Football News: A To Z: Portland Timbers

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A To Z - Portland Timbers

A is for Army

The fans of the club are known as the Timber Army. They are described as raucous, loud and enthusiastic in their support of the club. The Timber Army models itself on European fan groups and the Timbers have a 10,000 waiting list for season tickets and have sold out every single home game since the franchise was launched.

B is for Beavers

The Portland Beavers were bought by the Timbers ownership group, along with the USL Timbers, in order to set up an MLS franchise in Portland. The group built a new baseball stadium for the Beavers and renovated their old home, PGE Park, to turn it into a football stadium.

C is for Cascadia

Portland is in the 'megaregion' of Cascadia according to the US and Canadian governments. An area of North America stretching from Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada to Portland in Oregon, USA.

D is for Dax

Dax McCarty was the club's first pick in their first ever draft, an MLS Expansion Draft, where they, and fellow expansion team for that year Vancouver Whitecaps, got to choose 10 players each from existing teams. McCarty was taken from FC Dallas then immediately traded to DC United in exchange for Rodney Wallace. Though probably not the Rodney Wallace you are thinking of, unless you are thinking of the Costa Rican defender?

E is for Expansion

The Timbers were part of the 2011 expansion of Major League Soccer and signed five players before the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft in preparation for their first ever season. During the draft they picked ten more players from existing teams, along with fellow 2011 expansion team Vancouver Whitecaps. They are the league's eighteenth team.

F is for Following

The Timbers have the largest (and most raucous) following in the entire MLS. They were initially known as the Cascade Rangers before changing their name to the Timbers Army to avoid any suggestion of partiality to Scottish club Rangers.

G is for Green

The club's colours are mainly green, with a bit of white and/or yellow. Portland is known for its forests and loggers and the green is there to represent them.

H is for Honor

Those connected with the club and deserve special recognition are awarded a 'Ring of Honor'. Five people have been awarded them, Clive Charles, Timber Jim, John Bain, Jimmy Conway and Mick Hoban. All bar Timber Jim are former players for the franchise.

I is for Illness

Record signing Brian Fernandez suffered a number of mysterious 'illness' absences during the 2019 MLS season, before eventually voluntarily entering the MLS substance abuse program. The $10m signing from Necaxa in Mexico's Liga MX has a history of substance abuse, including a 2 year ban in Argentinian football for a positive cocaine test.

J is for Jack Jewsbury

The first club captain in the team's MLS history and kept the armband for the first 2 years of its existence. The captain since 2018 has been Diego Valeri.

K is for Kenny Cooper

Kenny Cooper scored the Timbers first ever MLS goal on 19th March 2011, in the first MLS match against reigning champions Colorado Rapids in a 3-1 defeat. Cooper began his career with Manchester United after a trial with the club following his graduation from high school.

L is for Liam Ridgewell

The former Aston Villa defender became one of the club's longest serving players after joining the team in 2014. He is currently 8th on the Timbers' list of most appearances with 114 in total.

M is for Merritt Paulson

The majority owner who revived the club and built it into a Major League Soccer franchise after buying the USL (then a second tier soccer league in the USA) Timbers franchise and baseball team the Portland Beavers.

N is for Nagbe

Their first ever pick in a proper MLS Superdraft was Darlington Nagbe. He eventually left the Timbers for Atlanta United in 2017. Nagbe was born in Liberia but his family fled the country during its civil war and eventually settled in the US, where Nagbe became a full international winning 25 caps for the US.

O is for Oregon

The home state of Portland is Oregon in USA.

P is for Providence Park

Timbers home stadium is Providence Park. In 2016 the team failed to win a single match away from home all season.

Q is for Quavas Kirk

Quavas Kirk is a former player and USA youth international, though he never actually made the team once it entered Major League Soccer.

R is for Rivals

The club's main rival is Seattle Sounders, though the other Cascadian club Vancouver Whitecaps is also a rival. The trio compete in the Cascadia Cup.

S is for Spencer

Former Chelsea forward John Spencer was the Timbers first ever head coach, though he only lasted until 9th July 2012 when he was fired following a 3-0 loss against Real Salt Lake. In his only full season the Timbers had finished 6th in the Western Conference and 12th overall.

T is for Timber Jim

The club mascot until 2008 when he was retired and replaced by Timber Joey. Their trademark is cutting a round (or cookie) from a large log every time the Timbers score. The round (or cookie) is presented to the goalscorer after the match. If the team keeps a clean sheet, the goalkeeper gets a cookie from the log.

U is for Urruti

Maximiliano Nicolas Urruti Mussa, known as Maxi Urruti, is a former Timbers player. The Argentine now plays for Montreal Impact but he left his mark in Portland by scoring late in extra time (overtime in MLS lingo) to take the 2015 MLS playoffs knockout round to penalties, which Timbers won on their way to winning the MLS Cup.

V is for Valeri

One of their greatest ever players, Diego Valeri was their first player to get MLS's Landon Donovan MVP award after he set a record for goalscoring from midfield in Major League Soccer with over 20 goals. He also notched over 10 assists that season. In 2015, when Timbers won the MLS Cup, he scored the fastest MLS Cup goal.

W is for Williamson

A 22 year old central midfielder, Eryk Williamson is a US youth international that the Timbers acquired from DC United and counts as a 'homegrown' player.

X is for Xylotomous

A word which describes anything or anyone particularly good at wood-cutting, such as the club mascot Timber Joey.

Y is for Yell

One thing the Portland fans are known for is their loudness. Though a lot of the yelling tends to be insults aimed at Seattle....

Z is for Zarek

The club's Puerto Rican right-back is called Zarek Valentin. They also have Renzo Zambrano, a Colombian midfielder.

To read the previous A To Z: Rotherham United click here.

Written by Tris Burke November 15 2019 13:04:14