Here are the all-time average attendance standings (1994-2008) for each of the 47 different clubs in USL-1 (and the A-League/APSL prior to that): ALL-TIME USL-1 ATTENDANCE BY CLUB (Active Clubs in Gray) Club G Total Avg. Rochester Rhinos 192 1,962,192 10,220 Montreal Impact 191 1,316,637 6,893 Syracuse Salty Dogs 28 185,806 6,636 Portland Timbers 114 712,789 6,253 Puerto Rico Islanders 71 333,802 4,701 Vancouver 86ers/Whitecaps 204 928,634 4,552 Carolina RailHawks 29 129,768 4,475 Colorado Foxes 50 178,703 3,574 Minnesota Thunder 173 591,538 3,419 Los Angeles Salsa 10 33,405 3,341 Charleston Battery 170 566,825 3,334 Seattle Sounders 209 686,989 3,287 Hershey Wildcats 72 229,615 3,189 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 71 216,978 3,056 Milwaukee Rampage 88 264,089 3,001 Long Island Rough Riders 68 180,995 2,662 El Paso Patriots 102 267,218 2,620 Carolina Dynamo 14 36,474 2,605 Richmond Kickers 128 302,244 2,361 Toronto [. Click to continue reading...

Two of the men leading MLS expansion charges get the ink from their local papers today. Québécois dairy tycoon andMontréal Impact owner Joey Saputo has an enjoyable Q&A in the Montréal Gazette, while Portland Timbers impresario Merritt Paulson reveals loads of revenue and attendance related dirt on the Rose City club. Click to continue reading...

In a final flurry of very ruffled feathers, the Cary-based Carolina RailHawks flap into a doubleheader against the Charleston Battery and Portland Timbers in USL-1s final regular season weekend. The stakes are high, as anything less than six points will snare no better than an 8th-place finish for the sophomore Hawks. Click to continue reading...

On Saturday, September 20th, the Carolina RailHawks finish off their 2008 regular season with a match against the Portland Timbers.
Triangle Soccer Fanatics invites everyone (members and non-members) to join us for one final tailgate of the year. Folks are encouraged to bring food or drink to share and join us from 5pm in the grassy area below the art sculpture. Click to continue reading...

"There are a lot of them that will not be here next year, so they need to perform in order to find a new club."

—Portland Timbers manager Gavin Wilkinson, on his players' final match of the season.

Twenty-nine matches played. Seven wins. Is Wilkinson going to be here next year? Click to continue reading...

Notable:
*The final score was 2-2.
*Bryan Jordan, recalled earlier this week from the USL Portland Timbers, scored in his first MLS start playing in David Beckham's position.
*The Galaxy winless streak hit 11 games, a team record.
*The Galaxy slumped to dead last in MLS.

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The Galaxy looked sharper than they had in weeks last Saturday against the Revolution, which bodes well for the run they will have to make in order to get into the playoffs. However, this Saturday MLS has, in its infinite wisdom, decided to schedule league matches concurrently with a FIFA World Cup qualifier date.

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With the Galaxy down to one healthy goalkeeper in Josh Weeks after Charles Alamo and now Steve Cronin suffered what Coach Bruce Arena effectively regards as season-ending injuries, he is calling in reinforcements in the shape of former Colorado Rapids draft pick Mike Graczyk, a former University of New Mexico standout now in the MLS pool of goalkeepers retained for just this purpose (so no Kasey Keller on loan then, I guess).

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A terribly embarrassing night for MLS in the CONCACAF Champions League. New England was assaulted 0-4 at home by Joe Public, and Chivas USA was held 1-1 at home by Tauro. It was really ugly, especially at Foxborough. There will be a lot of excuses flying today. And they all fall short of those scorelines. Click to continue reading...

As promised we have followed the Portland news conference and rather than re-cap it we suggest you go to the MLStoPDX on the Portland Timbers Offside. Here's hoping Portland makes its case and is awarded the next expansion slot. They deserve it. Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson held a press conference this morning formally announcing his MLS intentions and I for one am solidly behind him. Not that my opinion carries any weight in the real world but there you go. Also, I enjoy pandering to the Timbers Army constituency (hey, Seattle loves Ives so I'm not too concerned about upsetting Jet City). Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is making an aggressive push for the city's inclusion in the next round of Major League Soccer expansion. On Wednesday, he launched a public campaign to build support for the idea, which he said could bring "tremendous positive national spotlight to the city of Portland. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer to the city of Portland is starting to get a heavier push by Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson. The expansion bid into the major league is set to go in full swing here as the MLS expansion deadline is coming to a close in the next month. The city is behind it and [...] Click to continue reading...

Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin has a broken hand and will miss the next 4-6 weeks, according to 100 Percent Soccer's Nick Green. The injury occurred last weekend during the first half of the Galaxy's 2-2 tie with the New England Revolution on a play where Cronin came out to punch away a Khano Smith cross. Click to continue reading...

Well, where were we then? The Eleven Devils School for Luckless, Brutal and Unskilled Defenders has been quiet indeed during the dog-days lull. Basically, I haven't been watching any football and thus found very little to say as August smoldered away, authoritarian Olympic glories and all. I don't know why the European leagues insist on starting up in August, when it would clearly behoove them to wait until September when I am ready to focus, see. Click to continue reading...

Both former US National team players Kasey Keller and Clint Mathis are leaving their European clubs in order to head to the United States to play in Major League Soccer.

Kasey Keller began his career with the Portland Timbers 19 years ago. Since then he has spent some time with 7 different European clubs.

