Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers are an American professional soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer as a member of the Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home matches at Civic Stadium since 2011, when the team began play as an expansion team in the league.
Peregrine Sports, under the majority ownership of Merritt Paulson, was awarded an expansion berth by Major League Soccer in 2009 to operate a Portland team. Paulson had acquired the second-division incarnation of the Timbers in 2007 and later established the Portland Thorns women's team in 2012. The MLS team is a phoenix club, and the fourth soccer franchise based in Portland to carry the legacy of the Timbers name, which originated with the team that competed in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1982.
In 2013, the Timbers finished the regular season in first place in the Western Conference, clinching both their first-ever playoff appearance and a CONCACAF Champions League berth. In 2015, the franchise won the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs, and their first major trophy, the MLS Cup, becoming the first team in Cascadia to do so. In 2017, the club again finished the regular season in first place in the Western Conference. In 2018, the Timbers again made the playoffs, advancing in three rounds, defeating archrival Seattle in the semifinals along the way, and made the MLS Cup where they lost 2–0 to Atlanta United FC. In 2020, the Timbers won the one-off MLS is Back Tournament, defeating Orlando City SC in the final, and once again qualified for the Champions League. In 2021, the Timbers won the Western Conference and once again were runners-up in MLS Cup, falling to New York City FC 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 score at extra time.
Portland has long-standing rivalries with nearby clubs Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, with whom they compete for the Cascadia Cup.
History
Soccer roots in Portland and first MLS seasons
Following England's World Cup victory in 1966, there was a significant increase in popularity of soccer in english speaking countries. The United States were heavily influenced and it paved the way for cities like Portland, Oregon to embrace the sport. The growth of professional soccer in Portland can be traced to the Portland Timbers, the city's expansion team in the top-level North American Soccer League as an expansion team from 1975 until the club's seventh season in 1982. The club's major achievement was in their inaugural season during the league's playoffs, having won the league's division final, and runners-up in Soccer Bowl '75 losing to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the championship match. This achievement helped to not only bring significantly more attention to the sport in Portland, but also bring more fans and more recognition to the Portland Timbers name. In 1985, F.C. Portland had established and was a charter club in the Western Soccer Alliance League and competed until folding in 1990. Professional soccer was dormant in the city until 2001, when the USL Timbers was founded and competed in Division 2 soccer in USL pro until the club folded in 2010. The USL club finished with the best record in the league in both the 2004 and 2009 regular seasons.Back when the Portland Timbers joined the NASL in 1975, their first manager was Vic Crowe, who was Welsh and brought many of that inaugural 1975 team's players from the West Midlands of England. Numerous members of the team were on loan for the summer from clubs in that area. Chris Dangerfield was one of the members of the 1975 team on loan from the Wolverhampton Wanderers in Birmingham. Like many of his teammates, he spent his time off the pitch talking to Portlanders and was a key part of building the culture of not only soccer in Portland, but also helping the Timbers to become a key part of the identity of the city. While there is much less of a need for building awareness of soccer now in Portland as there once was, team members maintaining relationships and volunteering in the community has stuck as part of the culture of the modern era Portland Timbers.
Prior to the Timbers's first season in NASL, they made their first signing, a player named Michael 'Mick' Hoban. Hoban spent his early career in England for Aston Villa, and played a few seasons in the United States for the Denver dynamos and the Atlanta Chiefs. He was a part of that team that made it to the Soccer Bowl 75', and Hoban once said that the team were very interactive with the fans, which was unusual to him compared to his time with other teams, and he said he believed this helped build a great community. Off the field, Hoban was crucial to the growth of the Timbers attention and sport in the city. Hoban took on the role of the team's Community Relations Manager, where he strived to spread awareness for the game. He helped the team host clinics in which the rules of soccer were explained and people were given the chance to experience the game for themselves to adults and children alike. Hoban stated that they hosted around a thousand community events in the first three years. Hoban has continued his contributions to the city for years onward and as a coach for youth amateur and professional levels. The Portland Timbers acknowledged his contributions by awarding him the Ring of Honor in 2014.
The announcement of the Timbers' entry into MLS was the culmination of a nearly two-year-long process for Merritt Paulson, dating back at least to May 2007, when Paulson led a group that bought the Portland Beavers and the USL Timbers. The group included former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Meritt Paulson's father. The biggest issue for the city of Portland at that time was that due to league concerns about seating configuration, field surface and scheduling, obtaining an MLS club would require a new stadium.
