MONTREAL, QC. – The team decided a change was necessary to go forward and into a new era of football in Montreal, as Club De Foot Montreal is happening.
Montreal Impact rebrand to become Club de Foot Montreal
On Thursday morning Kevin Gilmore the team’s CEO and President via a virtual presentation on social media made the announcement the team was going to rebrand no longer be named the Montreal Impact but rather Club De Foot Montreal.
Ici, un but commun. Une passe. Une chanson. Un moment. #CFMTL pic.twitter.com/5YEAwiYRdH
— Club de Foot Montréal (@clubdefootmtl) January 14, 2021
Even before it was announced a lot of fans heard rumors and weren’t happy saying they liked the name Impact and actually started a petition to keep the name and already to date have 2000 signatures. Club owner Joey Saputo said he gave the team the name Impact because when he started this club with three other people back in 1992 he wanted his team to have an impact on the city.
This project was in the works for two years and during discussions, Gilmore said to Saputo if your plan was to have an impact well the job was done and you have made an impact on the city and it was time to retire the name and move on. Montreal is a bilingual city in a french province but Gilmore decided to stay with the French name.
The Impact entered the MLS back in 2012 and three years in the team finished third in the eastern conference before being eliminated by the Columbus Crew. They also made it to the eastern conference final back in 2017 before losing to their arch-rivals in TFC.
Last season the club finished 9th and lost in the first round of the MLS playoffs to the New England Revolution. Training camp is scheduled for mid-March but again could be delayed due to the Canada-US border being closed. The MLS is currently renegotiating the CBA after the MLS invoked the “forced majeure” clause in the current agreement to restructure the labor agreement.
