Throughout this project, I come across things that don't yet fully fit into a story, even as I dig a little deeper. But I still think they are important, and I always want to share them. To do that, I’ve added a new tag to the navigation bar for sharing little pieces of what happened to happen. I’m happy to share this first entry into a new category: Ephemera.
An ad in a 1979 issue of Kick: The Official Magazine of the North American Soccer League invited that season’s Timbers fans to post-game meet-and-greets at the Lloyd Center Sheraton to mingle (and disco) with the players. As seen here, the ad lists the five home matches that season where fans could meet the team after a match.
Green Is the Color takes a look back at those specific matches to see what the mood might be as the players put the results aside and connect with those who matter most.
April 8: Timbers vs Sockers
2-3 shootout loss to San Diego. Stewart Scullion and Clyde Best find the net in regulation, but no Timbers player can in the shootout. Mick Poole, who had an incredible 12-2 record in the shootout over the last two seasons (including going 5-0 in 1978) drops his first shootout of the season.
May 26: Timbers vs Cosmos
John Bain scores his second in as many games (and third of the season). The Timbers, by all accounts, play the Cosmos off the pitch. But the game goes to a shootout–through 10 players on each side, before the Cosmos emerge victorious, 1-2.
June 9: Timbers vs Sounders
The meet-the-team-and-disco slump is broken! David Butler scores against his former club, notching his first goal as a Timber. Clyde Best’s 54th-minute goal seals the deal.
July 21: Timbers vs Strikers
A 4-1 win over Ft. Lauderdale with Graham Day scoring his first of the season, followed by Dale Mitchell’s second in two games and a John Bain brace, make it two in a row for the post-match party to start on a high note.
August 12: Timbers vs Aztecs
Graham Day scores the season’s last goal in a 1-3 loss that ends the Timbers’ 1979 campaign. More of this match has been covered on this site (In Media Res: [5: June 2023]).
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