Portland Timbers–Seattle Sounders rivalry

Portland Timbers–Seattle Sounders rivalry

Other names	Cascadian Cup
Locale	Pacific Northwest
Teams	Portland Timbers Seattle Sounders
First meeting	Portland 0–1 Seattle NASL (May 2, 1975 (1975-05-02))
Latest meeting	Portland 4–2 Seattle 2016 MLS (Round 24: August 28, 2016)
Next meeting	Portland – Seattle 2016 MLS (Round 26: August 28, 2016)
Statistics
Meetings total	97
Most wins	Seattle (50)
Largest victory	Portland 1–6 Seattle 1985 Western Alliance Challenge Series (July 3, 1985)

The Portland–Seattle rivalry is a soccer rivalry between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders FC soccer teams. The rivalry pre-dates the current teams in both cities, back to the North American Soccer League days, and has since grown into one of the largest and most bitter rivalries in American soccer.^[1] The rivalry^[2] has spanned across several leagues including the USL First Division, A-League, NASL, and Major League Soccer.^[3] According to many players, the Seattle–Portland rivalry is one of the only true derbies that is present in American soccer.^[4] Alan Hinton, a former English international and ex-Sounders coach, has compared the rivalry to those seen in the English Premier League.^[5] It is considered to be one of the most intense rivalries in the United States.^[6][7]

Seattle and Portland have had rivalries based on various sports teams. A heated rivalry surrounded the Portland Buckaroos and Seattle Totems of the minor-league Western Hockey League in the 1960s.^[8] Later, some fans supported the Thunderbirds or Winterhawks hockey teams. This rivalry "naturally translated into soccer" according to one fan.^[9] The two cities also had a rivalry between the SuperSonics and Trail Blazers of the NBA, known as the "Battle of I-5", since both cities intersect on the freeway Interstate 5. The rivalry continued until the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.^[3]

Rivalry

NASL era

The Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers first played each other on May 2, 1975; in the Timbers' inaugural game. Seattle defeated Portland 1–0 in front of 8,131 at Portland Civic Stadium, now known as Providence Park.^[10] The return match, played on July 26, 1975 saw Portland play spoils and defeat the hosts, Seattle 2-1, in front of a crowd of 27,310. A month later, Portland knocks Seattle out of the playoffs in front of crowd of 31,000.^[11]

On June 30, 1979, Seattle defeats Portland 5–1 in the Kingdome in front of a season high 34,000 spectators. Until the 1980s, it would stand as the largest victory in the derby, and is the largest victory by either side in the top tier of American soccer. In the 5–1 victory, Seattle's Derek Smethurst netted a hat trick.

At the end of the 1982 North American Soccer League season, the Portland Timbers franchise was forced to fold, once team expenditures outpaced club income. Consequently, the 1–0 Sounders victory over the Timbers on August 22, 1982 ended up being the final meeting between the two sides in the North American Soccer League. It would not be for nearly 30 years, in 2011, the two sides would meet against one another in the top flight of American soccer.^[12]

WSL/WSA era

At the end of the 1983 NASL season, the original Seattle Sounders franchise terminated, with the league itself ceasing operations ahead of the 1985 season. In 1984, a Western Soccer Alliance franchise was granted to the Seattle area for a soccer club in the area that was branded as the Seattle Storm, and went under the F.C. Seattle moniker for a while.^[13] The following year, a WSA franchise was also granted to the Portland area, where the rivalry continued through the late 1980s into the early 1990s.

USL

After an 11-year hiatus, the rivalry continued in 2001, when the newly incarnated Portland Timbers hosted the Seattle Sounders on May 11, 2001 at the same stadium where the rivalry began, which was now known as PGE Park. In front of a crowd nearly 12,300, the hosts walked away with a 2–0 victory.

July 21, 2001, former U.S. National Team player, Brian Ching, would score the only goal in 1–0 Sounders victory over the Timbers, as over 11,000 would be in attendance in Portland.

Ahead of the 2004 season, supporters of both the Sounders, Timbers, and their rival up the I-5 corridor, the Vancouver Whitecaps, created the Cascadia Cup which would be given to the supporters whose team had a stronger record against the two sides. The first formal Cascadia Cup match between the two resulted in a Timbers victory, defeating the Sounders 2–0 on May 1, 2004. During the four regular season meetings during that season, the Sounders lost thrice, and had one victory over Portland. However, in the 2004 USL First Division Playoffs, their first playoff meeting since 1975, the Sounders won 3–2 on aggregate over Portland, posting a 2–0 home victory in the second leg.

On September 18, 2005, Seattle knocked Portland out of the playoffs for a second straight year, as Sounders defeated the Timbers 2–0 in Seattle.

