At their annual meeting this past week in Vancouver, the Independent Supporters Council awarded Tifo of the Year to the Rose City Riveters. The award is for the best fan display in the US and Canada by any soccer supporters group. The winning display was Shields Up/Protect This Place from the Thorns 2017 home opener at Providence Park. This is the first time the honor has gone to an NWSL supporters group.

As a reminder, here is the display going up shortly after the presentation of the 2016 NWSL Shield to Christine Sinclair. And here’s a short Riveter-made video of its production. The display incorporated 154 one-of-a-kind handmade elements—two large lifted pieces, two capo-stand banners, and 150 shields painted by all sorts of volunteers. A highlight of the production work was a family from New York City who took an afternoon out of their Portland vacation to come make tifo—they produced the oft-admired “Hello Kitty” shield among others.

This may have been the most complex tifo ever shown in North America – not by scale, but by number of unique elements. And for the Riveters, it was one of the most fun to make and display.