Portland Timbers, previously known as F.C. Portland, came into existence in 1985 as an independent U.S. soccer team based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In 1989, the team adopted the name Portland Timbers. Portland was composed of both professional and amateur players. The amateur players largely came from local Portland amateur leagues. It played its games in Portland's Civic Stadium.

History

1985 – Western Alliance Challenge Series

In 1985, F.C. Portland joined with three other independent clubs, the U.S. based F.C. Seattle and

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

and the Canadian

Victoria Riptides Victoria Riptides (also known as the RipTides and Riptide) were a professional soccer team based out of Victoria, British Columbia. The team played for two seasons; the 1984 season of the Pacific Coast Soccer League, and 1985 season of the Wester ...

in a home and away round robin tournament, known as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. The four teams also played the Canadian

Edmonton Brick Men The Edmonton Brick Men (also Edmonton Brickmen) were a Canadian soccer team in Edmonton, Alberta that competed in the Canadian Soccer League and the Western Soccer Alliance. During their time in the WSA and the CSL, the team played at both John ...

and the Canada national team. The games against the Brick Men counted in the standings which determined the end of series champions. F.C. Portland had the honor of hosting the first game of the series, against Seattle. The game, played in Portland's Civic Stadium, attracted 2,906 fans. F.C. Portland also played a game against the

Houston Dynamos Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1984 to 1991. Before its final season in 1991, the team's name was changed to Houston International. History By the winter of 1983/84, the American professional soccer ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

1986 – Western Soccer Alliance

After the success of 1985, the three U.S. teams elected to form a league, which they named the Western Soccer Alliance. While the Victoria Riptides opted out of the league, the

joined the alliance, along with the

Hollywood Kickers Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Los Angeles Heat The Los Angeles Heat was an American professional Association football, soccer team. The Heat joined the Western Soccer League, Western Soccer Alliance in 1986, then the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the Ame ...

and San Diego Nomads. The teams continued the first year practice of playing outside teams (

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and Dundee FC this year) with results counting in the alliance standings. F.C. Portland saw a significant improvement over the previous season. Behind the production of forwards Brent Goulet (league leading 9 goals and 2 assists), and Mark Miller (7 goals and 5 assists), the team finished second in the standings with a 6-6-2 record. At the time, Goulet played for Warner Pacific College, a local school. He played with F.C. Portland as an amateur. In 1986, former Timbers player Clive Charles began coaching the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

(U.P.) men's soccer team, bringing this team to national prominence. This led to an infusion of U.P. players into F.C. Portland in later years.

1987 – Brent Goulet MVP

In 1987, Edmonton dropped from the alliance to join the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

and the Hollywood Kickers changed their name to the California Kickers. The league also reduced the number of games from 12 to 10. Despite the Brent Goulet's outstanding play, which led to his selection as the season MVP, F.C. Portland finished fourth in the standings and missed out on the alliance's first playoff, won by the San Diego Nomads. At the end of the season, the team lost Goulet when he finished his four years at Warner Pacific College and signed with British club

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

1988

This year saw F.C. Portland drop to the bottom of the end of year standings despite once again having the alliance's leading scorer,

Scott Benedetti Scott "Benny" Benedetti (born November 13, 1966, in Portland, Oregon) is an American retired soccer player. He began his professional career with the semi-professional F.C. Portland in 1986 and ended it with the U.S. second division club Portland ...

with 8 goals and no assists. At the time Benedetti was between his junior and senior year playing soccer for Clive Charles at the

. The alliance kept the same teams as the 1987 season, but played 12 games, including games against

teams,

Calgary Kickers The Calgary Strikers (formerly the Calgary Kickers) were a Canadian soccer team in Calgary, Alberta, that competed in the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1989. They were founded as the Calgary Kickers for the 1987 and 1988 seasons, winning t ...

and

Vancouver 86ers Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

. F.C. Portland finished 1-11. This year the alliance named an All Star team. Ironically, not only did Portland have the alliance's top scorer, but also had its goalkeeper, Todd Strobeck, named to the alliance's All Star team.

1989 – New name: Portland Timbers

In 1989, F.C. Portland went through several changes. First, Art Dixon, a local businessman, took control of F.C. Portland and renamed it the Portland Timbers. Dixon was a long time Timbers fan, holding season tickets from 1979 through the team's last season in 1982. Dixon brought more than a name change, he also injected money and a higher level of professionalism into the team, bringing former Timbers great John Bain back as a player/coach. Then, the Western Soccer Alliance became the Western Soccer League (WSL). More importantly for Portland, the WSL added three new teams, Real Santa Barbara, Arizona Condors and Sacramento Senators. To accommodate the new teams, the Western Soccer League split into two divisions – North and South. The Portland Timbers joined the

now known as the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interre ...

, the F.C. Seattle now known as the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

and the new Sacramento Senators in the North Division. Portland made yet another wild swing in the standings from the previous season. Improving from 1-11, Portland finished the year at 11-5 and tied with the Blackhawks for the North Division lead. The Blackhawks won the division championship, and the playoff berth, based on goal differential. The team continued its tradition of placing its players on the end of year honors lists. Goalkeeper

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, and was the starting Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for the United State ...

was selected as the league's MVP. Additionally, Portland placed Keller, midfielder/coach John Bain and forward

on the WSL All Star team. At the time, Keller was also playing

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

soccer with the

1990 – The final season

In February 1990, the WSL announced it had reached a merger agreement with the American Soccer League, which had teams along the east coast. The new league was named the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

. The APSL was split into East and West Conferences, both with North and South Divisions. The Portland Timbers remained in the North Division, which also had the

and newly established Salt Lake Sting and

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional men's soccer club originally based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and USL A-League. Founded in 1990, the club moved to San Diego, California in ...

