Portland Timbers

Full name	Portland Timbers
Nickname(s)	The Timbers
Founded	1975 - 1981
Ground	Civic Stadium Portland, Oregon (Capacity: 35,000)
League	North American Soccer League
Home colours Away colours

The Portland Timbers were a team in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1982. The name has been used by two other soccer franchises: the Timbers of the WSA/APSL and the current team of the USL.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Year by Year 1.2 Coaches 1.3 Notable players 2 References

[edit] History

In January 1975, the North American Soccer League awarded an expansion franchise to Portland, Oregon. The name was selected on March 8, 1975 from more than 3,000 entries in an open contest.^[1] They began play in 1975. 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 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.

[edit] Year by Year

Year	League	W	L	T	Pts	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1975	NASL	16	6	—	138	1st, Pacific Division	Won Quarterfinal (Seattle) Won Semifinal (St. Louis) Lost Soccer Bowl '75 (Tampa Bay)	14,503
1976	NASL	8	16	—	71	4th, Pacific Conference, Western Division	Did not qualify	17,429
1977	NASL	10	16	—	98	4th, Pacific Conference, Western Division	Did not qualify	13,216
1978	NASL	20	10	—	167	2nd, National Conference, Western Division	Won 1st Round (Washington) Won Conference Semifinal (Vancouver) Lost Conference Championship (Cosmos)	11,803
1979	NASL	11	19	—	122	4th, National Conference, Western Division	Did not qualify	11,172
1979/80	NASL Indoor	Did not enter
1980	NASL	15	17	—	133	4th, National Conference, Western Division	Did not qualify	10,210
1980/81	NASL Indoor	10	8	—	—	2nd, Western Division	Lost 1st Round (Chicago)	5,229
1981	NASL	17	15	—	141	3rd, Northwest	Lost 1st Round (San Diego)	10,516
1981/82	NASL Indoor	7	11	—	—	2nd, National Conference, West Division	Did not qualify	5,073
1982	NASL	14	18	—	122	4th, Western Division	Did not qualify	8,786

[edit] Coaches

• Vic Crowe (1975-1976)
• Brian Tiler (1977)
• Don Megson (1978-1979)
• Vic Crowe (1980-1982)

[edit] Notable players

Terry Alcock (1977) Willie Anderson (1975, 1977-1982) Garry Ayre (1979-1980) John Bain (1978-1982)145 apps 44 goals Clyde Best (1977-1981) Dave Butler (1979) [1] Clive Charles (1978-1981) Gary Collier (1980-82)83 apps 0 goals Jimmy Conway (1977-1980) 61 apps 7 goals Jim Cumbes (1976) [2] Chris Dangerfield (1975-1976) Graham Day (1975-1981) 117 apps 9 goals Willie Donachie (1980-82) 91 apps 2 goals Ron Futcher 23 apps 15 goals Brian Gant (1977-1982)

Paul Hendrie (1976-1977) 38 apps 1 goal Mick Hoban (1975-1980) Jimmy Kelly (1975-1976;1981) Stuart Lee (1980-1982) Barry Lynch (1975/1977) Tommy McLaren (1975) Brian McNeill (1978) Keith MacRae (1981) [3] Ray Martin (1975-1977) Glenn Myernick (1980-1982) Barry Powell (1975/1981) John Pratt (1980-82) [4] Rob Rensenbrink (1980) Neil Rioch (1976) [5] Peter Withe (1975) 22 apps 16 goals Dale Mitchell (1979-1982)

[edit] References