15,833
By Thomas Dunmore • Aug 27th, 2007 • Category: American soccer • 7 responsesIf the rest of the world thinks Major League Soccer is a Mickey Mouse league, what would they make of the level below that, the United Soccer Leagues First Division? Well, if they saw the crowd from the Portland Timbers final regular season home game of their USL season, they might think it’s a level above MLS. OK, maybe that’s stretching it, but 15,833 is a mighty impressive number, and Lynda at a Pretty Move certainly had a great time.
Buoyed by a thunderous North End that stretched across at least four sections, the Timbers brought the most soporific reaches of the stadium to their feet. When yet another goal–S-C-O-T-with-one-T-Thompson late in the first half–was waved off, the lads didn’t let it discourage them, and the drought finally ended in the 81st minute, thanks to Justin Thompson. The crowd went wild! The flag was unfurled again at last! Owner Merritt Paulson came racing down the steps between 106 and 107, and racing back up, high-fived fans all the way! Timbers-colored smoke rose into the air!
And, reproduced with permission from Allison Andrews, after the jump there are a few photos of a great day for soccer in Portland, Oregon.
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Thanks for noticing! It was a great night for the Timbers, the Timbers Army, and Portland in general. We averaged the season at 6135 per game, which is good for the USL, but we plan on increasing that number next year, the year after, etc. As someone on talktimbers.com noticed, we only need something like 99000 people at our home playoff game to average 10K this season!
It was a great crowd and good to see the Entire Park pack and not just the North End. Good job by the Front Office to pack the stands.
Thanks for the attention shed on the Timbers and their supporters (and, of course, our blog)! It was truly an astonishing night, and even with all the support the Timbers are getting locally I don’t think anyone saw anything like it coming. And from where I stood, people seemed to be really getting into it all over the park. PGE Park has a capacity just under 20,000 (unless augmented by special temporary seating), so the stadium was impressively full.
6000 average would be good for a English second division side. 15,833 is English first division #’s.
Make the Timbers MLS at PGE.
It will not work in Portland another venue with another team name.
Oh yeh, I almost forgot to say,
F**k Seattle!
What did I tell ya, TD?
http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2007/08/02/mls-supporter-battle/#comment-441
[...] - 15,833: If the rest of the world thinks Major League Soccer is a Mickey Mouse league, what would they make [...]
Buoyed by a thunderous North End that stretched across at least four sections, the Timbers brought the most soporific reaches of the stadium to their feet. When yet another goal–S-C-O-T-with-one-T-Thompson late in the first half–was waved off, the lads didn’t let it discourage them, and the drought finally ended in the 81st minute, thanks to Justin Thompson. The crowd went wild! The flag was unfurled again at last! Owner Merritt Paulson came racing down the steps between 106 and 107, and racing back up, high-fived fans all the way! Timbers-colored smoke rose into the air!