The Portland Timbers 2 will make a little bit of history on Saturday night when they take on the Swope Park Rangers in the first USL game to be played in the state of Idaho.

The match is a home game for Portland and will be played at Brighton Stadium in Meridian, the third-largest city in Idaho, close to Boise. It's all part of the Timbers’ burgeoning relationship with their neighboring state.

Idaho is classed as part of Portland's homegrown territory in MLS terms, and it's a blossoming market the club is keen to grow further. Last year saw the Timbers announce an official partnership with the Idaho Youth Soccer Association (IYSA) and last month saw the Coeur d’Alene-based Sting Premier Soccer Club become the second Idaho youth club to become part of the Timbers' Alliance program.

Portland has put on soccer camps in Idaho, as it looks to evaluate the local talent and grow its fan base. Playing an actual Timbers game there was the next step in the relationship. Portland General Manager & President of Soccer Gavin Wilkinson felt the time was right now to do just that.

“We want to have a presence in the community,” Wilkinson said to USLSoccer.com. “We want to showcase our brand, we also want people to be aware of the organization. It's a great way to help launch the awareness of some of the Alliance clubs.

"The state association there have been first class. So for us, it's definitely the timing but also the people. I think timing is who you have heading in the same direction. Bill Taylor [IYSA President] has been really progressive with what he wants to do in the soccer community and it was something we've been discussing for a while and it's been able to come to fruition."

Wilkinson is in little doubt as to how important the six-hour journey is to the club in terms of growing its fan base and support in other communities outside of Portland.

There's already a firm footing with fans in Idaho. The Timbers are keen to continue to develop this, and Saturday's game looks to already be a huge success.

"Ticket sales are in and around 4,000, which is tremendous," Wilkinson said. "This is very, very healthy regardless of the result, the outcome. We hope the attendance is going to be great. We need to start somewhere and it's very important for us to make ourselves known in this market. We want to continue this relationship, strengthen the relationship and to start off here I think is very, very healthy."