In Seattle, Sounders defeats the Timbers 3–1 on July 22, 2006, in a hotly contested match that accumulated eight yellow cards, and one red.

May 10, 2008, in front of over 10,000 at Qwest Field (now CenturyLink Field), Seattle and Portland play to a 0–0 draw in the final match the two teams would play each other in Seattle in the USL-1.

August 7, 2008, the Timbers and Sounders play each other for a final time in the Division 2 league, USL-1. Seattle defeats Portland 1–0 on the historic night,^[14] in front of a rambunctious 12,332 fans. The high intensity match also includea a total of six cards handed out, and one ejection.

MLS era

On July 1, 2009, Seattle eliminates Portland 2–1 before a sold-out PGE Park crowd in the US Open Cup. Roger Levesque — a player Portland fans have had a particular dislike for — scored Seattle's first goal within the opening minute.^[5][15] Levesque completed a goal celebration, in which he stood still at the top of the Timbers penalty area while Nate Jaqua pretended to chop him down like a tree, ending with Levesque falling flat on his back.^[16]

A cold and rainy night on March 11, 2010, Portland defeats Seattle 1–0 in a preseason community shield charity match. The crowd of 18,606 in attendance that night at Qwest Field is one of the largest crowds to attend a preseason game between two U.S. teams in American soccer history.

In hoping to stoke the rivalry for the future 2011 Major League Soccer season — when the Timbers would be joining the Sounders in MLS — Portland unveil a billboard displaying a Timbers crest and the words Portland, Oregon and Soccer City USA less than a mile from Qwest Field in Seattle.^[17] The billboard was broadcast to a nationwide audience on ESPN2 during halftime of the Sounders home match versus Real Salt Lake that evening.^[18]

In March 2011, the Timbers defeated the Sounders 2–0 in the preseason Cascadia Summit, a round robin game event involving the two teams and their Canadian rival, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. In their first match as both MLS sides, and the first time since 1982 the two played in top division American soccer the Timbers and the Sounders battled to a draw at a rain-soaked Qwest Field in front of 36,593 in the highly anticipated MLS debut of the three-way Cascadia Cup. This was a stadium record crowd to see a regular season MLS match, and included more than 500 traveling Portland fans. The return match, on July 10, 2011 saw Seattle earn a 3–2 road victory.

October 7, 2012, The second largest stand-alone crowd in MLS history, 66,452, and the largest since 1996 watched Portland play Seattle at CenturyLink Field. Portland brought more than 1500 fans. The Timbers had their second chance of the year to clinch their first Cascadia Cup contested by all three sides, but lost 3–0 to the host Sounders.^[19]

Supporter groups

A bitter rivalry between the teams' supporter groups exists. The Portland Timbers are supported by the Timbers Army, and Seattle Sounders by the Emerald City Supporters. The spirited groups have always showed a deep amount of resentment toward each other throughout the years.^[9][20] With the close proximity of the two cities, traveling fans of both sides witness hostile environments while visiting the opposing stadium. A rare moment of violence broke out in March 2010 after a preseason Timbers win in Seattle, when, three Sounders fans (who were supposedly not associated with any Sounders supporters group) assaulted a Timbers fan, choking and dragging him with his team scarf.^[21]

On March 20, 2009, at the Portland MLS expansion rally, League Commissioner Don Garber mentioned how great of a region the Pacific Northwest is for soccer, and gave an example by the success of the new MLS team Seattle Sounders. However, his comment was met with heavy boos, and jeers coming from the Timbers Army surrounding him. Portland mayor, Sam Adams, then offered a challenge to the Seattle mayor, for when the Timbers and Sounders meet in 2011.^[22]

Players and transfers

A large portion of the Sounders-Timbers rivalry can be seen on the soccer pitch itself. Before Seattle made the jump to MLS, many onfield rivalries between the players existed. As the years progressed, this would only enhance the level of competition, and intensify the matches. An example of this was the notable rivalry between Timbers defender Scot Thompson and Sounders striker Roger Levesque. Levesque, now with MLS's Seattle Sounders, has played in Seattle for several years, while Thompson has played in Portland since 2004.

Another reason the rivalry intensified was the transfer of star players between the two teams. While many players transferred to the other rival city from when the Timbers resumed play in 2001, the most memorable was the signing of Portland's all time assist leader, and fan favorite Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar^[23] to Seattle in 2007. That same season, Seattle star Andrew Gregor signed with Portland, thus creating tensions on the field, as the players became familiar with each other. While playing for the Sounders in 2003, Gregor had said "A lot of the guys, we know each other from years back, and we don't get along and stuff. It's always exciting."^[3]

NASL and USL matches between the teams were intense and more physical than other teams in the leagues. Sigi Schmid has said that Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver playing in the same league again will be "something that's going to be one of the key features of MLS".^[5] The first of these was Seattle fan favorite Mike Fucito who came to Portland via the Montreal Impact on April 20, 2012.^[24]

Seattle, then Portland

Name	Pos	Seattle			Portland
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
Roger Goldingay	FW	1974			1975–76	15	0
Hank Liotart	MF	1974–76	45	2	1976–77	28	2
David Butler	FW	1974–78	97	34	1979	20	6
John Bain	MF	1983	24	2	1989–90
Peter Hattrup	FW	1984–89			1990
Daryl Green	DF	1986–89			1990
Billy Crook	DF	1988			1990
Ian MacLean	DF	1989	1	1	1990
Scott Benedetti	FW	1990			2001–05	96	6
Chugger Adair	FW	1997	19	5	2002	20	2
Mark Baena	FW	1998–99	44	41	2001	24	13
Greg Howes	MF	2000	27	17	2001–02	40	12
Darren Sawatzky	FW	2000	28	16	2001	22	5
Rees Bettinger	FW	2001	23	5	2002	5	0
Scott Bower	MF	2001	1	0	2002	4	0
Andrew Gregor	MF	2002	46	16	2004	13	2
Alex Bengard	MF	2003	23	3	2004	24	5
Andrew Gregor	MF	2005–06	39	8	2007–08	37	8
Stephen Keel	DF	2006	10	1	2009–10	52	1
Kevin Forrest	FW	2008–09	9	0	2009	10	0
Mike Fucito	FW	2009–11	23	3	2012	12	0
Steve Zakuani	FW	2009–13	100	19	2014	20	1
Andrew Weber	GK	2012–13	6	0	2014–	3	0

Portland, then Seattle

Name	Pos	Portland			Seattle
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
John Bain	MF	1978–82	148	45	1983	24	2
David Butler	FW	1979	20	6	1983	1	0
Grant Gibbs	DF	1985–87			1988–90
Todd Strobeck	GK	1985–90			1993–95
Brent Goulet	FW	1986–87		9	1987	5	2
Scott Benedetti	FW	1986–89			1990
Joey Leonetti	FW	1988			1996
Dick McCormick	MF	1988–90			1994–96	52	6
Kasey Keller	GK	1989	10	0	2009–11	93	0
Garrett Smith	DF	1989			1990
Wade Webber	DF	1989			1990
Billy Crook	DF	1990			1994–96
Peter Hattrup	FW	1990			1994–95
Shawn Medved	FW	1990		10	1994–95		7
Darren Sawatzky	FW	2001	22	5	2002–04	67	22
Greg Howes	MF	2001–02	40	12	2007	21	5
Ben Somoza	MF	2002	21	1	2003–06	60	2
Jake Sagare	MF	2002–04	72	5	2005–06	29	0
Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar	MF	2002–06	131	10	2007–08	41	3
Andrew Gregor	MF	2004	13	2	2005–06	39	8
Adam Moffat	MF	2011	4	0	2013	6	0
Kenny Cooper	FW	2011	34	8	2014	24	6
Troy Perkins	GK	2011–2012	51	0	2015	4	0

Cups

Between 2004 and 2008, the USL Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers, and Vancouver Whitecaps competed for the supporter created Cascadia Cup, to be awarded to the club who finished with the best record in each season series between the three teams. The Cascadia Cup was created to celebrate the strong rivalries between each of the three clubs. Seattle won the Cascadia Cup twice in this five-year period while Portland never won. Seattle was not involved in the 2009 or 2010 competitions, both of which were won by Portland. While both Seattle and Portland consider Vancouver to be a rival, both of the U.S. fanbases consider their rivalries with Vancouver more cordial than with one another.^[5] In a 2011 story on the rivalry by Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl, one Timbers Army member said about Vancouver fans, "It's hard to dislike them because they're so nice", and an Emerald City Supporters member added, "They're like the nice cousin that's never going to offend anyone at a party."^[25] The MLS versions of the Whitecaps, Sounders and Timbers resumed contesting the Cascadia Cup, beginning with the 2011 season.

Results

Home team is listed on the left, away team is listed on the right. Home team's score is listed first.

  Sounders Win   Timbers Win   Draw

League

North American Soccer League

PRE-Western Alliance Challenge Series

Western Alliance Challenge Series

Western Soccer Alliance

Western Soccer League

American Professional Soccer League

A-League

USL First Division

Major League Soccer

Playoffs

North American Soccer League

A-League

USL First Division

Major League Soccer

U.S. Open Cup

Notable friendlies

Footnotes

^{[26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]}

References