When one thinks of great professional sports rivalries one might think of the Boston Celtics vs. LA Lakers, Montreal Canadiens v. Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Cowboys v. Washington Redskins.
Great rivalries are not created nor are they manufactured. Great rivalries are born of blood, sweat and tears. There must be epic battles, great games with high intensity, rabid fans and of course history.
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Real rivalries derby's are just what Major League Soccer needs to generate greater fan interest. There are some signs of derby's that are developing. Chivas v. Galaxy is one. DC United and Philadelphia Union, along wth the New York Red Bulls have the makings of great derby in the future but in this writer's opinion, there is no greater rivalry or derby in U.S. professional soccer then the one that exists between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders.
The match-ups between these two teams date back to 1975 when the likes of Dave Gillet, Davey Butler and John Rowlands of Seattle took on Chris Dangerfield, Jimmy Kelly and Peter Withe of Portland.
Back then, the Sounders played in a rundown Memorial Stadium. The Timbers inturn, played in what was then called Civic Stadium. The matches between the two clubs have always drawn huge crowds and brought out the passions of the club's respective fans.
In their inaugural year, the Timbers made it to the NASL championship that was played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose. Portland lost the match 2-0 but the nickname "Soccer City USA" was established that year. Ironically, the Sounders played in their first NASL final against the vaunted New York Cosmos featuring the great Pele and Franz Beckenbauer at Portland's Civic stadium in 1977. Like Portland a couple years prior, the Sounders went down in defeat.
The two clubs have battled on and off over the course of the last 35 years. Each boasts a premier supporters group. "The Timbers Army" from Portland and the "Emerald City Supporters" from Seattle.
Although most of the individuals in both supporters groups are able to co-exist during match day, the fact is that both groups truly do not like each other and there have been a series of isolated incidents that have added to the legend. If you have any doubt as to the intensity of the rivaliy, I invite you to go out to some of the many message boards that fans from both clubs frequent.
The bottom line is this: both cities are beautiful and love their soccer. Both cities have terrific fans. Both cities have teams that play downtown and most importantly, both cities have deep and rich soccer history.
For more background and information about the history of one of the greatest soccer rivalries in U.S. soccer history, I invite you to vist GoalSeattle.com.
Seattle Sounders FC take on the USL Portland Timbers tonight in USOC action. The game will be played in Portland's PGE Park at 7:30 (PDT). There are a few seats left. The match will be televised on FSN Northwest
Reach Greg Roth - Sounders Fan Insider at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
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