Portland Timbers (2001–2010)

In 1974, the North American Soccer League awarded an expansion franchise to Portland, Oregon. The new team, named the Timbers, began play in the 1975 season. In their inaugural season, the Timbers went to the championship game Soccer Bowl but lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-0. It was during this magical season that the Timbers endeared themselves to the City and Portland became known as "Soccer City USA". While the Timbers boasted some of the league's best fan support, they sometimes struggled on the field. Despite going to the championship game in their first season, they missed the playoffs in 1976 and 1977. In 1978, they went to the Conference Finals before falling to the New York Cosmos. The team folded at the end of the 1982 season as player salaries outpaced team revenue. These Timbers established soccer as a sport in the greater Portland area. Their legacy lives on in the current Timbers following and the many thousands who continue to play and follow the game. Many of these Timbers continued to live in the area after their playing careers and helped establish the soccer as a vital local sport.

In 1985, a local amateur Portland club, F.C. Portland, became a charter member of the Western Soccer Alliance (WSA). In 1989, the team adopted the name Portland Timbers, becoming the second Timbers team and the WSA became the Western Soccer League (WSL). This time the Timbers lasted only two years, 1989 and 1990, before folding. However, in 1990, the WSL merged with the American Soccer League to form the American Professional Soccer League the predecessor of the A-League. While this iteration of the Timbers lasted only two years, it had five significant players, national team goalkeeper and University of Portland alumnus, Kasey Keller; former NASL Timbers player John Bain, who also coached the team; Scott Benedetti who would return as a star of the A-League/USL Timbers; future MLS player Shawn Medved; and finally Peter Hattrup who is best known as a member of the Seattle Sounders.

Portland Timbers

Through the 2003 season, the Timbers compiled an inconsistent record, qualifying for league playoffs two out of the three years. They did, however, established themselves as one of the best-drawing teams in the A-League, averaging attendance above 5,000 in each of their four years of existence.

In the 2004 season, the Timbers finished first in the Western Conference, with a record of 18 wins, 7 losses, and 3 draws (57 points). However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by their long-standing rival, the Seattle Sounders.

2005 proved to be a bittersweet year for the Portland Timbers. A sweet end of the year playoff run ended by a bitter playoff loss once again to arch-rival Seattle Sounders. However, many exciting moments went along with the 2005 season, including a 6-1 thumping of the Atlanta Silverbacks on September 8, 2005; Portland being the only team to give the Montreal Impact a home loss, and Timbers players Scot Thompson, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, and Dan Antoniuk winning league awards.

2006 was a very disappointing season for many reasons for the Portland Timbers, and their fans. The team finishing tied for last in the table with a franchise worst 7-15-6 (27 points) record, the Offensive production was last in the league as the club only netted 25 goals, and the Timbers lost their derby with heated rival Seattle Sounders.

2007 had many moments for the Timbers. Portland finished second in the league, with first going to rival Seattle Sounders. They enjoyed successful friendlies against Preston North End (2-1), Club Necaxa (1-0) and Toronto FC (4-1) while drawing even with the A.C. Milan Primavera squad (1-1) and winning on penalties, and went unbeaten at home during the regular season.

2008 was a disappointing year to most Timbers' fans for many reasons, although this was offset by the record high season attendances. The team finished dead last with a 7-13-10 record, scored a league worst 26 goals, while conceding 33. However, the 2008 Portland Timbers attendance grew 25.5% averaging 8,567 spectators (second in the USL-1 behind Montreal Impact), and Cameron Knowles won an All-League Second Team spot. On November 21, 2008, Amos Magee was named Director of Soccer Development for the Timbers.[3]

2009 was a record setting season for the Timbers. They went unbeaten for a USL-1 record 24 matches in a row, which started following a 1-0 loss to Vancouver in the first game of the season,[4] and ended with a Sep 3 defeat to Rochester Rhinos at PGE Park.[5] They finished their season at the top of the table (16-4-10 58 points) winning The Commissioner's Cup and a first round bye in the playoffs. With their 3-1 victory over the Miami FC Blues, the Timbers also were the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the 2009 season.[6] The Timbers were eliminated from the playoffs in their first two games (1-2, 3-3) on goal aggregate to Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Timbers Army is the center of fan support, and the Timbers with a number of rousing choruses. There are many other groups that occupy the North End (Woodshed) of Providence Park, some who are a part of the Timbers Army, and some who are not. The team mascot is currently Timber Joey, the replacement for Timber Jim who retired in 2008, a lumberjack who wields a live chainsaw around the field, cutting off a slab of a log each time the team scores.

Portland Timbers have rivalries with their Pacific Northwest opponents Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps. All three teams traditionally compete in the three way Cascadia Cup derby, although in 2009 Seattle moved to the MLS as Seattle Sounders FC, so for two years (2009–2010) the Cascadia Cup was a two-team derby. The three way rivalry was resumed in 2011, when Vancouver and Portland joined Seattle in the MLS.

The team's mascot was a grizzled lumberjack named Timber Jim (aka: Jim Serrill).[15] On January 24, 2008, Jim announced his retirement. His final farewell was a game played against Puerto Rico Islanders on April 17, 2008, the Timbers home opener, which was won 1-0.[16] Having served as the unofficial mascot every game starting the second home game of the season, on June 14, 2008, Timber Joey was inaugurated as the new official mascot at an exhibition game vs Juventus Primavera, a game the Timbers won 1-0.[17][18]