The Crew and Toronto FC to battle for Trillium Cup

Story courtesy Columbus Crew Communications

COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 27, 2008) - The Columbus Crew and Toronto FC announced today that the new competition between the geographic rivals will be known as the Trillium Cup, which refers to the official flower of the province of Ontario and official wildflower of the State of Ohio. Selected through on-line balloting, the Trillium Cup will be awarded annually to the winner of the regular-season series between the two clubs.

In addition, the mayors of the two cities, Michael B. Coleman of Columbus and David Miller of Toronto, have agreed to a friendly wager on the first game of this season’s inaugural Trillium Cup, Saturday’s season opener between the clubs at Crew Stadium. The stakes of the wager are simple: the losing mayor will don the jersey of the winning team for a public photo opportunity.

“The Columbus Crew has been a great part of Columbus’ rich sports tradition and I have full faith that Coach Schmid and our team will start the season with a win,” said Mayor Coleman. “I look forward to seeing Mayor Miller in the colors of the Black & Gold.”

The clubs unveiled plans to name the new competition in February and fans of both teams were encouraged to log on and submit names on-line. From the five finalists selected – Cross Border Cup, Great Lakes Cup, Capital City Cup, Trillium Cup and The Buck-Loonie – Trillium Cup was the winner and Great Lakes Cup was the runner-up. Trillium is a genus of flowering perennial herbs of the lily family, whose flowers have a cluster of three petals at the top of the stem.

“The fans of both teams have selected an extremely unique and distinctive name for the cup and I am certain that as the rivalry grows, the Trillium Cup will be a sought-after prize for the clubs and their fans alike,” said Crew General Manager Mark McCullers. “We sincerely appreciate Mayor Coleman’s support and faith in us as we enter the competition’s first game. I have assured him that we do not intend to let him down and will do everything in our power to ensure that he does not have to wear that unfashionable red jersey, even for an uncomfortable moment. In all seriousness, the participation of the Mayors adds another dimension to our burgeoning rivalry and we welcome their continued interest and involvement.”

The winner of the annual competition will be determined by total points in the regular-season series. The teams play three times this year, after playing three times last year – in which the Crew went 2-0-1 – but that will not necessarily always be the case. If the teams are tied on total points, league tiebreaking procedures for playoff berths or positions will be used.

The Eastern Conference rivals open the 2008 season against one another on Saturday (March 29) at Crew Stadium. The game kicks off at 4 p.m. and will be attended by more than 2,000 traveling Toronto fans. The Crew will then make two trips to BMO Field in Toronto, Saturday, May 17, and Saturday, Sept. 13.

Founded by American sports pioneer Lamar Hunt, the Columbus Crew is Ohio's Major League Soccer club, anchoring a diverse sports and entertainment enterprise. One of the league's Charter Members and U.S. Open Cup champion in 2002, it will open its 13th season overall and 10th in first-of-its-kind Columbus Crew Stadium on Saturday.