Vancouver Whitecaps supporters go the distance for MLS Cup | OneFootball

By J. Sam Jones

“I'll explain,” said Tobyn Rootman, part of the Vancouver Albion supporters' group.

“So I'm flying with one of my best friends, Ben, who's the vice president of the supporters' group that I'm a part of. We are leaving Vancouver at 9:30 am on Friday. We go to Chicago. We've got a couple of hours in Chicago, then we go to Atlanta. And we arrive in Atlanta at about 11 pm ET. And then we were staying the night at the Atlanta airport. We've got a 6:30 am flight to Miami International Airport. So we get there at about 8:30 am, we go to our friend's hotel straight from the airport and drop our bags at about 11. Then we head to the stadium. We go straight back to the hotel, grab our bags, go straight to the Fort Lauderdale Airport, where we catch a 9 pm flight back to Atlanta, where we spend the night in the Atlanta airport again, and then get a 6:30 am flight the next morning to San Francisco and then a flight home.

“It cost us about CAD $500 round trip, and we're not paying for any hotels, so we're doing it on a budget... Both of us are students, but you've got to do what you've got to do to support your club. Especially in moments like these.”

Unmissable MLS Cup

Rootman is one of more than 1,000 Vancouver Whitecaps FC fans making the longest journey in MLS to witness MLS Cup 2025 presented by Audi, when their team heads into Inter Miami CF's Chase Stadium (2:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV; FOX, FOX Deportes; TSN, RDS).

Not all of them will be attempting a cross-continent speed run, but they do believe every one of the 2,792 miles to be worth it. After all – and with all due respect – how often do the Whitecaps, of all teams, make a run like this?

Rootman is well aware he’s witnessing something out of the norm. His dad took him to his first match in 2010, during the Caps' pre-MLS era. At five years old, Rootman got hooked and over the next 14 years, Vancouver routinely came up short… or, ya know, didn’t get anywhere close in the first place.

Another year of nowhere close seemed possible heading into 2025. Vancouver parted ways with head coach Vanni Sartini in November 2024 despite three Audi MLS Cup Playoffs appearances in his four seasons.

They were good, but never reached great. Bailing on good and replacing Sartini with a total unknown in Jesper Sørensen, to get them to great, came with a ton of risk. Add in the fact that the Whitecaps’ newest DP, Stuart Armstrong, left Vancouver after just six games and one start in 2024, and no one outside the building had any real reason to believe anything great would be on the way.

Then the season began. And, suddenly, the ‘Caps were playing some of the prettiest soccer in the league. And, suddenly, the ‘Caps were winning on aggregate against CF Monterrey and Pumas in the Concacaf Champions Cup. And, suddenly, they were mollywhomping Inter Miami in the CCC semifinals.

Mexico dreaming

Over 200 Whitecaps supporters made the trip down to Miami for that semifinal second leg, many through a club-led charter. Even more made the trip to Mexico City for the final against Cruz Azul. For Ciarán Nicoll, a Scotland transplant and vice-president of the Vancouver Southsiders supporters’ group who arrived in British Columbia in 2018, it felt a bit like home.

“When you're traveling away with Whitecaps, which I've done numerous times over the years, you really don't need to think about other people booking because here's five, six of you traveling, right?” Nicoll said.

“Whenever we went away with Celtic in Europe, it would be like you had to book it that moment, because the prices would just go up immediately, because everyone was booking. And it really did feel like that when the Whitecaps were playing in Mexico. Like, you know, people were finding out who was booking where and taking all sorts of creative routes to get there and find prices that weren't ridiculously expensive. That was a real moment that I thought, like, this team is quite special.”

That trip didn’t go as planned on the pitch. The Whitecaps were far from their best against Cruz Azul and lost 5-0. But that’s not stopping anyone from shelling out the cash and spending the time to head across the continent for another final. Nicoll said he even knows a local student flying in on the day of the game who’s looking for a place to store his bag during the match so he can immediately head back to Vancouver for final exams.

The Vancouver Albion

For Rootman, regardless of the time or the cost or a flight schedule you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, it’s worth it. Not only for him, but for other members of the Vancouver Albion supporters’ group he leads. The youth-focused SG started during COVID-19 through games of FIFA Pro Clubs. When fans returned to the stands, the virtual team became a bona fide collective in the stands at BC Place that’s shown up ever since.

It makes sense, then, that Rootman and friends are okay making this trek. This is a mutually beneficial relationship.

“I think soccer, or sport in general, can be a really great escape,” Rootman said. “I just found that, you know, if I was ever going through something or kind of needed an outlet, that kind of having somewhere where I could just shut everything out and just enjoy something I loved was incredibly beneficial. And then the community really. Like, I’ve formed so many close friendships, lifelong friendships around the Whitecaps.”

It’s not just the connections to his friends. The Whitecaps also provide a connection to his dad, who took him to his first ‘Caps game as a young(er) kid.

Rootman’s dad won’t be making the trip to Florida. But if the Whitecaps can pull out another win in Fort Lauderdale, Rootman knows what will happen.

“I can actually tell you, because I was in Miami earlier this year for the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals. I gave him a ring from the supporters’ section after we won, and I was bawling my eyes out,” Rootman said. “That moment, I was just in tears. Couldn't speak. And I could see how happy my dad was, and it was just… yeah, it was very surreal. And I'm sure it would be along the same lines should it happen again.”

Supporting local

Those moments are the payoff for folks like Rootman and Nicoll, who see a sense of duty in supporting your local club. The same is true for Peter Czimmermann, president of the Southsiders and a fan since Vancouver’s USL days.

Unlike Rootman and Nicoll, Czimmermann has had a less chaotic travel plan locked in for a while. He went ahead and grabbed a flight last Friday…before Vancouver had beaten San Diego FC in the Western Conference Final.

There might have been a question as to whether or not the Whitecaps would win. But Czimmermann had no questions about what would happen if they did. He’s been to every playoff match – home and away – so far. What’s one more trip? This is what he’s been waiting for since the Whitecaps adopted him almost two decades ago.

“Supporting your local team is like… you just do it,” Czimmermann said. “I'm originally from Hungary, so you don't really pick your team. The team picks you by being where you live. Watching soccer live from the stands, and like singing and yelling and expressing your emotions, is one of my outlets. Sometimes the team is not doing so well.

"But the moment like we are experiencing and the year that's behind us kind of shows that it's worth it looking back. And like now you can see how much you put in. You kind of enjoy this moment a whole lot more than, let's say, compared to just jumping on the bandwagon.”

Date with destiny

Whether they were born into it, took a path to it from abroad, or found another way into Whitecaps fandom, every supporter seems to recognize they’re experiencing a special point on their timeline right now. Some are heading across the continent to experience it. Others are staying at home to watch it with a reported 17,000 fans at BC Place. However they’re approaching MLS Cup, they won’t be doing it alone. But there’s just something about taking their support on the road that hits a little different.

“You know, we were in a pub in Mexico City, completely sold out, with Whitecaps fans,” Nicoll said. “And I was absolutely exhausted because I've been up for about 24 hours right at that point. My friend is like, ‘Why don't you go home?’ And I was like, ‘I'll never get this again. This is an experience I can't miss.'

“So, yeah, it's just that experience of being with people you know, and you hang out with all the time, watching your favorite team, hopefully with a trophy, right? You don't really get it, I don't think in other sports. With the way that the football is, the culture is so much deeper; it fosters that community. So when you're in a place hundreds or thousands of miles away and doing what you love, it's just, honestly, the best s--t in the world.”