TORONTO – When Toronto FC take to the pitch at MAPFRE Stadium on November 21 against Columbus Crew SC in Leg 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, assistant coach Robin Fraser will be returning to a place he knows well.
Fraser spent two seasons with Crew SC, back before the SC was added, in 2004 and 2005, the final two seasons of his illustrious career.
His first season in Columbus in particular turned out to be a better year than he could ever have imagined.
“I was disappointed to leave Colorado. I was not thrilled about going to Columbus at all,” recalled Fraser on Monday. “It turned out to be one of the more enjoyable years of my career.”
“The city was great; really embraced the team,” continued Fraser. “It was a really good group of guys; we came together and won a Supporters' Shield. It turned out to be a tremendous season, [one that] ended rather abruptly.”
Fraser had reason to be suspicious.
“They had not made the playoffs the year before. Brian McBride had left that offseason; they made a number of changes. It was a pretty new group with some mainstays,” said Fraser. “I don't think any of us knew what to expect. We went in, trained hard, played hard, and ended up having some things go the right way.”
With the benefit of hindsight, the squad was better than Fraser may have believed at the time. Some legendary MLS names, some familiar to TFC fans, a couple of rookies who would go on to have long and successful MLS careers, and, of course, Fraser himself.
“Edson Buddle, Simon Elliott, Chad Marshall,” began Fraser. “I played with Chad when he was 19, first year out of school. Chris Wingert was first year in the league. Elliott and I were reunited after playing together in LA for a couple of years.”
“Jeff Cunningham, Kyle Martino, now of TV fame. Duncan Oughton was there, a Columbus legend; played there for 10-12 years,” continued Fraser. “It was a good group, really good people, came together and had a fun year.”
Buddle would lead the side with 11 goals. Elliott with 10 assists topped that category, while goalkeeper Jon Busch put up an impressive 1.07 goals-against average.
Fraser and Crew SC captured his second Supporters' Shield, the club's first of three, that season, in part thanks to an 18-match unbeaten run to end the campaign.
“We had a number of ties along the way,” said Fraser of the run. “This was a group that fought, really grinded, found its moments to play and got results.”
But then came the dreaded Supporters' Shield curse and a Conference Semifinal series against the New England Revolution under Steve Nicol, a side building into a run that would see them reach the MLS Cup Final the next three seasons straight, from 2005 to 2007, only to fall short on each occasion.
New England had some players of their own: Taylor Twellman, Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Pat Noonan, to name but a few, and a kid named Clint Dempsey as well, who would go on to win Rookie of the Year.
“We ran into New England. It was an evenly-fought series, ultimately decided on our end by a penalty kick that was missed,” said Fraser. “New England was in the midst of its really strong point then. They were a good team, some really good players: Shalrie Joseph was huge, Steve Ralston was very good. It was a good series, two well-matched teams, and they got the better of us.”
The Revolution took the first leg at home, winning 1-0 on a goal from Avery John. Twellman opened the scoring in the second leg, Buddle pulled one back in added time, but, as Fraser mentioned, two saved penalty kicks were the difference in a tight series.
Fraser's contribution to the side that season did not go unrecognized.
“[Defender of the Year] at the jolly old age of 37,” smiled Fraser.
“It definitely came as a surprise,” said Fraser. “The years at the Galaxy were tremendous, after leaving it felt like you would never have that feeling again.”
“The teams in Colorado did really well the years I was there. We lost in Conference Final two of the three years. There were some good teams, good guys,” continued Fraser. “But in Columbus, it was a surprise.”
“It was a new group, some really young players. Chad Marshall's contributions were unexpected and unbelievable. A lot of the players were coming together for the first time, we didn't know what to expect. And Greg Andrulis did a really good job with that group,” concluded Fraser. “It turned out to be a really gratifying year.”
