Allison Andrews is a Journalist and Photographer covering the Portland Timbers on soccercityusa.com
As Major League Soccer prepares for a period of significant expansion over the next few years, many potential markets stand out as a good fit for MLS to establish new franchises. But while many cities may be a good market for top division soccer to establish a new franchise, Portland stands out as a city that isn’t your typical expansion candidate, as the sport is held with special regard there, and the potential for embracing top league soccer, which would be in the city for the first time since 1982, is enormous.
The fact that Portland has not had a top division team since the original Portland Timbers folded in 1982 doesn’t mean that the city has not embraced the beautiful game since then. In many ways, the city is more in love with the sport now than it was 25 years ago. One reason for this is certainly the presence of PGE Park, formerly known at Civic Stadium, which is still the epicenter of all of the city’s outdoor sporting events. The stadium is notable in world soccer history for being the site of Pele’s last professional game, the 1977 NASL Soccer Bowl, but it has also made history more recently as being the only stadium ever to hold matches in two consecutive World Cups (men’s or women’s) as it hosted games in both the 1999 and 2003 Women’s World Cup. But more than its history, the stadium is a neighborhood landmark, sitting on the west side of downtown, directly adjacent to a light rail line, and having undergone a major renovation in 2001, the stadium is well-suited to upgrade to MLS specifications. And at an almost perfect size (26,000 when in soccer configuration), provides and intimate setting that sets it apart from NFL size stadiums, which MLS has tried to move away from with the building of soccer-specific stadiums for most of their franchises.
But it’s not just a historic soccer venue that makes Portland embrace the beautiful game the way that it does. It can also be largely attributed to the simple fact that Portland is not saturated with major league franchises to fragment the fan base. The only major sport that has a presence in Portland is the Portland Trailblazers NBA team, who play a fall and winter schedule. The current soccer franchise in Portland are the Timbers, who play in the United
Soccer Leagues First Division (the second division of professional soccer in the US), but have consistently been near the top of the league in attendance (second highest in the current USL season), and have seen crowds top 15,000 at times.
But what makes Portland and the current Timbers franchise respected among the US soccer community is their rabid fan base, which is compared favorably to the top MLS supporters groups, as no other USL team can claim such enthusiastic support. Not only are the fans notable for the atmosphere they provide at Timbers matches, their support from the grassroots level has proven how the presence of a large fan base connected through the internet can contribute to a team’s success at a significant level. And the Timbers front office has recognized how important these fans can be to the overall success of the team, and work closely with their fan base in promoting the team in this way, which also gives the fans a special sense of being directly involved with the team’s success, rather than feeling like their only contribution to a sports franchise is through their purchase of tickets and merchandise. This strong grassroots organization among Portland soccer fans would be a strong building block for a Portland MLS franchise.
The fact that the City of Portland, Oregon adopted the nickname of “Soccer City, USA” back in the 70’s, and continues to do so with pride today, could also be attributed to the fact that in many ways, Portland shares the characteristics of a city in the British Midlands more so than it does to most American cities. The city is still a major port, with loading docks right in downtown, and is truly a city of neighborhoods, rather than being a city center/suburb structure that many US cities have. The fact that Nike has their World Headquarters in the Portland area, as well as the US Headquarters for Adidas, means that Portland’s business connection to the beautiful game is a strong one. But no matter the reason, Portland’s place as a true soccer city is well known and well justified, and Major League Soccer should look at the Rose City as a city that would not only welcome into their league, but should embrace as being the very essence of what they need to make soccer grow in North America.
