PORTLAND, Ore. – Beginning this Saturday, all three Portland teams – the Timbers, Thorns FC, and Timbers 2 – will play their Seattle rivals in a weekend of matches unprecedented in the history of the Portland Timbers franchise.
But what does this rivalry mean to the players who experience it firsthand on the field?
To try and answer this question, we spoke with one player from each team and collected their memories, thoughts, and reflections on one of the most heated and longest-standing rivalries in American professional soccer.
Jack Jewsbury, midfielder, Portland Timbers
On his first experience of the rivalry in 2011…
“When I first got traded here, the first games that I had were at Starfire, the complex there in Seattle and there was a mini [preseason] tournament.