May 2, 1975

THE DAWN OF AMERICA'S GREATEST SOCCER RIVALRY

The Sounders make their first visit to Civic Stadium in 1975 The Sounders make their first visit to Civic Stadium in 1975

It was spring 1975 in the Pacific Northwest and the rain fell relentlessly at Civic Stadium in Portland. Puddles formed across the playing surface commonly used as a baseball field.

The day was Friday, May 2, and the Portland Timbers were set to play the Seattle Sounders in their inaugural match in the North American Soccer League.

Scottish defender Dave Gillett, who arrived in Seattle via Crewe of England’s fourth division and developed into one of the Sounders’ most consistent performers, recalled the match in Portland.

Dave Gillett, 1975

“That is quite a while ago now, but I do remember a little bit,” said Gillett, who was nicknamed “Chopper” by Sounders teammates for his uncompromising style of play. “[It was] heaving down with rain — not a particularly good field, I think a Triple-A baseball team used to play there. [It was] a little disappointing crowd probably because of the weather. Eight thousand [fans] but I think later in that season they built it up to 25 [thousand], maybe even 30 [thousand], but [it was a] great atmosphere nonetheless.

“And also, I am loathed to say this,” he continued, “but they actually had a pretty good team.”

Another Sounders legend, Jimmy McAlister, was a high school senior in West Seattle when the Timbers and Sounders first met on the pitch in Portland.

“It just grew out of the first year in Portland. We were a second-year team. It grew there, and it’s grown ever since.” Jimmy McAlister, Defender 1976-79

“It was a great game, it was pouring down rain,” said McAlister, who would win the NASL Rookie of the Year award in 1977. “The Portland Timbers grew exponentially that season with each game until the end of the season they were selling out.”

One of McAlister’s heroes, Jimmy Gabriel, tallied the lone goal, a penalty-kick conversion, to lead the Sounders to a 1-0 win.

It was Portland, however, that would enjoy the most success in 1975, finishing the regular season with a 16-6 record and earning a berth in the Soccer Bowl. En route to the Soccer Bowl, the Timbers also knocked off the Sounders in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.

1975 Seattle Sounders team photo 1975 Seattle Sounders team photo

A year after the Sounders entered the NASL, the Timbers had come in and found success on and off the pitch. 1975 would prove to be an accelerator of the Timbers-Sounders rivalry.

“We had established ourselves in ‘74 in Seattle and had done quite well crowd-wise,” said Gillett. “[Portland] had kind of copied Seattle's model: [Go] out into the community, get good young players, play a fast attacking style of soccer and build a crowd out quickly. But they did really well for that first season and that’s what blossomed the rivalry.”

Sure enough, each match between the clubs held at Civic Stadium in 1975 saw an increase in attendance from 7,753 to 27,310 and 31,523 in the overtime thriller in the playoffs.

Soccer had arrived in Portland.

Tim Haag, the Public Relations Director for the Sounders in the mid-1970s and statistician for the club since its inaugural season in MLS in 2009, remembered not knowing what to expect from the Timbers when they joined the NASL.

“It was sort of interesting, we didn’t know what they were going to be like though,” said Haag. “You thought they'd be pretty good because in those days teams were about as good as their pipelines, like connections and what we saw forming in Portland, they looked like they had pretty good connections. They had some very good players that played in the first years.”

Added McAlister: “The guys who played in 1975 really set the tone in this market. The game started before then, but the game started on the professional level with those guys; Jimmy Gabriel, John Best. And Portland has the same guys and they’re still there.

“Not hateful, but close! You know the guy does you in one game and you just remember it. There's still people that if I met I would have a go with them now.” Dave Gillett, Defender 1974-79

“It just grew out of the first year in Portland,” he continued. “We were a second-year team. It grew there, and it’s grown ever since. It didn’t start with 30,000 people or a sold-out stadium.”

What began as an unknown commodity on a rainy afternoon in Portland 43 years ago is now the beneficiary of a respect and passion for the game that is visibly abundant throughout North America.

Ambassadors such as the Sounders’ Gabriel, Best, Gillett, Pepe Fernández, Alan Hinton and Brian Schmetzer have carried the torch alongside the Timbers’ Peter Withe, Jimmy Kelly, Tony Betts, John Bain, Mick Hoban and Clive Charles.

The result is two of the proudest soccer cities in North America, hungry to outperform the other on every stage.

“There were very rarely games where one team would beat the other by more than one goal,” said Gillett. “It was always 3-2, 2-1, 1-0, it was always close and intense. That’s the word I would use: an intense rivalry.

“Not hateful, but close! You know the guy does you in one game and you just remember it. There's still people that if I met I would have a go with them now.”