In October 2007, Paulson was told PGE Park could be upgraded for about $20 million, and a new baseball stadium would cost about $30 million. By November 2008, Paulson told The New York Times he expected Portland taxpayers would spend $85 million to "build a new baseball stadium for his Beavers and renovate PGE Park—just remodeled in 2001 at a cost to taxpayers of $38.5 million—for soccer", and that in exchange, he would spend $40 million for the franchise fee to bring a new Major League Soccer team to Portland. MLS was in support of the proposal, wanting to continue to expand the number of owners in the league.
Though supporting the acquisition of an MLS franchise raised numerous issues for Mayor Sam Adams and the Portland City Council, the Timbers were announced as Major League Soccer's eighteenth team on March 20, 2009, by Commissioner Don Garber. The announcement occurred during the first and second-round games of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament that were held in Portland. The announcement noted that the team would retain the Portland Timbers name.
Retaining the original name reflects the long-standing cultural presence of the Timbers in Portland, which remained through multiple iterations of the team. Former Timbers owner Merritt Paulson explained that changing the name was unlikely due to its strong history and supporter loyalty. This fan connection later became closely involved in the club’s organized supporter group, the Timbers Army.
Former forward and Colorado Rapids assistant coach John Spencer was named the first head coach of the Timbers on August 10, 2010. It was also announced that former head coach Gavin Wilkinson of the USL-1/USSF D-2 Timbers, was promoted as the general manager/technical director of the team.
The Timbers signed five players before the MLS Expansion Draft on November 24, 2010. Three were part of the Timbers D-2 Pro League squad in 2010, one was signed from D-2 Pro League team Austin Aztex and one was acquired via trade with New York Red Bulls. On November 24, 2010, the Timbers, along with the other 2011 expansion team, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, participated in an MLS Expansion Draft, each selecting 10 players from existing teams. Immediately after the Expansion Draft, the Timbers announced the trade of their first pick, from FC Dallas to D.C. United for defender Rodney Wallace. The Timbers and Whitecaps also participated in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft on January 13, 2011, with the Whitecaps having the first pick, and the Timbers having the second pick. Vancouver surprised some by selecting youngster Omar Salgado and Portland swiftly selected Akron midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe.
The Timbers played their first MLS game on March 19, 2011, against reigning MLS champions Colorado Rapids, but lost 3–1. The first goal in the Timbers' MLS era was scored by Kenny Cooper. In their first season, the Portland Timbers finished in 6th place in the Western Conference and 12th place overall.
On July 9, 2012, John Spencer was fired after a 0–3 loss to Real Salt Lake. Gavin Wilkinson took over on an interim basis for the rest of the season. The Timbers finished 2012 with the third-worst record in the league and was 8th out of 9th in the Western Conference. They did, however, win the Cascadia Cup in MLS for the first time.
Caleb Porter era (2013–2017)
The 2013 season began with new head coach Caleb Porter, who was previously head coach of the United States U-23 team and the University of Akron Zips men's team from 2006 to 2012. Under Porter, the Timbers achieved immediate success in the 2013 MLS regular season. They finished in first place in the Western Conference and third place in MLS overall. An important player was Diego Valeri, whom the Timbers had acquired from Club Atlético Lanús on loan with an option to purchase. In the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament, the club reached the semifinals, where they were eliminated by Real Salt Lake. The Timbers also earned their first MLS playoff appearance in franchise history. They defeated their archrival Seattle Sounders FC in the conference semifinals 5–3 on aggregate. The Timbers were eliminated in the conference finals, again losing to Real Salt Lake in a two–game aggregate series. Due to a change by the United States Soccer Federation of how American-based MLS teams can qualify in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Portland Timbers qualified for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, which was their first international tournament they would later take part in.In the 2014 MLS season, the Timbers could not replicate the success they had in the previous season. They struggled defensively in the beginning of the season with a 1–3–6 record over the first ten games. They were able to mount a comeback late in the season, still having a chance on the final weekend to appear in the MLS playoffs but ultimately failing to qualify. The Timbers finished the season in 6th place in the Western Conference, 11th place overall. For the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, the Timbers were drawn with Club Deportivo Olimpia and Alpha United in the group stage of the tournament. They were eliminated in the group stage on away goals. During the offseason, Portland's main focus was to avoid a slow start as they did in the 2014 season, made more difficult with Diego Valeri and Will Johnson being unavailable for the first several weeks due to injuries suffered in the final games of the 2014 season. New acquisitions included Nat Borchers from Real Salt Lake and Ghanaian/Norwegian keeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey.