For those unfamiliar, we’re going to live tweet/X this game. If you have Twitter/X, follow us at @greenitcolor. (And if you prefer BlueSky: @greenitcolor.bsky.social.)

We’ll see what we can do in a thread there as we cover this game and the other things from the archives.

If you don’t have Twitter/X, no problem: we’ll update this story here with all of those.

Starting Lineups:

1’ | 0 - 0

Adidas released the last version of their Archive Kits last week, and stuff like that gets me pretty interested. Apparently, however, this is the last time for that collection.

5’ | 0 - 0 The Jaws get the first shot of the match, from the top of the 18, but it’s an easy catch for Pantemis.

I love Vancouver’s, and I was pretty, pretty, prettttty excited when I saw it.

10’ | 0 - 0 Portland’s free kick from Velde finds Kelsy’s head, but the Venezuelan puts it over the bar.

Wanting to learn more, I found USA Today’s reminder where soccer stands in some places.

17’ | 0 - 0 Lassiter is shown a yellow

1982? This is Brian Gant Erasure, and I won’t stand for it. Here’s the program from the first Whitecaps match in 1974–Soccer Vancouver is Kick Magazine before Kick Magazine, and in Canada.

18’ | 0 - 0 Lassiter draws the free kick.

Gant, coincidentally, was the Whitecaps leading goal scorer in their inaugural year—which was 1974…

29’ | 1 - 0 Every time I mention Brian Gant in one of these…Velde with the goal!

Anyway, MLS and the original release had the kit inspiration right: Inspired by 40 years since the Vancouver 86ers.

34’ | 1 - 0 San Diego enjoying the ball, but not much happening beyond possession.

From 1988-90’and in 1982, Dale Mitchell played for the 86ers. Hear more of Mitchell’s story here:

36’ | 1 - 0 The Jaws enjoy their first corner of the night but squander it.

And if you want to rep the Brian-Gant-scoring-leader inaugural-season Whitecaps, click the short below to see options from Ultras for that and many other Whitecaps options. #SavetheCaps.

40’ | 1 - 0 San Diego still enjoying possession, nothing more.

Speaking of understanding that we’ve come far enough to have an “archive,” Portland’s previous opponents debut theirs on Sunday. Even USA Today didn’t get it wrong.

42’ | 1 - 0 Portland’s counter will produce a goal this match.

Still, I would have loved to see a nod to the Chicago Sting (click photo to get your own Sting gear).

45’ | 1 - 0 Portland’s counter will produce a goal this match. Have I said that yet?

Or the American Soccer League Chicago Cats (ibid.).

45’ | 1 - 0 The fourth official has indicated 2 minutes more.

At least we’ve come a long way since Chicago winning the Men’s World Cup. We really had some collective evolving to do in those days.

45’+ 1 | 1 - 1 The guests level just before the break.

Ugh. I was hoping this was a shout-out to Washington Dips GM (and part originator of the Portland Mavericks) John Carbray who, among other ideas to popularize the game here, painted the 18-yard boxes. It was not.

45’+ 2 | 1 - 1 Velde’s shot goes just over.

I mean, 25 years ago, the Timbers knew the value of soccer-specific-ish.

Halftime 1 - 1

A good time to consider that Bobby Howe (Episode 19) did not play keepie uppies by home plate with Darren Sawatzky (Episode 49), Mark Baena (Episode 24), and Brian Winters (Episode 43) for the 2026 Timbers to have to play on that.

46’ | 1 - 1 |We’re back from the break.

I’m not trying to show bias; I just think some clubs get it. When Martí Cifuentes was introduced yesterday, there was talk of understanding place and legacy.

51’ | 2 - 1 I didn’t even mention Brian Gant, but…Lassiter puts us back where we belong: on top.

Maybe drop this Moda Center discourse and solve this in house.

56’ | 2 - 1 A Bassett shot off the post finds Kelsy who finds the Timbers Army.

USA Today did OK with the CF Montréal business, but I want to talk to the manager about 1993. Though I appreciate the rare pre-MLS nod, this is Clive Charles Erasure.

58’ | 2 - 1 Portland is enjoying more of the ball this half and creating from not just counters.

Before playing for the Timbers, Clive played for Montreal Olympique.

60’ | 2 - 1 Bye goes down with a non-contact knee injury.

2 ways to set this right.

1: Click the link and get some Olympique gear to rep.

62’ | 2 - 1 Eric Miller comes on to replace Bye.

2: Put Clive Charles in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. This video is from Joe Kuffner, producer and director of Unmatched: The Team That Changed the Beautiful Game:

62’ | 2 - 1 Eric Miller comes on to replace Bye.

2: Put Clive Charles in the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

68' | 3 - 1 Portuguese. The Dave

Portugal. The Man

74’ | 3 - 1 San Diego trying to make it happen like it’s 2025, but Finn Surman refuses to let the ball reach Pantemis.

Clive came to Portland in 1978. In 1979, speaking of archive editions, the Timbers were sponsored in Nike kits, the first ever team Nike outfitted.

76’ | 3 - 1 Pantemis stops a close-range shot with his head.

In honor of Martí Cifuentes, and his affinity for Cruyff, I give you those 1979 Nike kits, Civic Stadium, and Johan Cruyff (then with the Los Angels Aztecs). Photos courtesy 107ist.

87’ | 3 - 1 Portland still solid and doing well to not just sit back.

Nike outfitted the Timbers again in 1982, 1990, and 2004-2010.

89’ | 3 - 1 Portland still solid and doing well to not just sit back.

If you look closely here, you can see this Buffalo Stallions team photo where Timbers Original Tony Betts is wearing Nike shoes. (This was, of course, because of Mick Hoban—Podcast Episode 1—who started Nike soccer before it was even that.)

90’ | 3 - 1 The fourth official indicates we have 6 minutes left—enough for me to tell you my favorite Nike soccer story. In 1982, Peter Withe (who scored the very first Timbers goal in 1975) scored the European-Cup-Winning goal, in Hoban-provided Nikes.

90 + 5 | 3 - 1 This one is nearly over.

Peter Withe won a cup with Villa—and Tony Betts (see above) and Liam Ridgewell both won FA Youth Cups with Villa. I’m sure you all know Vic Crowe, the Timbers very first coach in 1975 and NASL last in 1982, came from Villa. This is Vic’s grandson Jack, posing with Liam Ridgewell before Ridgy’s first Timbers match as a player (coincidentally across the street from the last NASL Timbers offices). Not a bad archival item.

Final 3 -1

#RCTID

It’s a massive privilege to get to participate in this Green Is the Color project. As I’ve been fortunate enough to meet so many people and hear—and be able to share—their (mostly) Portland soccer stories here, I don’t take the opportunity to participate in any of it for granted. I appreciate it all. However, I do have a definite soft spot for a few specific things. The MLS is Back Tournament is one of those.

The 2020 MLS is Back Tournament brought a sense of soccer at its best: a shared cultural experience, a chance to again be present in the sport with others for a period of time, something ‘normal’ when most everything else was not.

“For the first time since play was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12,” Major League Soccer’s webpage read on July 8, 2000, “MLS teams will take to the field in official competition beginning on July 8 for a unique tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney World Resort in Florida.”

That official competition—the MLS is Back Tournament—ended on this day 6 years ago, after 51 scheduled matches, with goals by Larrys Mabiala and Dario Župarić securing the one-and-only-time MLS is Back Tournament championship and a spot in the 2021 Concacaf Champions League for the Timbers.

Below are the goals and highlights from the final.

27’ Larrys Mabiala (Diego Valeri)

66’ Dario Župarić (Jeremy Ebobisse, Eryk Williamson)

Match Highlights

#RCTID

Speaking of agriculture, sort of, it’s a Timbers Army Sunflower Match, so today’s Match Day* is all about the man who called then-Timbers General Manager Kieth Williams in 1978 and asked, “Can I bring a chainsaw to the stadium?”—Ring-of-Honor member Timber Jim Serrill.

For those unfamiliar, we’re here, and we’re going to live tweet/X this game. If you have Twitter/X, follow us at @greenitcolor. (And if you prefer BlueSky: @greenitcolor.bsky.social.) We’ll see what we can do in a thread there as we cover this game and a very important person who's been bringing us together since 1978.

If you don’t have Twitter/X, no problem: we’ll update this story here with all of those.

Starting Lineups:

3’ | 0 - 0 Puebla gets the first corner of the match.

First, allow Timber Jim to explain why this is a Sunflower Match (which also explains why the Timbers Army sings “You Are My Sunshine” in the 80th minute of each home match).

5’ | 1 - 0 Goal Lassiter!

Ari gets on the end of a deflected shot puts us up early.

You can hear the Timber Jim Origin Story from Jim himself in this season’s “Season Preview*: All Apologies [5/5]” by scrolling down to the audio near the bottom where he talks about watching Pele.

14’ | 1 - 1 The guest draw level.

The Timbers introduced “Timber Jim” to the fans in 1978.

21’ | 1 - 1 Trey Muse makes his first save!

And Jim introduced his magic, saving the “National Anthem” that same year. (25 years before Maurice Cheeks helped Natalie Gilbert.)

25’ | 1 - 1 Velde gets a chance past the Puebla right back, but the Growers' GK makes a save out for a corner.
There’s so much more to Timber Jim Serrill. You can hear all about his story, from him, in Podcast Episode 4.

29’ | 1 - 1 Puebla loves the long ball from the middle out wide, in both directions.

The Lap of Honor goes back to 1975 and Jim joined right in, in 1978, chainsaw and all.

30’ | 1 - 1 DDC and Velde combine off Portuguese Dave’s smooth first touches. The Timbers earn a corner that Puebla clears from the far post. DDC is starting to make his mark on this game.

A couple of things you may not know. Jim was also present when the Timbers played indoor at Memorial Coliseum, but he missed Jimmy Kelly’s return to Portland because he fell from a tree at work.

36’ | 2 - 1 Goal Timbers! DDC won’t get an assist, but all the credit to him and Velde for asking questions of the game, leading to a Cole Bassett goal off a Velde corner.

And in 1981, it was a Brian Gant Goal that saved him from having to stand all 90 minutes in the rain atop a snag, as Jim vowed to stay up there until the Timbers scored.

38’ | 3 - 1 Goal DDC! He deserves that. Credit to the assist man Ian Smith, who worked his way down the left before getting the ball back across. Puebla’s right side is struggling.

In 2001, when the Timbers returned, so did Jim!

45’ | 3 - 1 The fourth official has indicated 3 minutes of added time. Keep in mind, this is Leagues Cup, which is a tournament format. Goal differential and goals scored matter.

This is likely my favorite Timber Jim photo–standing atop the 80-foot snag he convinced them to add to the PGE Park renovation.

45’ +3 | 4 - 1 Goal Bassett. Velde leads the break and finds DaCosta who lays the ball in the path of a streaking Bassett, who slots his second of the night with the penultimate touch of the half.

Bonus Jim advert because I don’t want to split the next two posts over the half.

48’ | 4 - 1 Puebla did not sub their right back. They should have subbed their right back. Velde is eating well.

18 years ago, YouTube user HagbardCelin42 made this video hoping to get Jim into the Mascot Hall of Fame

49’ | 4 - 1 Another corner (from a DDC-Velde connection) and a Velde shot just wide keeps the pressure on the guests.

HagbardCelin42’s efforts didn’t work, but Jim is in our Hall of Fame, and, let’s be honest, this one is better.

56’ | 5 - 1 Ariel Lassiter joins Cole Bassett on a brace. Jack Dodd commits to the bit by subbing Lassiter. (Bassett still on.)

In 1981, Timber Jim called it quits—and the team said goodbye to the OG SoccerWatcher Bobby Brooks (for different reasons)

66’ | 5 - 1 All going the same.

In 2003, and 2008, Timber Jim again announced his retirement. Portland’s Chris Brown provided him one last chance to cut a goal slab with his 71st minute goal.

67’ | 5 - 1 Puebla gets a free kick, and it’s easily handled by TREY MUSE!

You can’t quit us, Jim! Thank you for that.

70’ | 5 - 1 Guerra and Eric Miller enter the match!

In 2009, Jim was the subject of another cool Timbers Army tifo, before a US Open Cup match

73’ | 5 - 1 Great save by Trey Muse!

10 years ago, Jim gave a TEDx in Portland, titled “Anger Is a Fuel for Love.” If you interact with one thing on this site, make it this video.

78’-80’ | 5 - 2 Bassett is off for Kelsy… ; the guests score.

Hard to care much about the score—I’m all in on sunflowers and “You Are My Sunshine” Thank you for bringing us together, Timber Jim Serrill!

85’ | 5 -2 I want to depart from the format for a moment to mention how much I’m enjoying watching Trey Muse the Third! Kentucky is proud tonight.

*John David Muse the Third

89’ | 5 - 2

Here’s another way you can honor Timber Jim: Take a CPR class. Jim started a program to offer free CPR training through the 107ist. (See below to register)

90’ | 5 - 2 The fourth official says we’ll get 3 more minutes

If you’re a 107ist member, the classes are free. If you are not, become one today and sign up for the free CPR training. The next one is 8/15.

Link to sign up: 107ist CPR Training

#RCTID

We’re here, and we’re going to live tweet/X this game. If you have Twitter/X, follow us at @greenitcolor. (And if you prefer BlueSky: @greenitcolor.bsky.social.) We’ll see what we can do in a thread there as we cover this game and some history of the people who have led our favorite team.

If you don’t have Twitter/X, no problem: we’ll update this story here with all of those.

It’s the 126th all-time meeting between the Timbers and Sounders, as we continue Match Day* celebrating Portland Timbers head coaches. [See “Timbers vs Tornado (Head Coach Edition Part 1/3: The NASL Years)” from July 22 and “Timbers vs Blitzz (Head Coach Edition Part 2/3: 1985 to Spencer for H/Fire)” from July 25.]

Starting Lineups:

1’ | 0 - 0 The 126th meeting begins

At the start of the 2013 season, the Timbers hired Caleb Porter.

6’ | 0 - 0 Seattle’s Paul Arriola is subbed out with an injury and replaced by Kalani Kossa-Rienzi

In 2014, Porter brought in current Timbers assistant coach Liam Ridgewell, as a player.

15’ | 0 - 0 Portland settling into the game and enjoying the ball, with Kevin Kelsy heading just wide.

And then in 2015, this happened:

22’ | 0 - 0 Lassiter over a free kick that is cleared, recycled by Portland, and eventually controlled by the Sounders.

2015’s Jeanderson wants more from that.

25’ | 0 - 0 Seattle’s Peter Kingston goes in the books for a foul on Velde.

Solid TIFO from Timbers Army to kick off the season following the 2016 MLS Cup win:

28’ | 0 - 1 Seattle. Kossa-Rienzi, the substitute, puts the geusts ahead.

Maybe it’s a good time to relive the 2025 MLS Cup Championship here, where you can download the retrospective video.

30’ | 0 - 1 Kemal Miller is booked.

In 2017, Porter left the Timbers without a stated reason (See Chris Agnello), and, in 2018, the club brought in Giovanni Savarese.

35’ | 0 - 1 Portland is starting to enjoy the ball a little more.

Of course we all know Gio as the player who scored the first-ever MetroStars goal:

38’ | 0 - 1 James Pantemis is on the turf following a collision with Paul Rothrock. He’s back up. All is well.

Or as the coach who returned us to MLS Cup in 2018.

41’ | 1 - 1 KEVIN KELSY levels!

Or as the coach who returned us to MLS Cup in 2021.

45’ | 1 - 1 The fourth official indicates 8. minutes of stoppage time

And Gio did bring us something nobody else will ever win.

45 + 5’ | 1 - 1 Kelsy booked for simulation

The 2023 season would be Savarese’s last heading the Green and Gold, as he was replaced in August by interim Miles Joseph.

Halftime | 1 - 1

Of course we all know Miles Joseph as the player who assisted Gio on the first-ever MetroStars goal.

Start of Second Half | 1 - 1

Prior to the 2024 season, the Timbers announced a new full-time head coach, Phil Neville.

49’ | 1 - 1 Pantemis makes another great save to keep this one level.

Neville won his first match in charge, and he dedicated it to TA’s Benson "Ben" Drapiza.

54’ | 1 -1 It feels like a goal is coming to 1844 SW Morrison Street soon

Neville also won his first Cascadia Cup.

60’ | 1 -1 Maybe not as soon as I thought.

You can learn more about Phil’s football journey in Podcast Episode 18

64’ | 1 -1 Definitely not as soon as I thought. Both teams playing primarily between the 18s, even on counters.

And in Green Is the Color’s golden 50th episode, recorded live with Santiago Moreno at the Adidas’ Employee Store.

65’ | 1 -1 Antony on for Ari.

During this season’s break for the Men’s World Cup, the team named current T2 head coach Jack Cassidy as interim head coach.

71’ | 1 -1 Seattle’s Sebastian Gomez is shown a yellow.

You can spend some time hearing about one of Cassidy’s favorite sessions here.

76’ | 1 -1 Portland is asking more questions of the game at the moment, but it’s nothing threatening yet.

And get to know him through Stumptown Footy’s Luukas Ojala.

82’ | 2 -1 Brandon Bye from just outside the 18! (Mentioning Martí Cifuentes is good luck.)

On July 21, the Timbers announced Martí Cifuentes as the 5th head coach in the club’s MLS tenure (hence the title of this piece.).

86’ | 2 -1 Antony draws a foul in the attacking half.

While we await Cifuentes’ visa approval and arrival, enjoy our new coach’s attacking-a-mid-block Masterclass.

89’ | 2 - 1 I’m going to just have to watch these last minutes.

This week, in player news, the club introduced a new #14 this week: Dutch International Vincent Janssen.

5 minutes left, as per the 4th official

Speaking of the number 14, from 1975 to now, our number 14s have provided a moment or two to celebrate, especially when Timbers Original Tony Betts set the bar high against our rivals, from season 1.

Final | 2 - 1 Timbers

Jack Cassidy has taken 10 of a possible 12 points, on 3 wins and one draw, in his tenure. He has swept the Seattle Sounders! Thank you, Jack!

#RCTID

We’re here, and we’re going to live tweet/X this game. If you have Twitter/X, follow us at @greenitcolor. (And if you prefer BlueSky: @greenitcolor.bsky.social.) We’ll see what we can do in a thread there as we cover this game and some history of the people who have led our favorite team.

If you don’t have Twitter/X, no problem: we’ll update this story here with all of those.

And if you want to catch up, you can read Wednesday’s “Timbers vs Tornado (Head Coach Edition Part 1/3: The NASL Years).”

Starting Lineups:

10’ | 0 - 0

Also an emotional night, as Felipe Mora plays his last match as a Timber. Since 2020, the Chilean has notched 46 goals and 20 assists in 144 appearances for the club. Mora ranks third in club history in goals scored (46), fourth in goal contributions (66), ninth in assists (20) and tenth in appearances (144).

10’ | 0 - 0 Bassett draws a yellow.

I did my best to honor Mora today in “Always a Timber.”

14’ | 0 - 0

Massive save by Pantemis!

Let’s kick this off with some pre-USL FC Portland / Portland Timbers content.

From 1985-88 FC Portland held serve as Bernie Fagan coached the Western Alliance Challenge Series and Western Soccer Alliance seasons under the FC Portland name.

18’ | 0 - 1: Goal RSL

Because of NCAA rules, Clive Charles and Bill Irwin could officially coach. Fagan coached the Warner Pacific men’s team at the time, which was a member of the NAIA (where there really aren’t any rules about eligibility).

27’ | 0 - 1

Lassiter gets service into the box, and Velde is starting to ask questions of the game.

1989 and 1990 saw the return of the Portland Timbers name and original logo, with an OG Timber, John Bain, at the helm, quite often as player/coach.

31’ | 0 - 1

RSL’s Guilavogui is shown a yellow.

Ring-of-Honor member Bain was also the first coach when indoor soccer returned to Portland, as he helmed the 1993 Portland Pride, operating as player/coach there as well, 1993-96.

31’ | 0 - 1

After VAR, RSL’s Guilavogui is shown a red.

When the Portland Timbers returned (again and for good) in 2001, the club was coached from 2001-2005 by a somewhat familiar face, Bobby Howe, and an unfamiliar logo.

39’ | 0 - 1

Felipe Mora’s shot inside the 6 yard box is blocked.

Jimmy Conway assisted Howe when the team came back in 2001. Great buddy picture to commemorate the occasion.

41’ | 0 - 1

Diego Chará is shown a yellow.

Howe, however, was returning to PGE Park after a unique first experience. Howe featured in the first professional soccer match at Civic Stadium as a member of West Ham United, in 1969, even scoring a goal against Dundee United.

45’ | 0 - 1

The fourth official indicates there will be 6 minutes of stoppage time.

Howe’s 2004 Timbers won the Commissioner’s Cup, and Howe was named A-League Coach of the Year, while General Manager Jim Taylor was named A-League Co-Executive of the Year. Howe would have one more season for the Green and Gold.

Halftime | 0 - 1

For the 2006 season, the Timbers hired 2005 Real Salt Lake assistant—and co-founder and head coach of the Utah Blitzz, 2000-2004—Chris Agnello as Head Coach AND General Manager.

Start of Second Half | 0 - 1

While the Blitzz (and other double-z-named teams—I see you Utah Freezz) were credited with laying some of the groundwork and proof of concept that led to Real Salt Lake’s 2005 MLS expansion season, Agnello’s 2006 Timbers turned in the worst season in club history.

No changes for either side | 0 - 1

9 months after his appointment, Agnello abruptly quit both positions and left the team with some essential vacancies.

52’ | 0 -1

Bassett hits the inside of the post, but the ball refuses to cross the line.

Enter Gavin Wilkinson—who was a club player / assistant coach 2005 and 2006—to manage the club, 2007-2010. In addition to Wilkinson, in May of 2007, Merritt Paulson took over the club ownership.

55’ | 0 - 1

Solans showed the yellow for the guests.

The 2009 Timbers won the Commissioner’s and Cascadia Cups, earning Wilkinson USL-1 Coach of the Year and relatively new (2007) owner Merritt Paulson USL-1 Executive of the Year.

56’ | 1 - 1

64’ | 1 - 1

Portland putting RSL under pressure; I forgot to mention Antony replaced Ari at the goal.

For their MLS debut season, the Timbers hired John Spencer, who was then an assistant coach with the Houston Dynamo.

66’ | 1 - 1 The Timbers take their 12th Corner

Spencer led the team for two seasons and left Portland with the greatest coach-involved commercial ever.

67’ | 2 -1

72’ | 2 - 1

Jack Cassidy makes his first ever mistake as Timbers Interim Head Coach: Subs off Mora, who was on a brace and sniffing the elusive MLS Timbers hat trick.

I asked Cassidy about this in the post-match press conference (at about 2:25 mark)

And I digress to mention Jim Rilatt, who coached the 2010 Timbers U-23s to an undefeated season and PDL championship.

83’ | 2 - 1

RSL is getting more of the ball and probing, but Portland snuffs out their recent run of possession.

In 2012, the Timbers replaced Spencer mid season with GM Gavin Wilkinson (though I don’t think it was on Spencer’s wedding anniversary—see Peter Warner and Don Megson, 1980).

89’ | 2 - 1 Mora over RSL

Velde’s shot is saved by RSL’s Cabral and out for a corner.

90’ | 2 - 1 PIPE!!!

There will be 5 minutes of stoppage time.

Final! Timbers send off Mora with a 2-1 win over RSL. Tune in August 1 for “Timbers vs Sounders (Head Coach Edition Part 3: Porter Ball to Martí 5)”

#RCTID

Yesterday’s news that today’s match will be Felipe Mora’s last as a Timber means, at the current moment, our club’s first and most recent goals were scored by a Timber wearing the number 9.

As a way to say Thank You to Pipe and all the Green and Gold 9s, Green Is the Color looks back at all the players who wore it on their back over the last 51 years.

1975: Peter Withe

Withe (aka “The Mad Header” aka “Wizard of Nod”) scored 16 goals in 22 matches for the inaugural Portland Timbers season. Goal 1 of those 16, fittingly from his noggin, was also Goal 1 for the franchise:

1976: Nobody

The reason for this one-season NASL anomaly is really a quite rational one: Nothing against the new players on the second-year side, but there was still some hope several of the players from the 1975 team would again be re-loaned from their English clubs to our favorite American club.

In Podcast Episode 55, then-Director of Public Relations Dennis O’Meara explains:

1977-1978: Clyde Best

The Bermudan Blast scored 19 goals and added 13 assists in his two seasons wearing #9 for the Green and Gold. (From 1979-81, Best wore the number 10 for the Timbers.)

There’s plenty about Clyde Best on this site, in Podcast Episode 36: Clyde Best and this story below, involving the recently shown documentary about Best:

1979: Paul Toomey

Toomey logged 553 minutes over 8 matches in his lone season with the Timbers.

1980-82: Willie Donachie

The Scottish lad put in 12 seasons at Manchester City before joining the Timbers for the 1980 and 81 NASL outdoor campaigns. He wore the number 9 in the 1980-81 indoor season, as well, but was away with Norwich City for the last indoor season the Timbers would play, so there is no number 9 indoors 81-82. Donachie did return for the 1982 outdoor campaign, but he wore the number 3 because the team had already given that kit to Minnesota Kicks refugee Ron Futcher.

1982: Ron Futcher

The NASL’s all-time 4th highest scorer once told me he reached that peak by “putting his head where no man ought to.” After the Kicks folded in 1981, Futcher joined the Timbers (for yet another last season for an NASL side), where he led the team with 13 goals and scored a hat trick in his first home match at Civic Stadium.

1985-87: Brent Goulet

Warner Pacific Hall of Honor member Goulet led the Western Alliance Challenge Series (WACS) and Western Soccer Alliance (WSA) FC Portland sides, ending his Civic Stadium tenure as 1987 WSA MVP before signing with AFC Bournemouth. Goulet also wore the number 9 for the 1988 US Olympic team.

1988-89: ?

I have to confess to not having the answer to this at the moment. But I will, and it will eventually be here. Until then, More Mora:

1990: Rob Paterson

Much to still share about this era on this site. Paterson, as far as I can find, played one professional season, and it was with this American Professional Soccer League (APSL) group—but he did make the most of it, leading the team that year in assists.

