Celebrating in our 40th year

On July 22, 2017, FC77 gathered at the Montessori Sun School field at SE 148th just south of Division,  a pitch that has been the closest thing our club has known as a 'home' in our years playing the game. We came together on the occasion of the annual Athletic Cup, an annual gathering of club players, their families, and various other friends and opponents and people who wandered by and were interested.   The potluck, with an 'all comers' pickup game for young and old along with somewhat regular raffle of entertaining soccer items, has drawn from 40 to 60 folks, particularly since Montessori Field became our home pitch. 

This year is the 40th year since the original players in the club first started out as a pickup team in the Portland Parks summer league of 1977 playing under the banner of SJO Irregulars.  A highlight of the event was the unveiling of the 40th year badge,  selected from club member designs.   The six teams of FC77 were all represented at the event-  Old Nicks, Newcastle, Hibernians, Rangers, Bollocks and PBR.   

The best, most passionate soccer happens in the Lamar Hunt Open Cup

In the round of sixteen, it's not unusual for MLS sides to face off against an occasional upstart from USL or even lower divisions.  The Lamar Hunt Open Cup is notable in encouraging hopeful teams in the wide universe of American soccer to take a run at glory.  In this 2017 campaign,  the FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire match in the round of 16 was a bright moment supporting that concept.  After defeating the Columbus Crew in an earlier round,  Cincinnati stepped onto the field against one of MLS's hottest sides.  Chicago Fire are running hot in the MLS table atop the Eastern division. And they met their match in the Cincinnati team led by keeper Mitch Hildebrandt.   The game went to PKs and the Cincinnati side came out the victors.   The win puts them up against the other Cinderella team, Miami FC.  And at least one non-MLS team will advance to the next round after.  

I think this is a great tradition.  Worthy of our staunch support.  Soccer like many other sports has been enriched by the successes of unheralded champions.  If that ever stops,  the game will suffer.

As a followup to my earlier post about Marco Farfan  there’s been a long tradition of soccer players coming out of Portland's eastside.   While  East Portland (folding in Gresham and Troutdale and Fairview)  has only a quarter of the city's population, homegrown players joining the Timbers' ranks have often come from this economically challenged part of our community.   
In addition to Farfan,  at least two other soccer notables have come out of Centennial High School.  The school, opened in Oregon's centennial celebration of Statehood,  has been the alma mater of notables in other competitive arenas.  U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, for example, is an Eagle. 
Going back to soccer though, Scott Benedetti is a great example. Playing at University of Portland in the 80s,  Benedetti made his mark coming out of FCPortland, an organizational attempt to build a sustainable soccer organization in our region which continues to this day. He played for the reincarnated Portland Timbers of the late 80s and closed his career with the team at the beginning of the 21st Century.    
Another soccer notable who came from the same East Portland background was Josh Cameron who graduated from Centennial High School and played for the Portland Timbers.
Other local players pulled on a Portland Timbers jersey from other parts of the metropolitan area over the years, but this cluster of Centennial High School standouts is a reminder that the oft-neglected East County has much to contribute to Portland Pride and RCTID.

A homegrown Portland Timbers defender from East County!

Marco Farfan is an extraordinary figure in Portland's soccer history.  Starting this year with the Timbers' first team at left back, a position woefully hard to fill after the departure of Jorge Villapa˜na for Liga MX,  Farfan has been a solid performer-settled, smart, and unintimidated by the exalted setting.   What is most extraordinary is that he is only 18 and is still attending Centennial High School when he's not battling opposing players in the MLS.

Farfan is not the first professional Timbers' recruit from East County.  Scott Benedetti played at Centennial HS in the 80s, graduated to University of Portland and then joined the semi-pro FC Portland team going on to play for the resurgent Timbers and the Colorado Rapids in the USL.

Farfan has the potential, in my opinion, to be one of the best left backs ever for the Timbers, but also to become a standout on the US National team.  This profile suggests what a wonderful, ordinary kid he is,  despite his extraordinary talent.

You heard it here--maybe not first but early.   He could be great.   And that's a shout out for all the people of East Portland who often feel like they are deeply undervalued.