A Thanksgiving Toast For Whitecaps Fans

Let us come together this Thanksgiving and rejoice in the bounty of the footballing good, which unites us into one big Whitecaps family.

Let us call to remembrance all the supporters who have come to our house on pilgrimage, endured great hardships, rejoiced together after some fruitful harvests and offered praise, and given thanks, for our deliverance from the wilderness of division two football.

As we are renewed at the Thanksgiving table, so let our spirits be renewed by the act of giving thanks.

Thank you Vancouver, for giving us the most loyal supporters in the League, who will come along, cheer on, and worship their deities in numbers, despite their lowly position.

Thank you Vancouver, for giving us the best city in Canada, with the beautiful mountain vistas that surround us and make our journeys to and from our fields of dreams all the more pleasurable.

Thank you Vancouver, for giving us two beautiful stadiums to watch our heroes play, as we stand in awe of the natural and man-made surroundings.

And thank you Vancouver for the plentiful bounty that is the Whitecaps history, for there is no other club in Major League Soccer that have what we have to draw on as inspiration for a glorious future.

And in these days that follow, when the holiday weekend is over and we turn our thoughts towards Wednesday, our final three games and ultimately onto next season, let us preserve the spirit of this gratitude in our words and deeds.

Let us cheer until we can cheer no more. Let us sing until our voice is no more. For we are all Whitecaps, evermore.

To paraphrase the words of Philemon Sturges in his song, “We Gather Together To Feast”:

We gather together to feast on football and be joyful,
The Whitecap’s bounty is precious for we are all one.
So eat with Thanksgiving; this food was once all living.
Sing praises to the footballing life that becomes now our own.

For remember, no matter how poorly we do, or how bad it may be, we are not now, nor ever will, be Toronto FC.

And that’s something we can all give thanks for.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone.