After toiling for years as a Major League Soccer embarrassment, the need for a culture change within Toronto FC was clear by 2014.
Getting the Reds from there to here — MLS Cup champions for the first time to cap the best season in league history, with a downtown parade in store Monday — started with putting the right people on the bus, coach Greg Vanney said in the aftermath of TFC’s 2-0 triumph over the Seattle Sounders in Saturday’s final at BMO Field.
The first passenger to climb aboard, in January of that year, was perhaps the most important.