. This year, Portland's final, the team finished with a 10-10 record and out of playoff contention. This was also the first year the team failed to garner any individual player honors. Its leading goal scorer,

Shawn Medved Shawn Medved is a retired American soccer forward and midfielder. Currently, he coaches youth soccer. Youth Medved was born and grew up in Issaquah, Washington. His father, Ron Medved, was a noted American football player for the University of ...

with 10 goals and 2 assists, was seventh on the league's scoring list.

had also moved on after playing in the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

and then signing with British club

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

had transferred to Seattle. At the end of the season, the high hopes which had come with the merger between the WSL and APSL crashed. Over half of the teams from the 1990 season, including Portland, would not return for the 1991 season. Team owner Art Dixon folded the team, having lost more than $500,000 over the two years he owned the team.

Coaches

* Bernie Fagan 1985–1988 * John Bain 1989–1990

League honors

MVP * 1987 Brent Goulet * 1989

Leading scorer * 1986 Brent Goulet * 1988

Top Goalkeeper * 1989

First Team All Star * 1988 Todd Strobeck * 1989

, John Bain,

Record

This is a complete list of seasons for the WSL/APSL club. For a season-by-season history including the current

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

MLS franchise, see

List of Portland Timbers seasons This is a list of seasons played by the Portland Timbers in Soccer in the United States, American soccer, from 1975, when the original club first competed in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League, through t ...

. 1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, League Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup,

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

, and other competitive continental matches.
3. Points and PPG have been adjusted from non-traditional to traditional scoring systems for seasons after 1986 to more effectively compare historical team performance across seasons.

All-time player roster

Goalkeepers :* Todd Strobeck: 1985–1988, 1990 :* Jeff Gadowski: 1986 :* Greg Maas: 1985–1990 :* Glenn Rogers: 1987–1989 :*

: 1989 Defenders :* Paul Henningsen: 1985–1986 :* Mike dePinna: 1985–1990 :* Tim Newton: 1985–1986 :* Jim Riley: 1985-1986 :* Grant Gibbs: 1985–1987 :* Tohru Yamada: 1985, 1987–1989 :* Grant Rowe: 1986–1987 :*

Wade Webber Wade Webber (born January 12, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player who spent most of his career with clubs in the Pacific Northwest. However, he did see three years in Major League Soccer with the Dallas Burn and Miami Fusion befo ...

: 1986–1987, 1989 :* Eric Phillipi: 1986–1990 :* Gary Osterhage: 1987 :* Blake Pavlich: 1987 :* Garrett Smith: 1987–1989 :* John Ballew: 1988 :* Peter Cochran: 1988 :* Chuck Codd: 1988 :* Roger Gantz: 1988 :* Jerome LaChance: 1988 :* Trent Schultz: 1988 :* Steve Ancheta: 1988–1989 :* Jeff Brooks: 1989 :* Trent Schultz: 1989 :* Sam Singer: 1989 :* Billy Crook: 1990 :* Daryl Green: 1990 :* Ian MacLean: 1990 :* Bernd Strom: 1990 Midfielders :* Mike Iverzic: 1985 :* Eric Knapp: 1985 :* Ken Coplin: 1985–1986 :* Dan House: 1985–1987 :* Ezam Bayan: 1986–1988 :* Joe Halloway: 1986–1988, 1990 :* Steve Piercy: 1986–1987, 1990 :* Robb Sakamoto: 1987–1988 :* Horner Screws: 1987–1988 :* Jim Weber: 1987, 1989 :* Joey Leonetti: 1988 :* Ignacio Baez: 1988–1989 :* Dick McCormick: 1988–1990 :* Souk Ngonethong: 1988–1990 :* Paul Conway: 1989 :* Neftali Gomez: 1989 :* Doug Van de Brake: 1989 :* John Bain: 1989–1990 :* Tim Bartro: 1990 :*

Peter Hattrup Peter Hattrup (born March 31, 1964) is an American former professional soccer player who played professionally in Major League Soccer and the USL A-League. Player Youth Hattrup was a four-year starter as a star player for the Seattle Preparato ...

: 1990 :* Brian McManus: 1990 :* Quinn Ross: 1990 Forwards :* Ronston Haylock: 1985 :* Mark Miller: 1985–1986 :* Jeff Fenske: 1985–1986, 1989 :* Jess Guthrie: 1986 :* Tony Hicker: 1985–1987 :*

: 1986–1989 :* Brent Goulet: 1986–1987 :* Mark Bioklund: 1987 :* Jeff Enquist: 1987, 1990 :* Jason Russ: 1987–1988 :* Brian Bacon: 1988 :* Clay Elrod: 1988 :* Michael Macchione: 1988 :* David Magistrale: 1988 :* Rob Baarts: 1989 :* Paul Goldsbrough: 1989 :* Robert Lang: 1989 :* Ron Skov: 1989 :*

: 1990 :* Rob Paterson: 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portland Timbers (1985-1990) Portland Timbers Western Soccer Alliance teams American Professional Soccer League teams Timbers (1985-90) Defunct soccer clubs in Oregon Soccer clubs in Oregon 1985 establishments in Oregon 1990 disestablishments in Oregon Association football clubs established in 1985 Association football clubs disestablished in 1990 Phoenix clubs (association football)