1981 Portland Timbers season

Portland Timbers

1981 season
Owner	Louisiana-Pacific
Manager	Vic Crowe
Stadium	Civic Stadium
NASL	Division: 3rd Playoffs: First round
U.S. Open Cup	Did not enter
Top goalscorer	League: John Bain Dale Mitchell (11 goals) All: John Bain (12 goals)
Highest home attendance	17,318 vs. VAN (Jul 4)
Lowest home attendance	4,669 vs. SJE (May 6)
Average home league attendance	League: 10,516 All: 10,834
← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Portland Timbers season was the seventh season for the Portland Timbers in the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

Squad

The 1981 squad^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Keith MacRae 2 DF Glenn Myernick 3 DF Clive Charles 4 DF Gary Collier 5 DF Graham Day 6 MF John Bain 7 FW Dale Mitchell 8 MF Barry Powell 9 FW Willie Donachie 10 FW Clyde Best 11 FW Stuart Lee

No. Position Player 12 FW Willie Anderson 14 DF Bruce Gant 15 MF John Pratt 16 MF Brian Gant 18 DF Bernie Fagan 19 FW Ally Brown 20 FW Mike Farebrother 21 FW Jimmy Kelly 23 DF Young-Jeung Cho 24 MF Chris Hellenkamp 31 GK Dragan Radovich

North American Soccer League

Regular season

Northwest Division standings

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vancouver Whitecaps	32	21	11	74	43	+31	186
2	Calgary Boomers	32	17	15	59	54	+5	151
3	Portland Timbers	32	17	15	52	49	+3	141
4	Seattle Sounders	32	15	17	60	62	−2	137
5	Edmonton Drillers	32	12	20	60	79	−19	123

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source:^[2]

League results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
March 28, 1981	California Surf	A	2–0	7,663	Lee, Mitchell
April 4, 1981	Seattle Sounders	A	1–2* (OT)	24,065	Pratt
April 11, 1981	Calgary Boomers	H	3–1	8,524	Mitchell (2), Anderson
April 18, 1981	Vancouver Whitecaps	H	1–2 (OT)	13,153	Lee
April 26, 1981	Calgary Boomers	A	2–1	10,114	Mitchell (2)
May 2, 1981	Tulsa Roughnecks	H	1–3	7,766	Bain
May 6, 1981	San Jose Earthquakes	H	3–0	4,669	Bain (2), Lee
May 10, 1981	Los Angeles Aztecs	A	3–1	3,306	Bain, Mitchell, Lee
May 16, 1981	Calgary Boomers	H	2–0	10,510	Mitchell, Bain
May 24, 1981	Edmonton Drillers	A	1–2	12,812	Lee
May 27, 1981	Vancouver Whitecaps	A	0–2	23,541
June 3, 1981	Minnesota Kicks	H	1–0	8,318	Bri. Gant
June 9, 1981	Atlanta Chiefs	A	1–2	3,117	Brown
June 13, 1981	Seattle Sounders	H	2–1	15,316	o.g., Bain
June 17, 1981	Ft. Lauderdale Strikers	H	0–3	11,093
June 20, 1981	Chicago Sting	H	2–4	12,510	Mitchell, Brown
June 23, 1981	Chicago Sting	A	1–0	9,568	Bri. Gant
June 27, 1981	Tulsa Roughnecks	A	1*–0 (OT)	19,232
June 30, 1981	Edmonton Drillers	A	1–2	7,892	Mitchell
July 4, 1981	Vancouver Whitecaps	H	2–3 (OT)	17,318	Mitchell, Donachie
July 8, 1981	Washington Diplomats	H	2–1	8,155	Brown, Lee
July 11, 1981	Minnesota Kicks	A	3*–2 (OT)	15,302	Bain, Brown
July 15, 1981	Dallas Tornado	A	0–1	2,905
July 18, 1981	California Surf	H	2–3 (OT)	9,134	Powell, Anderson
July 22, 1981	San Diego Sockers	A	1–3	10,268	Bain
July 25, 1981	San Diego Sockers	H	0–2	8,493
July 29, 1981	New York Cosmos	A	0–2	28,640
August 1, 1981	San Jose Earthquakes	A	2*–1 (OT)	11,166	Brown
August 5, 1981	Edmonton Drillers	H	3–1	8,423	Cho, Bain, Brown
August 8, 1981	Dallas Tornado	H	5–2	8,954	Bain, Brown (2), Cho, Mitchell
August 15, 1981	Seattle Sounders	A	2–1 (OT)	16,747	o.g., Powell
August 19, 1981	Los Angeles Aztecs	H	2–1	15,923	Brown, Bain

* = Shootout win
Source:^[3]

Postseason

Playoff bracket

Best of 3 series

	First Round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals
		Portland Timbers	2	1	0
		San Diego Sockers	1	5	2
									San Diego Sockers	1	2	3
									Jacksonville Tea Men	2	1	1
		Jacksonville Tea Men	3	2	—
		Atlanta Chiefs	2	1	—
																San Diego Sockers	2	1	0
															Chicago Sting	1	2	1
		Seattle Sounders	2	2	2
		Chicago Sting	3	0	3
									Chicago Sting	2	4	4
									Montreal Manic	3	2	2
		Montreal Manic	5	2	2
		Los Angeles Aztecs	3	3	1

Source:^[2]

Playoff results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
August 22, 1981	San Diego Sockers	H	2–1	15,923	Brown, Bain
August 26, 1981	San Diego Sockers	A	1–5	12,039	Day
August 30, 1981	San Diego Sockers	A	0–2	15,244

Source:^[3]

References

1. "Portland Timbers rosters". North American Soccer League Jerseys. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
2. "The Year in American Soccer – 1981". American Soccer History Archives. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
3. "1981 Portland Timbers". Timbers Fan Page. Retrieved May 6, 2011.