The decade-plus history of the club formerly know as the MetroStars reached -- with apologies to Winston Churchill -- the end of its beginning earlier today in a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of its $ 100-plus million dollar stadium complex in Harrison, New Jersey.

Finally able to look beyond its rental of the cavernous Giants Stadium, the club seeks to end what was essentially an 11 year road trip by building a home (largely) of its own. It is the long-suggested silver bullet needed to fix a franchise that has grown up rooted to a consistently inconsistent mediocrity.

To celebrate the beginning of this construction, some 400 fans, media, politicians and residents gathered to listen 90 plus minutes of speeches by the eleven men deemed most responsible for the designing, funding and eventual building of what is expected to be the best soccer stadium in the United States.

Fittingly for long-time observers of the team, the ceremony featured a lot of publicity, a number of grand pronouncements, a bit of action, and not an insignificant amount of controversial behavior. All of this was, of course, held under the threat of rain, without which it seems no event of note for this franchise is allowed to take place.

Ending nearly two hours after it was due to begin, attendees filed out after witnessing the gold-plated shovels lifted in victory, the obligatory mound of token dirt moved, the table set for a future long denied to what should have been MLS' flagship franchise.

If you build it, they will argue

With a location established by 2000, executives from then-owners AEG began looking to get the stadium built as part of a public-private partnership. Exactly how public and how private seemed to be the first problem. Debates raged back and forth between a Governor opposed to state funding for sports stadiums and a collection of local and state officials trying to bring prosperity to their community. The team's General Manager, Nick Sakiewicz took a lead role in what became a multi-year process to convince local politicians to work with him on making the dream of soccer fans a reality for the residents of New Jersey.

To be sure, this project never seemed to run out of roadblocks or villains.

Former Governor Jim McGreevey and NJSEA's George Zoffinger each seemed to take turns trying to stop the project. Whether it was trying to cut spending in a state with a budget deficit, seeking revenge for the state losing money on AEG-affiliated stock or protecting the monopoly of a powerful and seemingly unregulated state authority, years were spent trying to overcome the ever-growing obstacles of public funding and government approval.

Sakiewicz himself even became a lightning rod for criticism by fans that grew tired of the prolonged process and the many deadlines that continued to pass without a deal ever being struck.

Some of these arguments are still going on. Walking down Frank Rogers Blvd today, signs were posted in business windows complaining of abuse of the Eminent Domain and of back-handed revenge tactics by local politicians. Also lost in the assumed glory of hosting a glittering new stadium is the voice of those in Harrison who are wary of the project and the impact of thousands of new residents might have on both their standard of living and quality of life.

After five plus year of battle, the team announced in August 2005 that plans had come to an acceptable conclusion. A new interim Governor friendly to the project was in office. A new General Manager was in place, sent to turn the team around once and for all. A vocal commitment from AEG's Tim Leiweke to dedicate resources to an admittedly long-neglected franchise. In this climate, plans were unveiled to finally begin construction on the team's new home.

Yet, it still took seven more months and jolt of European caffeine to actually complete the process.