Trillium Cup

The Trillium Cup is an annual two-team cup rivalry between Columbus Crew and Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. The Trillium Cup is named after a flower, the trillium, which is the official flower of the province of Ontario, and the official wildflower of the state of Ohio. The rivalries draw on the team's similarities: two teams are geographically near the Great Lakes that border the United States and Canada and both teams also play in soccer-specific stadia that have been built in the central city, as opposed to other MLS clubs that have built their stadia mainly in the suburbs. The cup will be awarded to the team that wins the regular season series (constituting 3 games in the 2008 season). In 2008, Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus and Mayor David Miller of Toronto started a small wager on their respective team for the first installment of the Trillium Cup - the mayor of the losing team was required to wear the winning team's jersey. The rivalry started to become more intense when 2,500 tickets to the first game at Columbus Crew Stadium were bought by TFC fans, and buses were organized for fans from Toronto heading to Columbus for the first game on 29 March 2008. The Crew won 2-0 over their new rival. The final match between the two became even more heated when the away supporters from Columbus were attacked and harassed by Toronto fans outside of BMO in which at least one TFC fan was maced and arrested. The second and third meetings were at BMO Field were a ties; 0-0 and 1-1, respectively. The Crew thus claimed the inaugural Trillium Cup with a 5:2 score on points earned, and maintained their status in Major League Soccer as one of three teams that Toronto has not beaten (New England Revolution & San Jose Earthquakes).

Winners by year

× Retroactive & Unofficial
+ Points based on Wins (3), Ties (1) & Losses (0)
- Tiebreakers: 1) Goal Differential, 2) Away Goals For, 3) Previous Year Winners

2008 Series Results