MONTREAL – It weighs 1,500 pounds and has a concrete base that weighs almost four tonnes, but the Montreal Impact haven’t lost while it’s rung.
The “North Star” church bell is the brainchild of Sonia Busnardo and Anthony Lizzi, a couple who are the principal organizers of a supporter group known as 1642, named after the city’s founding.
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“The team said ‘we don’t know how we’re going to install this, but it’s a great idea,'” Lizzi said.
“The team said ‘it’s wacky, it’s fantastic. It’s off the wall.'”
On Tuesday afternoon, team workers moved the bell from the stands of Stade Saputo to a new home at Olympic Stadium in anticipation of the team’s home opener against the New York Red Bulls.
Fans argued the Impact have not been defeated at games where the bell’s been rung.
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Lizzi and Busnardo bought it from a dealer in the U.S. and said it came from a church in Ohio.
The bell will return to Stade Saputo for the team’s first game there April 23.