the sport’s best. The absence of such commitment in the men’s game remains an embarrassment.

Most important in Good Old Ourtown is the potential effect the NASL final may have on FC Edmonton.

Despite massive efforts at every level, crowds are usually small although most games are entertaining. Coffee-shop conversation seems scarce.

Personally, I remain convinced that FC Edmonton — and this great game in total — will not receive the attention it deserves until provincial leaders dedicate themselves to the development of high school teams in communities outside of Edmonton and Calgary.

Legions of fans around the world literally love the game. Thousands in this province play almost constantly as youngsters. Hordes of new Albertans know soccer better than any other sport, and care more broadly for it.

The absence of an annual provincial high school final in a sport with such wide participation is far from acceptable.

jcshort@shaw.ca