2001: Greg Howes

The US Futsal International is one of those players to have played with two Cascadia teams, spending 2000 and 2007 with the Sounders. In the return of the Timbers, Howes scored 9 goals in 26 appearances, including this one:

2002-03: McKinley Tennyson

Before playing two seasons with the Timbers, the US Youth International was drafted by Columbus Crew in the 2001 MLS Super Draft. In two seasons with the Timbers, Tennyson accumulated 29 goals in 53 appearances. A real Renaissance man, Tennyson won a keg toss with “a "World Keg Toss Association Hall of Fame, 31-foot heave” and is on LA’s Griffith Observatory’s board.

2004: The number 9 was as vacant as the NASL Timbers office after the 1982 season

Below, in black and white, Brain Gant and Willie Anderson stand outside the closed club offices a stone’s throw from Civic Stadium after the franchise folded in 1982. In color below that, the same building today, across the street from Providence Park.

2005: Dan Antoniuk

Antoniuk netted 17 times in 61 matches for Portland. In 2012, Brain Costello of the Timbers wrote this great piece about the 2012 NASL Soccer Bowl and its connections to Soccer City, USA.

2006: Oral Bullen

The University of Massachusetts captain was a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference second team selection before signing with the 2006 Portland Timbers, where he scored 2 goals in 20 appearances, one of which can be seen here:

2007-08: Kiki Lara

Though I don’t know much about Lara’s time on the field with the Timbers (he logged 1,000 minutes over 19 matches), more important is that Lara made a difference in the communities where he played. Lara was the Minnesota Thunder’s 2006 Humanitarian of the Year, and the Timbers 2007 Timbers Community Player of the Year.

Our kind of Timber!

2009: Antouman Jallow

The Swede made just 2 starts, netting one goal, for the Timbers before being loaned to Sandvikens IF of the Swedish second division.

2010: “O.J.” Obatola

Nigerian-born Ojimi “O.J.” Gabriel Obatola featured in 6 regular-season matches for the 2010 Portland Timbers, scoring once. However, he did lead the team in pre-season goals, including the lone score in a win over the Sounders.

2011: Bright Dike

A year before the Timbers joined MLS in 2011, Dike registered a US Open Cup hat trick in the second round. Below, at about the 5:10 mark, Dike scores his one international goal for Nigeria, in a friendly against Italy.

2012: Kris Boyd

Like Ron Futcher in 1982, Kris Boyd wasted no time introducing himself to the Jeld-Wen Field faithful, opening his Green and Gold goal-scoring account in his debut:

2013: Ryan Johnson

The Jamaican International scored 9 goals in 29 appearances in his one year with Portland.

2014-2018: Fanendo Adi

In his time at the club, Adi scored 50 goals for the Timbers, making him then the all-time franchise leading goal scorer. Number 46 broke John Bain’s NASL record 45. Below are the ones that set the mark until Diego Valeri eventually surpassed the Nigerian Youth International.

2019: The number sat dormant, waiting for someone special to arrive

2020-July 25, 2026: Felipe Mora

There will, rightfully, be a lot of tributes out there today for Felipe Mora. I hope you’ll take the time to seek them all from your favorite Timbers-covering media outlets. But when tonight’s match starts, whether you watch from home or at your home away from home, be present and take in Felipe Mora’s last match in Green and Gold.

¡Gracias, Amigo! Always a Timber!

#RCTID

We’re here, and we’re going to live tweet/X this game. If you have Twitter/X, follow us at @greenitcolor. (And if you prefer BlueSky: @greenitcolor.bsky.social.) We’ll see what we can do in a thread there as we cover this game and some history of the people who have led our favorite team.

If you don’t have Twitter/X, no problem: we’ll update this story here with all of those.

Starting Lineups:

15’ | 0 - 0

Portland’s first head coach in 1975 was Vic Crowe who, like many 1975 Timbers, came to Portland from Aston Villa.

19’ | 0 - 0

Not much happening in 2026. Pantemis gets a touch off a Farrington shot, out for a Dallas corner.

Crowe stayed with the Timbers for two seasons (the first time around, see 1980) and lead the then-new-NASL side to Soccer Bowl ‘75.

34’ | 0 - 0

Kelsy has the first proper chance for the home side but loses his footing.

In 1977, Brian Tiler, who played for the 1976 Timbers, becomes the second head coach in team history.

37’ | 0 - 0

Kemal Miller enters the book with a foul on Santiago Moreno, much to the delight of the North End.

Tiler only managed that one season for the Timbers. From 1978-80, he was head coach of the Zambia national team. Sadly, Tiler died in 1990 while in Italy for the Men’s World Cup, when a car he was in with Harry Redknapp crashed.

45 +1 | 0 - 1 Dallas

Delgado finds the net for the guests.

Halftime | 0 - 1 Them

1978 - May 1980 Don Megson takes over from Tiler and eventually becomes the first Timbers coach fired mid season.

It happens while the team is on the road in Florida, on Megson’s wedding anniversary.

Side note: Megson’s son, Neil, scored the first goal in Portland Pride history in 1993.

Start of the Second Half | Still 0 -1, Tornado

In May of 1980, after GM Peter Warner fired Megson (did I mention it was on his wedding anniversary?), the Methodist-minister-turned-GM hired…himself.

55’ | Nothing’s Changed in the Score

New father Kristoffer Velde and Future Ring-of-Honor Member Diego Chará sub on.

Warner’s self appointment goes about as well as you’d think:

59’ | 0 - 1

Dallas’ Johansson is shown a yellow.

In 1980, it took less than a month of 5 straight losses for Warner to replace himself, presumably not on his anniversary, with the OG (Original Gaffer) Vic Crowe.

63’ | 0 - 1

Velde and Kelsy hit the same post in succession! We need to manifest a goal, so I’ll tell you about Crowe’s first match back in charge. It was right here at 1844 SW Morrison Street, and Brian Gant got the lone goal for a win in Crowe’s return.

66’ | 1-1 Brian Gant is good luck!

Kevin Kelsy brings us level.

75’ | Still level

Almost to the end of Part 1: The NASL Years (stay tuned for Part 2 on Saturday)

Crowe’s second match back in charge was also right here, and coincidentally, against this Dallas Tornado side.

85’ | 1 - 1

When the 1980 Tornado visited, Peter Warner was still listed as (interim) head coach in KICK.

88’ | 1 - 2 Dallas

Croatian International Petar Musa slots the guests ahead. And Brandon Bye is booked in the 90th.

9 Minutes of Added Time

90+2 | 2 -2 The Bus, like Brian Gant, is good luck!

Velde finds Mora to level the score!

90+4| 2 -2 Chará gets booked

90 + 6 Ibeagha is booked for Dallas

Final: 2 - 2 That’s it for now. See below for match highlights. And tune in for Part 2 Saturday July 25 when the Utah Blitzz visit Providence park and Part 3 Saturday August 1 when the Sounders are in town.

#RCTID

The documentary film about NASL Timber Clyde Best and his global impact on the game of soccer is finally here in Portland—and so is Clyde! The film will show two nights in Portland, making its West Coast debut Thursday June 4 and Friday June 5. That’s tonight and tomorrow!

After each showing, Clyde, Ade Coker, and others will participate in a panel discussion at the the theater.

Information on how to get tickets, Clyde and the film’s backstory, and previous Green Is the Color coverage of Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story is below.

How to Get Your Tickets

[Click on dates to access Aladdin Theater’s ticket website for that showing]

• Thursday June 4, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

• Friday June 5, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

Clyde Best and Dan Egan talk with Guillermo Motta at KATU about the film

OPB features Clyde on Think Out Loud Thursday June 4.

Watch the Film Trailer

A Little About Clyde and the Timbers

Per a previous release from producer Dan Egan’s production group, “Transforming the Beautiful Game” celebrates Best, “the first black football superstar in the modern TV era in England, and a player whose legacy helped shape the trajectory of soccer in the U.S. both on and off the field.”

Clyde Best played for the Timbers in the 1977-81 NASL seasons, where he scored 40 goals across 124 appearances in green and gold, indoors and out, leading the club in goals each of the 1978, 79 (tied with John Bain), and 80 NASL outdoor campaigns.

Green Is the Color Podcast Episodes about Clyde and the Film

• Listen to Podcast Episode 36: Clyde Best

• Listen to Podcast Episode 67: Ade Coker

• Listen to Podcast Episode 70: Tony Head

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Previous Green Is the Color coverage of the film

#RCTID

NOTE: The original version of this appeared previously after the Timbers 2023 in-season manager transition from Giovanni Savarese to interim Miles Joseph. Given Monday’s announcement, it has been edited at the end to reflect a 2026 update, for the sake of record. Occasional changes made throughout are in [bold and bracketed].

