When new Timbers coach Caleb Porter steps onto the field next season, he'll have less space to pace the sidelines.

The Timbers plan to widen their field for the 2013 season. Team officials say the team's athleticism, speed and desire to use a more possession-oriented style of play prompted the decision. They hope the change will produce a more dynamic, fast-paced style of play and ultimately, more scoring.

"It's a matter of maximizing the potential that we have. That's both in the size of the field and the players," said Gavin Wilkinson, Portland's general manager and interim coach. "We have tremendous athleticism and we have good players going after the ball and going forward. It's very, very important that we create more room to play."

The Timbers’ current field is 110 yards in length and 70 yards in width, the smallest in MLS. Montreal, at 120x77, has the largest and widest field of any MLS team. Eight teams (including Los Angeles, New York and Real Salt Lake) play on a 120x75 field, tied for longest in the league.

In contrast, D.C. United plays in RFK Stadium on a field size of 110x72, which will be the league's smallest after the Timbers' expansion, which will increase the field size to 110x74.

FIFA (the governing body of soccer) rules states that field sizes for international competition can be anywhere from 110 to 120 yards in length and 70 to 80 yards in width. MLS recommends the ideal field size for its teams be 120x75 and requires teams to make its field sizes a minimum of 110x70.

Some players on opposing teams have complained about the small space at Jeld-Wen Field since the Timbers joined MLS in 2011, but the Timbers have used the dimensions to their advantage. The small size places a premium on set pieces (corner kicks, free kicks) with plenty of action in the 18-yard penalty box area. Making use of the confined space helped the Timbers rank among the league leaders in goals off set pieces and midfielder Jack Jewsbury reached a career-high with eight assists - with most coming off corner and free kicks - during their inaugural season in 2011.

The Timbers opened up their offense when Wilkinson took over as interim coach in July and the team announced the field expansion in late August. The field expansion is supposed to aid in the Timbers' desire to pressure opposing defenses from the flanks while emphasizing ball and player movement.

"The extra width will hopefully lead to some extra possession in the game," Jewsbury said. "We'll be able to tinker with that offensively and defensively - other teams are going to have the ball a bit more, too."

Former Portland and current D.C. United defender Mike Chabala said the extra space will be good for the Timbers and the league.

"It will encourage more possession and play," Chabala said. "Ideally you'd like to open the game up and get it going. It's good to play a more open type of game and it's a product on the field that MLS is trying to encourage."

Wilkinson said the decision to make the change occurred before the team hired Porter as its new coach. Porter is said to prefer a more possession-oriented style of play, and widening the field would help give players more time with the ball. And the new width of 74 yards is closer to the 74-75 yards that the majority of MLS teams have for fields.

"From everything I know about Caleb, possession and movement is part of his philosophy," Jewsbury said. "The extra couple of yards will definitely help in getting guys wide and getting them to go at people."

Two yards on either side may not seem like much, but players will notice the difference. D.C. United forward Chris Pontius said extra space changes how he thinks and plays on the field.

"You have a little bit more time on the ball and it allows you to play a little bit more soccer," Pontius said. "Playing here right now, a lot of times, you see the ball popping up into the air and lot of 50-50 balls, because there's not time on the ball. You get closed down on quickly, but that shouldn't happen as often with the extra space."

Chabala said the extra width will force defenders to change their game as well.

"Balls that might have skipped out of bounds on a smaller field will stay in on a wider field," Chabala said. "It makes the game bigger and forces you to have more awareness on the field, because guys have more space to operate in and that can give an attacking team more opportunities for success."

Wilkinson said two yards on either side was the maximum amount the team could add without affecting the fan sightlines and experience. The Timbers have considered adding length to the field, but Wilkinson said the team must factor in how the fans would be affected. He added that the current playing field is just two years old and making changes is expensive, and lengthening the field would impact the seating in the north and south ends of the stadium.

"Maybe lengthening is the next step. But we have to look at how it impacts season-ticket holders and sightlines," Wilkinson said. "There was a lot of work put into that field. It's a very expensive field and we need to maximize the life of it. Then in the next stage, we will look at the possibility of making more changes."

-- Geoffrey C. Arnold; follow him on Twitter.