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Do you realize it's less than 2 weeks until the USA playing their next World Cup Qualifier in Guatemala City - Wed Aug 20! Where will you be watching. Me? At the Sweetwater of course.

~and~

From the Oregonian: "The funeral procession marking the end of the Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders rivalry started early Thursday evening. Click to continue reading...

In my ongoing, and possibly ill-fated quest to personally affect the viewership of this week's final USL showdown between Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders on FSC this Thursday I'd like to big up the PDX players from Above The Clouds. They do Hypebeast-caliber custom designs for sneakers and trainers that are just about flawless. Click to continue reading...

Not long after the MLS commish said bids for new franchises have to be in by October, Portland Timbers owner and president Merritt Paulson said he's going for it.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Major League Soccer in Portland would both add a tremendous amount to the league and have a phenomenally positive impact on our community and state," Paulson said.

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This came to our email today, sometimes we get it right:

You ran a story from a guy who overheard Paulson and some guy talking in starbucks.  The suggestion from the rumor was that two Portland websites would be launched, a grassroots one and an official bid. Now, both shoes have dropped. Click to continue reading...

It will be an all MLS SuperLiga final with the New England Revolution, 2-0 winners over bad losers Atlante tonight, playing the Houston Dynamo Tuesday in Boston.

I only watched the last 10 minutes of the game (work intervened), but that was enough to see some ugly scenes at game's end for the second consecutive SuperLiga semifinal.

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We were cent the following Press Release early this morning:

Portlanders Launch Grassroots Effort to Bring Major League Soccer to the Rose City
New website features essay contest with $111 cash prize

PORTLAND, July 24th 2008 – On the eve of the 2008 Major League Soccer Allstar Game, a loosely assembled group of Portland residents, writers and sports fans today launched MLStoPDX.

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In a match finish that should have a warning label for cardiac patients, the Silverbacks miraculously scraped out a draw against the Portland Timbers.

For large stretches of the match, the Silverbacks seemed to control the run of play yet could not convert any of their possession in to goals. Click to continue reading...

The Silverbacks return to league play tonight after a couple of hard fought losses against Western Hemisphere powerhouses.

The Backs hosted Mexican first division side Pachuca C.F., who are currently battling for a spot in the 2008 SuperLiga semis, and Argentinean first division club Atletico Independiente. Click to continue reading...

"Everyone is replaceable in this game. Everyone's a commodity."

—inspiring words from Portland Timbers manager Gavin Wilkinson. Click to continue reading...

Portland is a great city to live in and a great city to be a soccer fan in.  The current team in Portland, the Portland Timbers of the USL-1 have a great following and one of the best average attendances in USL-1.  The Timbers play in a minor league baseball stadium right now and in [...] Click to continue reading...

The New England Revolution announced today that forward Argenis Fernandez and goalkeeper Brad Knighton have been loaned out to LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica's Primera División) and the Portland Timbers (USL First Division), respectively, for the remainder of the season. Both players can be recalled at any time if needed. Click to continue reading...

Now that the Euros are over and we have a spare 15 minutes before the Big Leagues start up again, it's time for American soccer fans to do what they do best: obsess over competitions that no one else in the world (and the country? forget about it) has ever heard of. To wit, the US Open Cup, our national knock-out tournament, which continues a perpetually beleaguered and occasionally glorious history that dates back to 1914. Click to continue reading...

If you read our story about fans finding an MLS to Portland website and you went to the link www.mlstopdx.com you no doubt got a page which had its content removed. Now it simply features the logo above. Prior to this however the following video/slide show appeared on the site. Who is behind it? Click to continue reading...

For the first time in a couple years, the Wizards enter the US Open Cup proper. Tomorrow night they take on the Carolina Railhawks of USL-1. The last time the Wizards were in the US Open Cup, they defeated the Des Moines Menace 2-1 before losing 2-0 to Chicago. The Wizards come in on the backs of their 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake. Click to continue reading...

Carolina pushed their 2008 home record to 5-0-3 (including US Open Cup matches) with a 1-0 victory tonight over the Portland Timbers. With the victory, Carolina moves back into playoff position (6th) with an overall record of 4-4-5 on the season.
The RailHawks struck early when Martin Nuñez started a play at midfield which went through both Caleb Norkus and Dan Antoniuk before the spritely midfielder latched back onto the ball and beat Ray Burse for the game's only goal. Click to continue reading...

Don't know much about our U.S. Open Cup opponent for next Tuesday? Remember when Chris Brown played so many games in a row at forward for the Wizards? Well, you can get a look at each right now on Fox Soccer Channel. Brown's Portland Timbers are on the road at WakeMed Park in Cary, NC to take on the Carolina RailHawks. Click to continue reading...

Live from WakeMed stadium here in Cary, N.C., Here is tonight's starting lineup for the visiting Portland Timbers. GK Burse, D Karalexis, D Knowles, D J. Thompson, D Griffin, M Dombrowski, M Guante, M Higgins, M Brown, F Taka, F Bagley. With Jordan and Gregor in reserve, the Ax Men have some bullets left on the bench if needed. Click to continue reading...

Sadly our hometown professional football club, the Atlanta Silverbacks, bid adieu to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup yesterday.
On a day when most of the world's eyes were focused on Switzerland, the Silverbacks took on fellow USL First Division side, Miami F.C. Blues and fell by a heartbreaking 1 - 0 margin. Click to continue reading...

We talked yesterday about the fading, if not ending hopes of an expansion club for Miami. Today another expansion hopeful is back in the press and is sounding very optimistic. Its the Northwest discussion folks. Portland. More importantly the Portland Timbers getting a bump to the big leagues like their rival Seattle Sounders. Click to continue reading...