Sometimes there is hope, even in defeat. After the last match of July—a hard fought group-stage-finale in the Leagues Cup—Dario Župarić gave us exactly the sign of life we needed going into August: “I said to Zac [McGraw] at halftime ‘This is gonna be a war, but we’re going to die like heroes,’ and it was like that,” he said in the post-match press conference. “I would like to lose every game like this.” 

The Croatian center back’s words exemplify the fight we want in our team, especially in such an uneven season like 2023. We can handle any result if the battle is there. And it was in the next one—a hardfought 0-1 loss to eventual Leagues Cup 4th-place side C.F. Monterrey started August off with the feeling that something had changed in us over the mid-season tournament. We just might be OK. With over two weeks to prepare for a road match at Houston, and, after that, 6 of the remaining 10 matches at Providence Park, we were ready to give everything to what remained of the season.

Hope, however, ended up being little more than that. That road match at Houston ended in a 0-5 defeat that quickly dampened what momentum was earned in July. It also ended the Giovanni Savarese era in Portland when, on August 21, the Timbers made an in-season coaching change for just the third time in club history [and then again on May 25, 2026, when the club announced they “have mutually parted ways with Head Coach Phil Neville”].

This month’s essay takes a look at those [four] in-season incumbent removals, the hope behind them, the results that followed, and the people who stepped up to lead us, all hoping our finest hours were in their stead. 

1980 Don Megson

When I opened the 1980 press binder belonging to the NASL Timbers front office, I found the first page reflecting the season as you see it at the start of this essay. Assumedly typed fresh before any match had been played, with just the fixtures and national TV dates noted, it began blank, a would-be roadmap to a successful season. As the record, results, and attendance filled in after each match, the story further fleshed out. 

It was a tough start—a couple of road losses—before a home win became the only victory of April. That win in front of an official 14,595 Civic Stadium fans, promised positive things for the side that had invested $2 million in off-season player acquisitions. 

May brought a bit more luck with 3 wins and 3 losses over the first 6 matches. Of the three at home, however, attendance consistently dropped: 13,615 to 9,673 to 8,948 for the May 28 home loss to California.

And then there’s a handwritten note, just before the last match of May: “Megson Fired.” 

Thus marked the end of Don Megson’s Timbers coaching tenure and the first time the team made an in-season managerial change. Dropping attendance numbers do not go well with a larger player payroll investment, and the inconsistent additions to the win column meant something had to happen. Everyone involved could feel it was a possibility, but I doubt anyone was prepared for how it happened: 

1. Timbers fly to Ft. Lauderdale for a road tilt against the Strikers, knowing things are not going well and that they need to start getting results, for themselves, for their coach, for their fans. 

2. Timbers players go to sleep the night before the match, ready to try and turn things around on the road. They know they can; 2 of their 4 wins to date that season came away to Washington and Edmonton.

3. Timbers players wake up to just about the most absurd news possible: they are now coached by a Methodist minister/marriage counselor who fired their former coach in the middle of the night, and on that now-former coach’s 22nd wedding anniversary, no less. 

Megson’s replacement, GM Peter Warner, who inserted himself at head coach despite having no previous playing or coaching experience, oversaw 5 losses in a row from May 31 (the 2-4 loss at Ft. Lauderdale) to June 14 (a 0-1 home loss to Seattle in front of 10,131). 

After that match, there’s another note in the schedule, in the same handwriting as before: “Crowe Hired.”

The Timbers turned to their first-ever coach as their new one: Vic Crowe returned to the bench, welcomed by a Brian Gant home goal to lift the Timbers over Atlanta in his first match in charge again. From there, the Crowe-coached Timbers rattled off a 10-6 record, including winning the last 5 matches of the season. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs, but Crowe remained in the gaffer’s seat for the rest of the Timbers NASL tenure. 

2012 John Spencer

Portland’s first-ever MLS head coach, by nature, would always be the team’s first-ever former first-ever MLS head coach. Any coach goes into the profession knowing this is not just a possibility but an inevitably. This is, in part, what former Scotland International John Spencer signed up for when he was hired on August 10, 2010 as the Timbers’ first head coach of the MLS era. 

John Spencer is one of us. 

After a May 14 1-1 Cascadia Cup match at Seattle, Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid blamed the dropped home points on the rain—specifically on how it affected his team’s ability to play the style they prefer. To this, two days later, Spencer replied, "Next time we go up there, we're going to take plenty of towels so we can dry the field off for them before the game. And take plenty of tissue so they can dry their eyes after the game."

The 2011 season ended with the team one place out of a playoff spot in the West. Not too bad for a new side in the league. 

Then, the 2012 campaign started much like its 1980 counterpart: with money invested. Portland signed the all-time Scottish Premier League leading scorer, Kris Boyd, for a then-record $1.5 million (or 75% of the NASL off-season Megson-era investment in multiple players combined). 

On the plus side, Boyd led the 2012 Timbers in goals with 7 (which was still 20 behind MLS leader Chris Wondolowski).

On the other side, however, on May 30, the Scottish League all-time leading scorer skied a penalty in a US Open Cup home loss to Cal FC, an Eric-Wynalda-coached side of amateurs, in what was the lowest attended home match for Portland that season, with just 5,489 in attendance.  

July 9, 2012 was not, to my knowledge, John Spencer’s wedding anniversary. However, on that day, the now-former Timbers coach thanked owner Merritt Paulson for “the  opportunity to be the first head coach in the history of the MLS Timbers." 

And for the second time since 1975, we had a midseason manager change. As with the first time, the GM inserted himself as temporary caretaker in place of the former coach. This time, however, instead of a Methodist minister/marriage counselor, the team had a two-time USL-1 Coach of the Year, with extensive playing experience, in Gavin Wilkinson. 

2012 ended with the team three places out of a playoff spot in the West. Not ideal for a second-year side who spent $1.5 million on one player in hopes of making an immediate mark in MLS.

There were three bright spots:

1. Before the 2013 season, the club hired Caleb Porter, who would lead the team to first in the Western Conference in 2013 and then an MLS Cup in 2015. 

2. The 2012 Spencer/Wilkinson season brought home that year’s Cascadia Cup. 

3. No coach, past, present, or future, will likely reach the impossibly high endorsement bar John Spencer set with his 2011 Alaska Airlines commercial: 

2023 Giovanni Savarese

It happened again this August. Third verse, somewhat same as the first (and second).

The 2023 team entered the season with a club-record-signing, bringing in Designated Player Evander at a $10 million transfer fee. Head coach Giovanni Savarese signed a contract extension in the offseason, and 2023’s home attendance would average over 25,000. 

As the season went on, everyone held on and hoped, month after month, with the side hovering just above or below the playoff line. But the team started to quickly run out of ‘next months’ to be THE month.

After August started with a 0-5 listless MLS loss on the road to Houston, just after things had [once again] been looking up, head coach Giovanni Savarese said the result was a very “not-like-us performance.” He continued to add the match was “a performance not to the level of a Portland Timber. Not to the level our fans deserve.” He was honest. He was correct.

A couple of days later, General Manager Ned Grabavoy had to bear some tough news. 

“In this profession, unfortunately, at times, there’s a lifecycle to where we are and what we do,” he said to the assembled press on August 22, after head coach Giovanni Savarese had been let go. “And I do think, at this time, it’s best for the club to have a new voice, and the decision was made with the best interest of the club for both the short and long term. And obviously for myself and for a lot of others, we wish Gio the best moving forward.”

Instead of inserting himself, as his Timbers’ GM predecessors had done prior, Grabavoy, the two-time MLS Cup champion, named then-assistant Miles Joseph as the interim head coach.  

Under Joseph, Portland first dropped a hard-fought 2-3 loss at home but ended August on a high note with a 2-1 win over visiting Real Salt Lake. Once again, a month was over, and once again, the team was on the doorstep to the playoffs. “We needed this win, to get confident again,” captain Diego Chará said after the RSL match. “We know that every game [from here to the end] is going to be a final.” 

The 2023 Joseph-Era Timbers channeled the new-manager-bump energy of the 1980 Crowe-is-back Timbers, taking 14 out of the next possible 18 points before losing the final two matches of the season and ending 2023 out of the playoffs for the second season in a row. 

2026 Phil Neville

It’s too early to tell what comes next for any of us. I don’t normally editorialize in this project, primarily because I don’t feel the stories are mine; they belong to all of us. They are ours. And understanding that is one area I think Phil found success, from his first win in the Green and Gold, dedicated to Benson Drapiza:

I’ll have much more on Phil, and I look forward to seeing how our club family grows, who we welcome next. Until then, I want to defer this coverage to some of the talented people who work hard to cover our team:

• Tyson Alger’s The I-5 Corridor

• Jeremy Peterman’s Cascadia FC

• Adam Susman and Adam Booker’s The Timber Review Podcast

• Sam Svilar’s Stumptown Footy

The beat goes on.

