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When Michael Farber was a sports columnist at the Montreal Gazette in 1993, among his many memorable observations was: “Kids play (soccer) until they are old enough to drive. After they get their licences, the last place they think of driving to is a soccer field.”

That was the same year the Impact kicked off their inaugural season in the American Professional Soccer League with Joey Saputo as president, Pino Asaro as GM and Eddie Firmani as coach. The Impact finished in last place that season, losing their final game 2-0 to the Colorado Foxes in front of 3,019 rain-soaked fans at Claude Robillard Stadium.

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Times have changed since then in Montreal with the Expos long gone and the Impact surpassing the Alouettes as the No. 2 sports franchise behind the Canadiens after coming within one game of advancing to the MLS Cup this season in only their fifth year in the league. The Impact attracted a sellout crowd of 61,004 to Olympic Stadium for a playoff game against Toronto FC with just over a million more watching on TV. Four busloads of Impact fans travelled to Toronto for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final in front of a sellout crowd of 36,000 at BMO Field with a record 1.4 million watching on TV.