Seattle Sounders–Portland Timbers Rivalry
The Portland –Seattle rivalry is a soccer rivalry between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders soccer teams. The rivalry pre-dates the current teams in both cities, back to the North American Soccer League days, and has since grown into one of the largest and most bitter rivalries in American soccer. The rivalry has spanned across several leagues including the USL First Division, A-League, NASL, and Major League Soccer. According to many players, the Seattle–Portland rivalry is one of the only true derbies that is present in American soccer. Alan Hinton, a former English international and ex-Sounders coach, has compared the rivalry to those seen in the English Premier League. It is considered to be one of the most intense rivalries in the United States.
Seattle and Portland have had rivalries based on various sports teams. A heated rivalry surrounded the Portland Buckaroos and Seattle Totems of the minor-league Western Hockey League in the 1960s. Later, some fans supported the Thunderbirds or Winterhawks hockey teams. This rivalry "naturally translated into soccer" according to one fan. The two cities also had a rivalry between the SuperSonics and Trail Blazers of the NBA, until the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Read more about Seattle Sounders–Portland Timbers Rivalry: Supporter Groups, Players and Transfers, Cups, Results
Famous quotes containing the words rivalry, seattle and/or timbers:
“It seems to me that we have to draw the line in sibling rivalry whenever rivalry goes out of bounds into destructive behavior of a physical or verbal kind. The principle needs to be this: Whatever the reasons for your feelings you will have to find civilized solutions.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“I once heard of a murderer who propped his two victims up against a chess board in sporting attitudes and was able to get as far as Seattle before his crime was discovered.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“If the main timbers in the house are not straight, the smaller timbers will be unsafe; and if the smaller timbers are not straight, the house will fall.”
—Chinese proverb.