PORTLAND – The wristbands were scheduled to be distributed at 7 am on Friday morning. But the line around Providence Park began to form days beforehand.
Robby Larson even wisecracked that perhaps he should mark his place in it immediately after the Portland Timbers’ Western Conference Final win over Real Salt Lake last weekend.
“We joked walking out of the stadium on Saturday saying, ‘Should we go and get dinner or should we just put our chairs out?’” recalled the Timbers Army member to MLSsoccer.com as he and several of his friends sat in line on Thursday afternoon. “Like, we know it's not supposed to start yet, but it's going to. And by Tuesday morning there were people out here.”
The queue grew as the week rolled on, eventually stretching the length of the 95-year-old downtown venue, down SW 18th Avenue, winding around and down Salmon Street, and onward to 20th Ave. Tents are no longer allowed underneath the stadium’s new east side expansion, but they mushroomed further down the line, and everywhere were cots, blankets, comfy chairs and gas-powered firepits to ward off the damp December chill.
As precious as the prize on offer is for the Timbers’ most dedicated supporters, the vibe is almost universally friendly and collegial. It’s normal to leave your spot in the line to go grab a bite to eat or use the restroom in one of the nearby businesses – “Everybody in line here knows the bathroom code for the Fred Meyer [grocery store],” said Larson with a grin. That said, many establishments extend special hospitality to the line waiters, like Caffe Nizza across the street, known to open earlier than their usual hours in order to serve breakfast and make their bathrooms available.
This being PDX, consumption of craft beer, cider and other adult beverages was low-key but widespread, especially as the final countdown began after dusk on Thursday.
“You get to know your neighbors, don't take up more room than necessary. Do the right thing,” said TA member Matthew Finn. “Like, 95% of the people do the right thing; everyone looks out for everybody.
“I'm from New Jersey; you could never get away with this [there]. There would be blood spilled,” he added. “Everybody's the same one on one, but there's a different mentality out here in the Northwest when you get groups of hundreds or thousands together where it's like there's a sense of calm.”
Here’s the thing: The 1,000 wristbands these hundreds of fans were waiting for don’t grant admission to Saturday’s MLS Cup Final vs. New York City FC; everyone in line has a match ticket already. They merely confer early admission to the Timbers Army’s general-admission roost in the north end of Providence Park, allowing the hardcores to stake out a spot in the section they call home.
Is all this really worth it?
“You would never ask that question if you've ever stood in the Army during a game,” exclaimed Larson’s friend Estelle Rogers. “It’s 100% worth it.
“Come back later tonight, after the sun goes down,” she advised with a grin, gesturing toward a neighboring group. “These guys are cooking filet mignon around the corner; he's a restaurant owner and a chef, they’re the real deal and we want to get in on that. … It will be a totally incredible atmosphere – there'll be different fires, and there's just, like, a somber beauty of what happens in the wristband line.”
Her appreciation of the tradition is widely shared. Another fan called it the Timbers Army’s version of tailgating, considering that parking lots are few and far between in this dense corner of downtown.
“I camp out every home game, with the exception of a few midweek games here and there,” said Finn. “I couldn't imagine not being in within like the first 50 people to get a wristband, being in there, having two hours to spare, just to bask and boo the other team when they walk on the field. Those little things are very important to my gameday experience.”
Gathering with your specific section clan is a cherished part of that for many, as Finn’s friend Jalen Sweeney explained. Section regulars are “baptized” – adorned with that section’s custom scarf – and wristbands ensure them of that preferred place.
“You have your Timbers Army family,” Sweeney, a member of the 104th “Charlie Company” said. “I got scarfed into 104 in 2017; my family and I've been there ever since.
“It's the Portland culture of soccer: team sport, team, friends, family – even as supporters, we’re all Timbers Army family. That's what I like about it.”
This is the heartbeat of one of MLS’s largest and most admired supporters’ groups, the 12th man whose roar provides both a powerful home-field advantage and a tradition of service to the wider community. In many ways, Saturday is just another edition of their beloved, time-honored rituals in Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood, which span across generations dating back to PTFC’s original birth in 1975.
“It's part of the experience, too. Yes, we all want good seats but\] this is just part of the TA culture,” said Larson. “It's being out here and seeing people – Timber Jim walking by, or Liam Ridgewell stopping by. Years ago I remember \[retired center back\] Nat Borchers bringing a 12-pack for people – ‘oh, you’re like waiting in line for the [Seattle match? Here's beer.’
“In one way, yes, this is the MLS Cup. On the other way, it’s just another match at home on Saturday. Just happens to be in December.”
But as the club’s first-ever opportunity to win a title at home, it nonetheless marks one of the biggest days in the long history of PTFC and their loyal throngs of supporters. And it’s a profoundly emotional cap to a turbulent two years in the city.
Pandemic. Widespread social-justice protests, and lurid national media coverage that many locals considered outright deceptive. A series of serious injuries to Timbers mainstays like Sebastian Blanco and Eryk Williamson, and the potential departure of club icon Diego Valeri. Allegations of abuse against Paul Riley, the former coach of the Timbers’ NWSL sibling club the Thorns.
“No, there's nothing quite like this,” Shawn Levy, a writer and founding member of the TA, told MLSsoccer.com. “We're in the midst of uncertainty regarding the events of 2015 on the Thorns side and subsequent decisions made by management and the league regarding those events. … And Portland itself has been through a tumultuous couple of years in terms of the pandemic, but also we had social unrest and some of the ‘Portlandia’ shine has come off the town. It was a tremendous boom town for about 10 years and suddenly people are [saying], ‘Oh, Portland is over. Please spread the word.’
“So all of that is happening, and happening if this was the last game of the season, period. And then the amplification of the MLS Cup is just kind of overwhelming.”
The community around this club has experienced adversity before. In fact, Levy believes past tribulations helped make the Timbers Army the phenomenon it is today.
“We had some catalyzing events,” he explained. “The Timbers of the aughts, the minor-league Timbers, Merritt Paulson was something like the fifth owner in seven years … So we ended many seasons thinking we won't have a team next year. And I think that made us kind of fervent and desperate in a way that bonded us.
“And then we had one tragedy, the death of Timber Jim's daughter, Hannah Serrill, in an automobile accident, and that gave us this wound that we kind of healed between us and among us, but also it made us start doing civic good. We started raising money for Hannah's daughter. And then we said, OK, well, we've done that. What else could we do? And a big part of the Timbers Army and the 107IST [Independent Supporters’ Trust] has been charitable work and supporting soccer from the childhood level to the professional level.”
Saturday afternoon’s global audience will be bigger than usual, but the TA will do what they always do on matchday. They’ll unfurl a tifo just before kickoff, serenade their team, wave innumerable flags and two-pole signs, will the Timbers toward victory with a wall of constant sound. The traditions will endure far beyond this game. It’s just that the stakes are a bit higher this time around, for everyone.
Cup finals on home turf don’t come around too often.
“After the semifinals, Gio [Savarese] was being interviewed, and they asked, What does this mean to the team and to you? And he goes, the bigger question is what this will mean for the city,” said Larson.
“Portland could use this. Portland has been beat up. You watch national news, depending on where you get your news, and it looked like – because I have people emailing me from across the country asking me – that you drive past the ‘Welcome to Portland’ sign and the entire city was on fire. And it wasn’t. Portland's got its issues. Every big city has got its issues. But Portland can use this.”
