Portland FC

Portland Football Club 1912, commonly known as Portland FC, Shades, or PFC, is a Kingstonaise sports club based in Portland, Echo Bay District. The football team is part of a large membership-based sports club with about 23,000 members, making the PFC the fifth largest sports club by membership in Kingston and Boyce. They are part of the Kingston Soccer League, the top tier of the football league system in Kingston and Boyce. It is one of the most successful clubs in recent years in Kingston and Boyce.

Portland FC was founded in 1912 by nineteen football players from Portland's Nanaimo District. Since then, they have won the KBS league twice, and took part twice in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Since 1999, Portland have played their home games at Excelsior Arena. The stadium is the fourth biggest stadium in Kingston and Boyce. They have the highest average attendance of any club in the AIN, and North America. The Club's colours are red, black and white. Their initial colours of only black jerseys gave the club its nickname the Shades. Portland holds a long-standing rivalry with Echo bay District neighbours Manchester Soccer, known as the Bay Derby. They also have a rivalry with city neighbours Echo Bay Storms. In terms of the Football Money League, Portland is the eight biggest soccer club in Kingston and Boyce and the twelth biggest in the AIN. The club's Motto is Pure Love.

Foundation and early years


The club was founded on 11 March 1912 by a group of young men unhappy with church-sponsored Trinity Youth, where they played football under the stern and unsympathetic eye of the local parish priest. The team began playing in bacl and white striped shirts with a red sash, and black shorts. In took until 1943, that they introduced their now famous red jerseys and black shorts.

Over the next decades the club enjoyed modest success playing in regional leagues. They had a brush with bankruptcy in 1929 when an attempt to boost the club's fortunes by signing some paid professional footballers failed miserably and left the team deep in debt. They survived only through the generosity of a local supporter who covered the team's shortfall out of his own pocket. Portland FC won the Echo bay League once, in 1935, but failed to continue such good performances until the late 1940s. By then, the club became more and more popular among the many workers of the Portland harbours and the Oil Industry in Portland. It was also the first club in Kingston and Boyce to demand ticket fees, to help boost the club's finances. It was only of moderate success, but soon after, many other clubs introduced ticket fees as well.

First national Success
By 1955, Portland was the most successful club in the Echo Bay Area, and that time marked the club's first major successful time, lasting until the late 1960s. In 1961, Portland FC was one of the 14 teams that were part of the first KBS League setup. Portland Forward and iconic Bob Steward scored the very first goal of the KBS, only three minutes into the first game against SC Uitveiler. Portland won that game 4-0 and later that day were the first team to ever sit atop the KBS league standings. Portland held onto the first place until the 15th game day, when losing 3-4 to eventual league winners FC Kingston 1934. With 62 points out of 28 games, Portland finished second that season, separated to Kingston by only 2 points. Over the course of the next 7 years, Portland made a habit out of coming second at the end of the season, three more times to FC Kingston 1934 (1963, 1964, 1967), twice to Manchester Soccer (1962, 1965) and once to SC Uitveiler (1966). By that time, Portland was given the nickname The Shames, for always coming in second, and never crowning their own success.



In 1968, however, Portland's most famous attacking trio, Stark, Ollings and Martenson was split up, as Martenson was unhappy with his salary at that time. With central striker and top goal scorer Martenson gone, the magic of Portland's play was gone. Although replacement was signed, neither Galle, nor Petricks ever found the right passes as Martenson used to and so, by 1971, the remainder of the trio was gone as well.

The 1970s saw a sharp decline of the club. Financial problems, caused by unsuccessful signings and incautious financial behaviour, led to many iconic players leaving the club. Portland FC remained a mediocre team for most of the time, with final standings varying between 6th and 12th place. In 1975, however, the majority of the club's members decided to eject the coaching staff and the club's president, hoping to spark a new era in Portland. Coach Rhys Williams was sacked, and replaced by Tom Holmes, who at that point had led the Nyhaven Cruisers to three straight league titles in Lower Columbia. Although Holmes did not immediately spark new life into the club, the apathy of past seasons was gone and Portland returned to exciting soccer.

The Roaring Eighties


With the introduction of Tom Holmes, exciting soccer slowly returned to Portland. Holmes was a tactical genius, who was prepared for any situation on the pitch and adapted his team within a few moments. It was the Holmes Reign when Portland developed the arch rivalry against Manchester, as both teams fought for the title during every season in the 1980s. However, Portland's curse continued, failing to win a single championship during that time. Most infuriating to PFC supporters was the 1986 season, when Portland sat atop the league before the last game day, with Manchester only two goals behind, both with 73 points. Portland won its game against SC Uitveiler 2-1, and were about the celebrate, when in Manchester, 6 minutes of injury time were displayed, with Manchester leading only 1-0. At that point Portland FC would have been champions. However, in a very exciting injury time, Manchester scored another two goals, one on a dubious penalty call, which saw Portland being robbed of the championship only due to fewer goals scored than their rivals from Manchester. Up until today, the Referee governing Manchester's game that day is a Persona non grata in Portland.