Soccer seasons, when you care like we do, take us all for a ride. In the end, only one team lifts the Cup. For all the others, maybe it’s the hope that kills, or maybe it’s not having hope that does. Regardless, we know we’ll recover and then come back together when things start again.

“Unfortunately, at times, there’s a lifecycle to where we are and what we do.” Grabavoy’s words are as true in this sport as they are in life. Whether the goodbye is contractual or existential, at some point, hope—and therefore, time—runs out. We have to say goodbye.

Earlier in 2023, we said goodbye again to Don Megson, this time in a different way. This essay is dedicated to him. 

Here's to the hope that our journey is continually filled with people like Megson, Spencer, Savarese, [and Neville]. Here’s to hoping it’s filled with people like us.

Always Timbers. 

#RCTID

Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story

How to get your tickets:

[Click on dates to access Aladdin Theater’s ticket website for that showing]

• Thursday June 4, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

• Friday June 5, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

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More About the Film

#RCTID

Kristoffer Velde looked as if he just escaped The Kraken.

The Timbers’ tattooed talisman DP joined me on a bench at the team’s Performance Center recently, his legs covered thigh to foot with the tell-tale circular suctions of a post-training recovery cupping session.

But here’s the thing: When it comes to Portland’s Norwegian International number 99, had you told me Odin’s ravens circled overhead, I’d no more question that than I would the presence of the mythological Norse cephalopod in the team’s training room.

It just takes a little time with the man whose Instagram handle is Veldinh0—the player whose Providence Park expressions have, in such a short Timbers tenure, included jumping on the Victory Log after scoring a goal, celebrating a corner-kick-turned-Dallas-own-goal by headbutting a fan’s high-five, and pouring a pitch-side beer over his head after a 2-1 home win—to know Norwegian legends are real.

It’s hard to know how far back to go. Kristoffer Velde came to the Timbers last August 2025, joining from Greek club Olympiacos, essentially taking over Jonathan Rodríguez’s roster spot after the Uruguayan International’s season-ending injury designation. The rest of the nuts and bolts of Velde’s CV—the contract through 2028 with a ‘29 club option, the previous experience at Lech Poznań, FK Haguesund, etc.—are Googleable. And, to be quite clear, all we probably need to know on the soccer side we got in the above video: “I hope I’m the player that makes people raise themselves from the seats, and [I] try to bring something extraordinary to the pitch…and make the fans enjoy the football.”

While you’re enjoying the football, if you ever do get physically close to Velde, one thing that becomes apparent is probably not what you’d expect to read here: he has a relatively unique smell. When I asked him about it, in what I thought would be a reporter-restraining-order-inducing question, his Veldean response put me at ease. “No, that is a very good question,” he said. “In fact, there is a funny story about that.” It turns out, I was not the only one wondering.

He told me about the 2026 pre-season team camp, in California. “In our cabana at Coachella, some of the kids were asking me,” he said, referring to the question of his cologne (as well as referring to the younger players of the team, likely the Academy and T2 players among the 36 invitees as “kids”). “‘What’s the smell, what’s the smell, what’s the smell’ everywhere I go, ‘What’s the smell? What’s the smell’.” Velde didn’t want to tell them. Even though he admitted “many people use it,” he wanted to keep the secret to himself.

“But so these kids,” he continued, “they went into my room in those villas we were living in. They went into my toiletry bag, checked the cologne, and the whole day, they were like, ‘Imagine, imagine, imagine, imagination.’” Confused at first (“I was like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about, guys?’”) it eventually hit him. “I went into my room and I saw [the toiletries were not] the same system what used to be.” The “kids” denied it, but the jig was up.

“That was a funny story from the kids,” Velde said. “It’s Imagination from Louis Vuitton. I have a lot of people asking me about that one. [...]. But now I’m looking for another one, which I really like. So that one I will keep to myself.”

It’s not just fragrances that build bonds between the 26-year-old DP and his early-career teammates. Professional soccer players have a lot of time away from the field. Though it’s not uncommon for many younger players to play video games between team obligations, Velde left that sort of thing in Greece and, here, opted for getting to know the city and the game of golf.

“I just fell in love with the game of golf,” he said of his growing off-field passion. “You’re outside in the nature either hitting a really good shot or a disaster shot, or having a good time or having a bad time. But you just go get your head thinking about something else than soccer.”

And spending time with teammates. “When he came to the club, he was asking for guys to play with,” US Youth International Sawyer Jura told me about golfing with his Timbers teammate. “He was asking around, like, who plays. So I offered, and he said we could go play one day after training.” Jura showed up to the course to find Velde was already there and had already paid Jura’s greens fees. “It was really nice of him.”

I’d tune in to a reality television show titled “Golfing with Kristoff.” By Velde’s own admission, “we are not too serious, but we like going out, enjoy[ing] nine holes, maybe, or 18 holes and just having a good time.”

Jura was equal parts diplomatic and honest: “He has improved his game a lot. He plays a lot, but he’s what you could imagine—maybe a club toss here and there, maybe a few curse words in Norwegian.”

“It’s fun,” Velde said, “but, yeah, even though I play golf, and I’m saying to myself I don’t want to get too serious about it, because I will get really frustrated. But at the same time, when I’m going into things, I want to do it properly, like if we have a competition, I want to do it as best as I can. I want to improve. So, yeah, I would say I’ve improved a lot in the golf game.”

Even Jura conceded Velde’s vast improvement from their first outing. “He got a bit better. Now we compete pretty well [often with Brandon Bye and Cole Bassett] every single time.”

Though Velde says he initially didn’t want to “get too serious about it,” it’s likely the drive to be the best is too much to ignore. “He shows up with a new club about every week,” Jura part joked.

And in all seriousness, Velde corroborated, “I’m the guy with all the good equipment. I’m into equipment, and I buy the best stuff.” The matches are, by all accounts, pretty close on the scoresheet, especially as Velde has played more and more. “I played a little bit when I was younger, so I knew the basics,” he said,” but now I know different techniques. Now I know how to hit the ball even better. So it’s always tight. We make it competitive.”

“We all get super close, spending time together,” Jura keeps it in perspective. “You create more of a connection.”

It’s not lost on me, either, how much change and challenge to adapt these players go through to be here. When I walk into Providence Park, I’m always excited because I’m sharing that space with people who have been going there for a year, or a decade, or who may be there for the first time to support the side. Some have been there a half century, their game-day traditions passed down, amended, revived or revised to reflect their current life station. The Timbers, to a lot of us, are the constant—so much so that it’s easy to forget we’re talking about a 26-year-old player who has moved continents to wear our badge over his heart.

To further prepare for the interview, I did what I could to learn about Velde. I really didn’t care much about soccer. (That’s the 90 minutes we have in common, all of us. Those are just to enjoy.) And thanks to some rudimentary Google translate skills, I was able to get a little closer to Kristoff’s Before Timbers Era. I wanted to know about his background, about being half Argentinian—and I wanted to know the origin of “Veldinho.”

Velde’s father is Norwegian, and his mother is Argentinian. “Both of them were working on Royal Caribbean, the cruise ship, and they met and then they had me,” he said. “I was born in Norway, and my dad was working from Fort Lauderdale in Florida.” That was for a few months before Velde turned one. “My mother moved to Norway after that. And yeah, stayed there ever since.”

The move to Norway was an initial adjustment for Velde’s Argentinian mom. “She didn’t speak Norwegian, so it was English and Spanish. I learned them both,” in addition to his native Norwegian. These things can come in handy. “You always have use for one extra language,” Velde practically noted, adding “it helped me in many, many situations in life and with teammates.”

There are a couple of things I was able to learn from Verdens Gang, that Norwegian newspaper. One is that Kristoff attributes, from the Argentinian side, his temperament and technique. For the former, Velde adds, “I got some Argentinian blood in me, and maybe that’s what you can see in the games. I play with my emotions, and with a lot of emotions, and sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so, but throughout the years, I became much better at controlling them.”

But what got him here has less to do with soccer styles and everything to do with who he is, the people who raised him, and the examples they set. “My dad has always been working hard. My mother always working hard,” he said. “So I have the desire to never give up and always keep working hard, and the spiciness and the technique and all that extra stuff that you maybe don’t see from that many players in Norway, so I was just a great mix.”

A great mix indeed—one I thought may have given him the handle Veldinho. But that comes down to what was available on social media. “It was just a nickname on Instagram,” Velde said of the handle—though on IG it’s spelled with a zero at the end: Veldhin0. “It was just that Velde (as a handle) was occupied, and I just went with Veldinho,” he explained. “Ever since then, people have been calling me Veldinho. It became a bit bigger than I would think it would. But yeah, it’s nice. It’s a nickname.”

One more thing Velde’s parents inadvertently gave him was the balance of numbers in his birthday. Kristoffer was born on September 9, 1999, which gives him a unique soccer number with meaning, one he used to pick a number at one point in his career. “I had 99 when I was playing in Norway, my kind of breakthrough year. I was doing good that season with 99 on my back and all the other numbers that I like were already occupied [in Portland], so I just went with 99, and that’s how that’s how it came 99 on my back.

