They may not have been inside the arena, but nobody roots like the fans of the Portland Timbers.
“I came here and I got enveloped by these fans,” said Thomas Shaffer, a Cannon Beach resident who watched the Major League Soccer Cup final between the Timbers and the New York City Football Club from a perch at the Cheerful Bullpen bar. “The beers are cheaper than being in the stadium, but the vibe is just as high.”
With the roar from Providence Park audible from the Bullpen’s patio in downtown Portland, Shaffer and dozens of other fans cheered and jeered as the Timbers scored a last-minute goal, tying the score at 1-1, before losing 4-2 during penalty kicks.
“At the 93rd minute, when we tied everything up, we were hugging -- we were screaming,” said Kelly Smith, a Portland State University history student who helped fill up the Bullpen as another 25,218 fans packed the nearby stadium to capacity.
After ticketing snafus prevented some longtime fans from snagging their seats in Providence Park, Portland’s dedicated soccer bars became a second stadium for people seeking the camaraderie and atmosphere of the first MLS Cup match held in Portland. The Timbers won the cup in 2015 and lost in 2018 but were the road team both times.
On the east side, soccer fans thronged to Toffee Club, where the offerings on tap included a Home and Away IPA. The watering hole on lower Hawthorne Boulevard was closed for nearly a year and a half during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and attendance was restricted to just 75 patrons during Saturday’s big game, about a third of the pre-virus attendance.
“This feels amazing, this is why we do it. We have a pub so we can get these people together,” said Niki Diamond, who opened the bar in 2016.
Toffee Club used the gathering as an opportunity to raise money for Street Soccer USA, a nonprofit organization providing coaching, training and access to soccer to 600 children from local low-income, underserved communities.
Timbers fans at Toffee Club on Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland were glued to the MLS Cup game against New York City Football Club on Saturday.
“Soccer is the most popular sport in the world for a good reason. It’s a universal sport,” said Bobbi Eckler, the program development manager for the Portland chapter of Street Soccer.
While it wasn’t quite the same as being inside Providence Park, Toffee Club regular Gregory Annis has his photo posted on the barroom wall -- and there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.
“This is my first choice,” said Annis. “I’m not a sports fan, but this is my sport.”
“There’s something about soccer fans in Portland that really captures the true essence of Portland,” said John Englund, another supporter at the Toffee Club. “I had to be here.”
— Zane Sparling; zsparling@oregonian.com; 503-319-7083; @pdxzane
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‘I had to be here’: Portland Timbers fans pack bars for MLS Cup - OregonLive
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