1975 Portland Timbers season

The 1975 Portland Timbers season was the inaugural season for the Portland Timbers, an expansion team in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. In the Timbers first year of existence, the club won the Western Division title while amassing more points than any other club in the league. In the playoffs, the Timbers needed overtime to get past the Seattle Sounders and then defeated the St. Louis Stars en route to a berth in Soccer Bowl '75. Portland lost the championship game 2–0 to fellow expansion side Tampa Bay Rowdies at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California on August 24.

Portland Timbers
1975 season
PresidentUnited States John Gilbertson
Head coachWales Vic Crowe
StadiumCivic Stadium
NASLDivision: 1st
Playoffs: Soccer Bowl '75
U.S. Open CupDid not enter
Top goalscorerLeague:
England Peter Withe (16 goals)

All:
England Peter Withe (18 goals)
Highest home attendanceLeague: 27,310
vs. SEA (Jul 26)
All: 33,503
vs. STL (Aug 17)
Lowest home attendance6,918
vs. ROC (May 27)
Average home league attendanceLeague: 14,503
All: 17,274
1976 →

Squad

edit

The 1975 squad[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   ENG Graham Brown
2 DF   ENG Ray Martin
3 DF   ENG Barrie Lynch
4 DF   USA Mick Hoban
5 DF   ENG Graham Day
6 MF   WAL Brian Godfrey
7 MF   SCO Tommy McLaren
8 MF   ENG Barry Powell
9 FW   ENG Peter Withe
No. Pos. Nation Player
10 FW   JAM Don Gardner
11 FW   NIR Jimmy Kelly
12 FW   ENG Willie Anderson
13 FW   ENG Chris Dangerfield
14 FW   ENG Tony Betts
16 FW   USA Roger Goldingay
18 DF   CAN Nick Nicolas
22 GK   CAN Dave Landry

North American Soccer League

edit

Regular season

edit

Western Division standings

edit
Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 Portland Timbers 22 16 6 43 27 +16 138
2 Seattle Sounders 22 15 7 42 28 +14 129
3 Los Angeles Aztecs 22 12 10 42 33 +9 107
4 Vancouver Whitecaps 22 11 11 38 28 +10 99
5 San Jose Earthquakes 22 8 14 37 48 −11 83

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source:[2]

League results

edit
Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
May 2, 1975 Seattle Sounders H 0–1 6,913
May 7, 1975 Toronto Metros-Croatia H 1–0 8,500 Withe
May 11, 1975 Denver Dynamos A 1–3 4,267 Withe
May 16, 1975 Vancouver Whitecaps A 2–0 7,815 Powell, Betts
May 27, 1975 Rochester Lancers H 3–2 (OT) 6,918 Godfrey, Withe, Anderson
May 30, 1975 Chicago Sting H 2–0 9,526 Withe, Anderson
June 7, 1975 Vancouver Whitecaps H 3–2 (OT) 11,335 Day, Godfrey, Betts
June 14, 1975 San Jose Earthquakes A 1–2 17,889 Kelly
June 18, 1975 Dallas Tornado H 3–0 14,688 Powell, Betts, Kelly
June 21, 1975 San Antonio Thunder H 1–0 (OT) 14,080 Anderson
June 27, 1975 Los Angeles Aztecs A 2–1 (OT) 6,609 Withe (2)
June 28, 1975 San Jose Earthquakes A 2–1 18,883 Withe, Dangerfield
July 3, 1975 Vancouver Whitecaps H 2–1 18,278 Betts, Dangerfield
July 8, 1975 Los Angeles Aztecs H 4–1 17,765 Withe, Betts, Kelly, Dangerfield
July 11, 1975 Hartford Bicentennials A 3–1 2,582 Day, Withe, Betts
July 12, 1975 Boston Minutemen A 1–2 2,800 Dangerfield
July 16, 1975 New York Cosmos A 2–1 13,423 Godfrey, Withe
July 19, 1975 St. Louis Stars A 3–2 (OT) 6,902 Lynch, McLaren, Withe
July 26, 1975 Seattle Sounders H 2–1 27,310 Withe (2)
July 29, 1975 San Jose Earthquakes H 3–2 23,003 Withe (2), Powell
August 2, 1975 Seattle Sounders A 2–3 (OT) 17,925 Powell, Withe
August 9, 1975 Los Angeles Aztecs A 0–1 10,231

Source:[3]

Postseason

edit

Playoff bracket

edit

Bracket

edit
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Soccer Bowl '75
         
W1 Portland Timbers 2
W2 Seattle Sounders 1
W1 Portland Timbers 1
C1 St. Louis Stars 0
C1 St. Louis Stars 1(5)
W3 Los Angeles Aztecs 1(4)
W1 Portland Timbers 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2
E2 Miami Toros 2
N1 Boston Minutemen 1
E2 Miami Toros 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3
N2 Toronto Metros-Croatia 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1

Playoff results

edit
Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
August 12, 1975 Seattle Sounders H 2–1 (OT) 31,523 Powell, Betts
August 17, 1975 St. Louis Stars H 1–0 33,503 Withe
August 24, 1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies N 0–2 17,009

Source:[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Portland Timbers rosters". North American Soccer League Jerseys. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  2. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1975". American Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "1975 Portland Timbers". Timbers Fan Page. Retrieved May 6, 2011.