Later this season, after the World Cup break, we can all celebrate our 99 as Portland welcomes St. Louis City SC to Providence Park on Velde’s 27th birthday.

Growing up, football was, undoubtedly, a major part of Kristoff’s life. But what I also found was he had a freedom at the fields of his youth that we still see reflected in his play at Providence Park. At the start of the 2026 season, he dropped a gem on the first media day of the year: “I don’t think I was on the treadmill one time [in the break between seasons]. I was just playing soccer back in Norway with my hometown clubs there since they’re in season.” Not sure if he “broke any rules,” he assured the assembled media that “I came back healthy, I came back strong.” It’s easy to see the good a break back home can do.

I was curious about the fun of the game, about that elixir of a working break where a player can control their own activities. Velde lit up when asked about his winter in Norway. “Sometimes when you’re out in the game and you’re on the big stages, and you do good, there’s nothing better than that, showing people what you can do. But at the same time, when I went home for vacation during the winter break, it was 5v5, 6v6 with my friends. And I can’t lie, that’s the most fun thing about soccer.”

Growing up, Velde had the freedom to find a park and a game. Eventually, after school, his friends would all do their own thing. “Somebody went skateboarding, somebody went playing handball, somebody went [to do] different stuff.” But a young Kristoff went to play football. “I was always on the pitch, either with guys or alone. If somebody asked me to join the pitch for a few hours, [I would say] ‘Yes,’ always, or if not, I went alone.” As long as it was soccer, Velde was in.

“If I saw somebody play, I just got involved to play with them, whether it was women or a school, or some randoms. I think I practiced with every team: different ages, two years younger, two years older, maybe five years older.” Structure mattered not. “That’s probably the most fun part of my whole career, to just go down there and play soccer freely. You don’t need to think about anything. That was a great time. You miss those moments.” Then, he put it in perspective of the day. “Even though you earn great money, you’re playing for a good club, all these kinds of things that you dreamt of when you were young, nothing is better than just meet up with friends and just play for fun.”

And while Veldinho’s Instagram handle leans toward the South American republic home country of his mother, and though, in a June 2023 article in Norway’s Verdens Gang, he also attributed his temperament and technique to his Argentinian roots, he is football cup-tied to the kingdom on the Scandinavian peninsula.

On June 20, 2023 Velde put on the number 7 for his home country and made his senior debut featuring as an 87th-minute substitute in a match in a EURO qualifier against Cyprus. The cameo, however, is not as much of the story as the vacation he and then-girlfriend Malin had planned for the international break from Velde’s club football schedule. “We had planned everything for a cruise, for one week in Dubai and some different places,” Velde said. But, when Norwegian coach Ståle Solbakken put his name on the national team sheet, the trip had to be delayed. “I got called up, and I needed to change everything,” Velde said. But, things turned out for the good. Instead of a one-week vacation in the international window, eventually, he was given two weeks off from Lech Poznań. “So yeah, we managed to get a good vacation that year in Dubai, two weeks. It was nice. [At first,] she wasn’t that happy. But yeah, I couldn’t say no to the national team for a vacation.” (Spoiler: All worked out. They’re still together today.)

Kristoff knows the value of making that up to Malin. The two have been together for quite a while, their courtship made official in exactly the way you’d expect when, in his words, “we knew each other for many years before we got together,” he said of the start. “We had common friends and we’re just hanging out. Two years later, we became…we never became boyfriend / girlfriend. We just ended up together. I never asked her, she never asked me. We just stuck with each other. And yeah, we’ve been together for like, six years now.”

Over that time, looking at Velde’s career, he’s lived in three different European countries playing for Haugesund (Norway), Lech Poznań (Poland), and Olympiacos (Greece)—not to mention his current continent change coming to the US. Though typical for a professional soccer career, that movement is still hard; it’s still a lot on a player to always adjust, even if they have “an extra language.”

It’s also just as hard on those with the player. “It’s been a long time, and she’s been with me the whole journey, since I was at the bottom in Norway, and all the way to different stages in Europe, and, yeah, Poland, Greece, and now, now in America, here in Portland. So yeah, she’s been with me.”

Velde, and, I have to assume, Malin, are by now well aware of the challenges and rewards of a life in football. “It’s hard to just get ready one day, to move and pack everything,” he said, acknowledging what’s asked of those we don’t see on the field. “But she’s been handling it pretty good. Of course, it’s not always the best moments to be away from the family and not be around your friends and stuff like that. But I think at the same time, she would be happy to think about her life when she’s 70, 80 years old, and think, like, wow, we experienced a lot when we were in the 20s.”

Dropping the name of a country or a league on a different continent as we talk about the sport is easy for us at home. And, indeed, for a player it’s likely somewhat easier moving within Europe. Of Norway to Poland to Greece, Velde said the moves made sense socially, and they were always closer to home. Even if each move brings a sense of skepticism of something new, they always adjusted. But to come to Portland, some 4,500 miles from Norway, it’s not as easy a change. “That’s a tough decision,” he said, not so much about the soccer side. “It is because it’s super far away, and it’s a completely different culture, and everything is different. But I’m glad I made a decision. And yeah, I will think back when I’m older, and I don’t think I will regret it.”

These are the other things it’s easy to forget when we watch players walk out onto the pitch at 1844 SW Morrison Street. Somewhere, with hope in the stadium (but also just as likely at home), there is a support system behind them, wanting their success perhaps more than us. It’s them who have been on the different part of the players’ journey than we have. It’s them who have had to adjust everything to fit into what we more often think of as routine.

Now, here we are. We have a history together. We know things about each other, Kristoffer and us. We can backfill some of the mysteries. Isn’t that how mythology works? Awe and understanding, a continuous cycle of wonder that brings us just close enough to experience and, at the same time, far enough away to keep discovering.

For example, we know Velde registered his first assist in the Green and Gold in a September 13, 2025 home tilt against New York Red Bulls, on an assist to Matías Rojas. What we don’t know is that in the week leading up to the match, while he was making true on his first-media-availability promise to “be in downtown, doing shopping like every guy on the team,” Velde stopped a shoplifter outside H&M. What we call life events, he calls weekdays. “Just chasing a thief in Portland, helping a security guard out. Just a normal day in Portland,” he said. By my count, that’s two assists for the city in one week.

And then there’s a little lore behind his Timbers-account-opening goals in the playoffs. Leading up to the San Diego series, the Veldes—Kristoff and Malin—officially tied the knot in a rain-soaked ceremony under the St. Johns Bridge, in the presence of each other and an officiant—and team Player Care Manager Nate Cahoone and Timbers Soccer Operations Manager Kevin Jacobs.

“It was Nate and Kevin who found the place,” he said of the location at the iconic Portland bridge. “And me and my wife were happy. It was pouring down rain, but we were there under an umbrella saying yes to each other. So it was nice.”

Because of the season and playoffs immediately after, where Kristoff’s first two Timbers goals occurred in the two matches that followed, a more involved wedding and celebration (See: Norwegian national team and Dubai in 2023) will naturally have to wait for the football. “We know we will get a wedding next year or maybe the year after. So we will make it more special,” Velde said. “Not that it wasn’t special now, it was great.” And though the couple can’t take the iconic gothic Oregon bridge with them, they can make sure the iconic Timbers staff responsible for making it happen stateside attend. “When we have a wedding in Europe, [Nate] and Kevin need to be there.”

Then there’s the recent secret he shared with me, that he shared with you not long after.

As Velde made public with this 6th minute screamer last Saturday, he and Malin are expecting their first child, a girl, this July. These stories that bring us closer to each other are a relief from the often over-reliance on faceless metrics. Yet, for those who see the game through mathematical eyes, based on what he did after stopping a shoplifter and then after getting married, considering the goal he scored just before publicly announcing the birth of their girl, if life-eventXG is any indicator, MLS is in for a surprise come July, even if it means we do with without the father-to-be at first. “I don’t think a football game is more important than being there when your wife is giving birth to your child. So I would really love to be there [when Malin gives birth].”

Like anything in his life, Velde is ready for what comes. “It’s going to be a life-changing experience,” he forecasted. “I don’t know. I have never been in that situation before. I really love kids, and maybe I will have another perspective of life, and maybe I will get a little bit more calm on the pitch. I don’t know. We will see. It’s gonna be nice, man, there’s the time for everything. And now is the time for that.”

Kristoffer Velde has made Portland home, a place where his family is growing right in front of us. I appreciate the challenges they’ve all faced and that this is where they have chosen to let the Legend of Veldinho grow into our own mythology.

And for his part, he appreciates us and wants to see the same thing. “It’s amazing,” he said of the people here. “I would say they’re the best fans in the league, and walking out on Providence Park filled up with people…that’s a nice feeling. I really love to play in front of the Portland fans, and they’ve been super kind to me and nice to me and, yeah, I can’t wait for more magical moments with them.”

