TORONTO — While acknowledging the difficulties of playing soccer in early March in Toronto, TFC captain Michael Bradley politely suggested Friday that the playing surface at BMO Field needs to be better.
The hybrid grass surface looked patchy ahead of Saturday's home opener against the New York Red Bulls despite round-the-clock efforts of the grounds crew and a well-stocked arsenal of everything from underground heating to grow-lights. But a winter that turned nasty recently has made it more difficult in persuading the grass to rebound earlier than Mother Nature intended.
"It is what it is, but we spend too much time talking about the field over the last handful of years. That's a fact," Bradley said when asked about the field after training at the lakefront stadium Friday. "There's been a big investment from the club and from (owner) MLSE to try to give us the best possible field. But collectively we've not found the right way, the right solutions. So I hope that we can raise the bar in that aspect.
"No one is expecting the field to look like Nou Camp (FC Barcelona's stadium) in late February, early March. That would be impossible. Everyone's realistic and understands that, but there are examples of teams and clubs that do play in cold weather … and they're still able to have a field that plays in a way that makes for good football."
It hasn't helped that the fields at the club's north Toronto training field are not yet ready to play on, forcing the team to practise at BMO Field — giving the stadium surface less time to recover.
Bradley takes a keen interest in the pitch, consulting groundskeepers. And he can be seen before every home match, taking a walk to inspect the turf.
"No one is going to sit around and cry about it," Bradley said of the issues with BMO Field. "That would be a waste of time."
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2022.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
