PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers will have a younger sibling. Or is that sapling?
In a Tuesday news conference at Providence Park, the Timbers announced they will create their own USL PRO franchise, called the Timbers 2, for the 2015 season, joining the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake as MLS franchises fielding their own third-tier club next season.
Timbers 2 will play at Merlo Field, a venue with a capacity near 5,000 on the University of Portland campus in North Portland, and train at the club’s adidas Timbers Training Center in Beaverton, Ore.
“I believe that MLS clubs with their own USL PRO teams in-market will have a competitive advantage on a number of levels,” said Timbers owner/CEO Merritt Paulson. “This is a big investment for us and signifies our commitment to winning.”
The Timbers will hire a separate head coach, assistant coach, goalkeepers coach and operations staff for their new initiative, with the T2 technical staff reporting directly to first-team head coach Caleb Porter.
Portland utilized a USL PRO affiliation with eventual league champions Sacramento Republic FC this year, loaning goalkeeper Jake Gleeson, midfielders Aaron Long, Steven Evans and George Fochive, defender Alvas Powell and, briefly, veteran Rodney Wallace to the Northern California club.
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But running their own third-tier club provides the Timbers with a larger and more direct route to groom young players – and the club's extensive season-ticket waiting list suggests that there is ample appetite for more pro soccer in the Rose City.
The Timbers 2 brand, featuring chevrons that date back to the club's NASL days in 1975, is also designed as an ode to the franchise’s roots in soccer’s minor leagues. Portland played in the USL’s first division for 10 seasons before joining MLS in 2011.