In 1990, Portland finally managed to retain top spot of the league for the entire season, yet with the introduction of the playoffs, this did not guarantee them the title. Portland eventually lost in the semi finals to the London Royals, who later secured the championship, by winning 3-0 over Manchester Soccer. One year later, Portland secured 3rd seed over the regular season, yet again falling short in the Semi Finals, again to the eventual winners London Royals.

On 5 October 1991, the day of the second loss to London, Tom Holmes announced his retirement from professional soccer coaching. Although he was the most successful coach in PFC History, he did not bring home a title. In 1993, he died of a heart attack. Until today, his family is welcome to visit any Portland FC game for free admission in a VIP Lounge.

The 90s
The 1990s saw another financial decline for Portland FC. The Sponsorship link with O'Connors Bookstores did not bring in as much money as was needed to maintain the high salaries of the players. Also a link with Kingston Royal Rails saw only little more money in the Portland's accounts. The exciting soccer of the roaring eighties faded away, and Portland declined to a mediocre mid-standings club. In the following 15 years until 2007, Portland secured a playoff berth only twice, both times grabbing eight seed on the last day, yet also both times falling short in the Quarter Finals. Five Head Coaches came and went, none of them left a lasting impact on the club, let alone bring them back into reach for the championship.

On 16 May 2007, Portland president Gordon O'Sullivan sacked Head Coach Andrew Carthy and brought in Alain Rogers from the London Royals. At the time, the team played a boring, defensive, stiff and unattractive soccer, which was not approved by many members. O'Sullivan approached Rogers, who at that time had led the London Royals from the Second Division straight into the playoffs and encouraged his young squad to play exciting and attacking soccer.

Rising atop


Before Rogers took over, the club found themselves in relegation trouble, sitting at second-to-last position after 15 matches. Carthy was cahsed and Alain Rogers took over. In Roger's first season, Portland showed significant signs of improvement, leaving the relegation zone quickly and finishing 9th overall at the end of the season. Rogers was known for his excellent hand when choosing youngsters, and over the next few years, he significantly reduced the team's average age from 30.8 to 24.3. Many of his signings came for free. Prior to the 2008 season, Rogers was able to sign 8 new players for a combined fee of $ 300K. In his second season, Rogers led the team to their first playoff appearance since 2001, however losing to eventual champions Kingston Titans in the Semi Finals by a combined score of 5-2.

Rogers' reign saw the return to exciting soccer, and with that came the success. Between 2009 and 2011, Portland reached the semi finals twice, however both times losing to eventual champions. Prior to the 2012 season, Rogers had to let go of Tim Rodnell and Sean Riley, however signed in return promising youngster Yannick Sprenger and German National Team member Mats Hummels. Although the regular season of 2012 did not mark the best ever, the club held onto a playoff berth, although only seventh seed. In an exciting Quarter Final, Portland beat the Port Ruppert Flames 3-2 on aggregate after having the second leg sent to overtime to decide a winner, with Otto Klaus scoring the game winner after 117 minutes. The Semi Finals saw a matchup against the London Royals, Rogers' old club. London was beaten 4-1 on aggregate scores and Portland had its first ever KBS Final appearance against their Rivals from Manchester. In a very exciting and entertaining match, Portland secured the win after 90 minutes, holding onto a 2-1 lead. For the very first time in the clubs' 100 year history, they were National Champions. One year later, Portland made a successful defense of its title with a 3-1 finals win over the London Royals.

Stadium


The Portland FC is at home in the Excelsior Arena, in Portland's western district of Nanaimo. The Stadium was built between 1992 and 1998 and opened with the beginning of the 1999 Kingston Soccer League Season. Prior to 1999, Portland FC played their home games in the National Exhibition in Portland's Harley district.

Roster
Players in Bold are currently part of their respective national team.

Coaching Staff
Since 2007, Alain Rogers of Canada is head coach of the Portland squad. Since then, the team has won two national titles and were enroute to their first international success before the 2013 AFA Season was cancelled. At the side of the 52-year old Rogers, there is German vice coach Florian Maiwaldt, aged 36.

Sponsorships
Since 1980, clubs of the Kingston Soccer League are required to display their main sponsors. Current Main Sponsor of Portland FC is the Portland Transit Authority.

Fans


The Portland FC fans feel very connected to their club, selling out the stadium even at lower-level opponents. The South Side Stands of the Stadium is the largest standing block in North America, fitting 16,500. Due to the supporter's colours, it is often entitled as The Red Wall. The Portland FC fans have a wide variety of chants, some of them the most melodic in North America. The Rivalries with KBS-Club Manchester Soccer and AFA Club Nyhaven Cruisers have led to special fan chants especially designed for those clubs. Further, the fan club's choreographies on the Red Wall are always a pleasure to see.

Jerseys


Portland FC is a long-time customer of Adidas jerseys, having introduced prior to the 1998 season. The colours red, white and black are the club's main colours and thus appear on every jersey. While as the home kit features a red body with a white chest stripe, the away kit's body is white with a red stripe over the chest.