This Sunday, however, there is a road match that might momentarily feel like a piece of home for Kris. With the Timbers playing away to Inter Miami CF, there will be a good amount of focus on Argentinian diaspora. On the field, naturally, there’s Messi, and there will be a reunion with last year’s teammate David Ayala. And on our side there will be, Veldinho, the half-Argentinian / half-Norwegian whose place in Soccer City, USA lore grows by the day.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret. The most important Argentinian there, at least to Velde, will be his mom, who is traveling from Norway to take in the match in the state where she met her husband. Where the saga started.

And next to her in Miami’s Nu, will be Kristoffer Velde’s dad, who will be seeing his son play in the Green and Gold for the first time.

It’s the stuff of legends.

#RCTID

Save the Caps: Sign the Wall

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Athlete Ally

• MLS Players Association

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On April 1, 1972, Clive, Clyde, and Ade started for West Ham against Tottenham. It was a moment where each of three illustrious careers coincided, and it’s just part of what’s featured in the Clyde Best documentary coming to Portland June 4 and 5 (see ticket information at end of post).

Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story Coming to Portland in June

Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story will show at Portland’s Aladdin Theater on June 4 and 5, currently the only scheduled West Coast showings.

How to get your tickets:

[Click on dates to access Aladdin Theater’s ticket website for that showing]

• Thursday June 4, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

• Friday June 5, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

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Per a previous release from producer Dan Egan’s production group, “Transforming the Beautiful Game” celebrates Best, “the first black football superstar in the modern TV era in England, and a player whose legacy helped shape the trajectory of soccer in the U.S. both on and off the field.”

Clyde Best played for the Timbers in the 1977-81 NASL seasons, where he scored 40 goals across 124 appearances in green and gold, indoors and out, leading the club in goals each of the 1978, 79 (tied with John Bain), and 80 NASL outdoor campaigns.

I previously shared information from the announcement of the film’s release this last November in Bermuda, and I will have much more about the film over the next couple of month’s leading up to the Portland June showings.

The film made its world premiere on March 25, at Sadler’s Wells East in London, to a full house.

To learn more about Clyde, Ade, and the film, see these resources below:

• Listen to Podcast Episode 36: Clyde Best

• Listen to next Tuesday’s Podcast Episode 67: Ade Coker

• Read this article in The Times from London

• Watch the movie trailer below:

#RCTID

Clyde Best Documentary in Portland June 4 and 5, Aladdin Theater

How to get your tickets:

Ade will be in town with Clyde Best for these showings.

[Click on dates to access Aladdin Theater’s ticket website for that showing]

• Thursday June 4, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

• Friday June 5, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

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More on Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story

• Listen to Podcast Episode 36: Clyde Best

• Read this article in The Times from London

• Watch the movie trailer below:

Ade’s Debut at West Ham:

#RCTID

In a press call today, filmmaker Dan Egan was joined by Clyde Best, Ade Coker, Tony D. Head, Patrick Horne, and Randy Horton to announce the Portland dates for Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story. The film will show at Portland’s Aladdin Theater on June 4 and 5, currently the only scheduled West Coast showings.

How to get your tickets:

[Click on dates to access Aladdin Theater’s ticket website for that showing]

• Thursday June 4, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

• Friday June 5, 7:30 (VIP meet and greet at 5:30, with doors opening at 6:30)

  ---

Per a previous release from producer Dan Egan’s production group, “Transforming the Beautiful Game” celebrates Best, “the first black football superstar in the modern TV era in England, and a player whose legacy helped shape the trajectory of soccer in the U.S. both on and off the field.”

Clyde Best played for the Timbers in the 1977-81 NASL seasons, where he scored 40 goals across 124 appearances in green and gold, indoors and out, leading the club in goals each of the 1978, 79 (tied with John Bain), and 80 NASL outdoor campaigns.

I previously shared information from the announcement of the film’s release this last November in Bermuda, and I will have much more about the film over the next couple of month’s leading up to the June showings.

Until then:

• Listen to Podcast Episode 36: Clyde Best

• Listen to next Tuesday’s Podcast Episode 67: Ade Coker

• Read this article in The Times from London

• Watch the movie trailer below:

The world premiere of Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story will be at Sadler’s Wells East, just blocks from West Ham’s London Stadium, March 25-28.

More on the Portland showings to come!

#RCTID

I’m obsessed with 1844 SW Morrison Street. Outside of my family, the now-three-plus years I’ve spent finding, preserving, and sharing our soccer stories from the last 50 years has brought me more happiness than just about anything else I’ve encountered. All of it—the people (you), the soccer, the love—comes from one address and one building that is deservedly getting its flowers in its 100th year.

And what makes me happy today is that there is—once again—a unique way to share that special place with you, thanks to Tursi Soccer and Grafletics.

Let me explain:

Years ago, there was a really cool, original soccer place to get really cool, original soccer stuff: Possession FC. Located just four SW Morrison Street blocks east of the stadium, Possession FC housed some of the most interesting, original, and engaging soccer items one could get their hands on. In addition to good soccer stuff, it was owned and staffed by good soccer people, making it a must-visit for a home-match-day itinerary.

As Providence Park prepared to turn 100 years old this year, I went semi “Citizen Kane” on an item I remember, but did not buy, from Possession FC: a t-shirt featuring an outline of the seating schematic of my favorite stadium. I reached out to Dennie Wendt, author of Hooper’s Revolution and owner of the late Possession FC, and I asked if he knew how to find the shirt I couldn’t get out of my head. As luck would have it, he did.

In a few days, I received a package in the mail of some specific Possession FC leftover inventory which included a couple sizes of the no-longer-made stadium shirt, as well as other designs from the same company, Portland-based Grafletics.

But here’s where, as so many of these stories do, I put something out there, and it took a fortuitous turn: Wendt also sent an email introduction to the owner of Grafletics, the person who designed the stadium shirt: Rick Gilbert.

My hope was that we could bring this design back to life. I was optimistic Gilbert might be on board if I could only ask about the design and if there was the possibility it could live again.

Fast forward a few weeks and correspondence with Rick and Green Is the Color sponsor Tursi Soccer, and I found myself at my sponsor’s SW Canyon Road headquarters, looking at a design deck that would be part of a limited-run collaboration between Grafletics and Tursi Soccer, to celebrate Tursi Soccer’s 40th year of serving Soccer City, USA.

Fast forward a few more weeks, and the once-defunct design of my desire—as well as other super-cool clothing—is in this world again, this time as part of the limited-run anniversary collection that you can get right now, in time for this weekend’s home Timbers or Thorns matches.

My missed 2020 opportunity is now amended. While the limited run lasts—at Tursi Soccer or Grafletics online—this unique homage to my favorite place is again attainable, for you and me.

Make Tursi Soccer part of your 2026 must-visit for a home-match-day itinerary. Stop by the Downtown location four blocks east of Providence Park or the Headquarters on Canyon Road.

Though the Green Is the Color code of “GREEN15” that gets you 15% off retail purchases at Tursi Soccer stores in person or online does not apply to this specific collection, it does for many other items you could pick up to complement your new Tursi Soccer x Grafletics Anniversary Collection gear.

Finally, if you’re curious about how a soccer store can serve the Portland soccer community for 40 years, take a listen to Podcast Episode 15: Jim Tursi to hear the Tursi Soccer origin story.

And if creative clothing collaboration is your thing, I can’t recommend Rick Gilbert and Grafletics enough. You don’t have to wait for an introduction from the owner of a cool past-tense soccer store. You can simply reach out to Rick by completing this online form.

I’ll see you Saturday at 1844 SW Morrison Street—where the game has been on for 100 years—wearing my Tursi Soccer x Grafletics stadium tee.

#RCTID

A special thank you to the adidas Employee Store for hosting the event and César Rodriguez of Gambeta Media for capturing the visuals at the event. (See bottom of post for César’s and Gambeta Media’s socials.)

Photos and video by César Rodriguez of Gambeta Media:

• Diego Valeri

  • Maestro Method

• César Rodriguez

  • Instagram

• Gambeta Media

  • Webpage

  • Instagram

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On Tuesday, February 24, we will return to the adidas Employee Store to once again host a live episode of the Green Is the Color podcast.

This time, we’re doing a Timbers Legends panel, and we will feature players from the three major eras of Portland Timbers soccer: Mick Hoban, Scot Thompson, and Diego Valeri.

Registration will be capped at the first 250 to sign up, so make sure you follow the instructions below as soon as possible:

How to Register:

• Click on this link to go to the adidas app for registration.

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Details:

• When: Tuesday February 24 at 6 PM

• Where: adidas Employee Store, 2701 NW Vaughn Street

• What: Diego Valeri, Scot Thompson, and Mick Hoban join us for a live recording of a Green Is the Color episode, followed by a chance to meet the Timbers Legends and shop the adidas Employee Store

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  #RCTID