As relative newcomers to MLS, CITY fans are still getting acquainted with many of the league’s clubs—especially those in the Eastern Conference. Some we’ve never faced (are we ever going to see the Red Bulls?), and others we’ve only played once in our short time in the league. One such club is CF Montréal. Until this past weekend, CITY had never matched up with our fellow fleur-de-lis city. That changed when the Boys in Red traveled north and secured a rare road win, topping the home side 2–0 behind goals from Marcel Hartel and Cedric Wallem in a clash between two of the league’s worst clubs in 2025.
I was fortunate enough to attend the match in Montréal (one of my favorite cities to visit and home of an incredibly good underground metro system - something we can only dream of here) and spend time with one of their supporter groups, gaining some unexpected perspective on CITY’s own journey in MLS.
CF Montréal has two main supporter groups: The 1642 (named after the year the city was founded) and Collectif Impact Montréal. The 1642 couldn’t have been more welcoming to me, my wife, and a handful of other CITY fans who wandered into their tailgate just outside Stade Saputo. The stadium itself is charming—smaller and older than most in the league—and sits in the shadow of Olympic Stadium, the former home of the Montréal Expos (RIP).
Speaking with several members of The 1642—during their 10-year anniversary celebration, no less—gave me insight into their supporter culture and how their club’s trajectory compares with CITY’s. If you watched the match, you may have noticed flags and drums at both ends of the stadium. That’s because the two groups don’t get along—at all. They operate completely independently, with separate chants, drum corps, and little to no coordination or communication.
While The 1642 tailgate is open to non-members and even opposing fans, Collectif’s is not. In fact, tensions between Collectif and the club have led to periodic bans due to extreme behavior. Collectif remains bitter about the club’s rebrand from Montreal Impact to CF Montréal several years ago. During the match, they drummed and chanted through the U.S. national anthem—which, given today’s climate, wasn’t entirely surprising. What did catch me off guard was that they did the same during the Canadian anthem. Apparently, there’s an undercurrent of Quebec independence sentiment among their members, and they don’t recognize the anthem as representative of their identity.
Contrast that with the supporter culture in St. Louis, which—aside from last year’s US Open Cup boycott debate—has largely been marked by cooperation. The relationship between CITY and its SGs has been far more stable than in Montréal, where multiple organized protests have frayed ties between the club and its supporters.
One of the few things both clubs share this season is poor performance. In talking with Montréal fans, I mentioned how the sentiment of “at least we have a team” is starting to fade in St. Louis as expectations rise. Interestingly, that sentiment is still strong in Montréal. Years of neglect from the Saputo family—who’ve prioritized their other club, Bologna in Italy's Serie A—have led to declining results and growing frustration. Yet many fans still say, “at least we still have a team,” perhaps a lingering scar from losing the Expos.
Poor results have also led to declining attendance. Stade Saputo was about two-thirds full for the CITY match. It’s a shame the ownership’s focus is overseas, but it’s a familiar story—just ask Colorado Rapids fans, who resorted to walkouts and boycotts last season to protest ownership neglect.
Stade Saputo itself is in a strange situation. The stadium sits on land leased from the city of Montréal, which limits the upgrades and renovations it desperately needs. While serviceable, it’s clearly behind newer stadiums like Energizer Park, Q2 in Austin, or TQL in Cincinnati, to name a few. When the new stadiums in New York and Chicago open in the coming years, Stade Saputo will presumably fall even further behind. One wonders if these limitations are holding back further growth in the club financially, and what can be done about it going forward. Fans in Montréal deserve a top-quality soccer stadium, which they have for hockey with the Bell Centre.
Ultimately, there’s a lesson here for CITY fans: despite the frustrations of two back-to-back poor seasons, many clubs are in far worse shape. And while our ownership group has been criticized for its decisions, their focus is solely on CITY and not on a club halfway around the world. As a young franchise, CITY is still finding its way. It's a huge offseason for CITY, with the looming decisions on Sporting Director and Head Coach yet to be made. For the sake of our fanbase, let’s hope they right the ship sooner rather than later to avoid the issues that clubs like CF Montréal are dealing with. There’s still time—but the clock is ticking. Failures with one or both hires this time around could set the franchise back even further, and into a situation similar to what clubs like CF Montréal are facing - apathy and unhappiness in the fanbase, discontent and conflict among the supporters groups, and loss of interest in attending matches. CITY needs to get this offseason right.
