Portland Oregon: more than a century of soccer traditions

Yesterday I happened across a copy of the Portland Mercury folded open to an article entitled "Who Cares About Soccer?" with a subtitle purporting to present information about "Portland Soccer: Where it is, where it began, and where it's going?"   Reading it over I give credit to the writer for coming up with some solid general background on the early years of the game in the US,  the generic 'ethnic teams' in the early part of the Twentieth Century story,  and then the Portland Timbers and their impact on the local game.  Entwined with that was the story about Title IX and its legal enfranchisement of girls' sport on a footing equal to that of boys which then led to an explosion of youth soccer because the equipment costs were low and lots of players were involved.  My personal version of that was the Custer Bulldogs, a team formed for seventh graders at St. Clare's school in southwest who had no soccer program.  One of the other big selling points for youth soccer at the time was the a particular size or physique wasn't really necessary.  Kids of all size and differing skills could succeed.   And the quality of volunteer coaching was a complete match.
But back to the core of what I felt reading the Mercury article.   Soccer's staying power or legitimacy in Portland or anywhere else in the US isn't an issue.  Isn't even worth discussing.  


Soccer has been played in Portland for at least 110 years based on what we know.  The earliest records unearthed show Portland Municipal Judge Cameron donating a cup that bore his name for the State Championship apparently won in 1902 and 1903 by the “Winged A's” of the Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC). Which gives special irony to the Timbers' present digs in the shadow of today's MAC Club. The game in Portland has always included an international connection as well. The Portland champions, Peninsula, opened the 1920 season with an exhibition against English sailors from the British freighter, M. de Larinaga, which was loading flour at the Harbor Wall.  The Cameron Cup was still being awarded to teams as the late as the 1930s as best I can tell. 
Judge Cameron and his somewhat shady standing in Portland is available for those who are interested.  

The general unfolding of soccer in Portland through the Twenties and the Thirties did indeed parallel what was happening on the East Coast with the formation of the ASL and big corporate underwriting.  Slate just featured this interesting article on the subject.  But it seemed to have little effect on the West Coast. The east was a long and very expensive trip away.  And the east coast teams probably were dismissive of frontiersmen who happened to play.    The game in Portland continued to be centered around athletic clubs like the MAC Club and Portland Cricket Club, the ethnic associations but also educational institutions like the state's colleges. And then there were teams with names like Oceanic of less apparent origin.  Germania,  Clan McLeay,  and the Sellwood Soccer club were notable and found their way regularly into the newspapers.  And the play was regional.  Every year there was  competition throughout the Pacific Northwest for a regional cup. 
It was in the late Twenties and the Thirties that Hugh Templeton and his brother starred for Sellwood and other select teams.   On the field with them were other names more familiar to Portland history like Tom Moyer.  Hugh was proud of the club he belonged to and of their achievements.  And he and his family kept records of those days, a scrapbook which provides an invaluable window into soccer in Portland.   


On May 12th, 1934 a letter was sent to Hugh from H. J. Pallont (I believe that is correct)  reading, "You have been selected on the list of players to represent Oregon in the Canadian Soccer Championship game to be played at the Stadium on Wednesday June 13th,  kickoff 3PM."
The letter continues with details of player meetings, training quarters, and with an invitation to Templeton and his wife to attend a dance and social hosted by the Canadian Legion.   


One of the most compelling items in the scrapbook to me is a photo of the Sellwood Soccer Team in their striped jerseys posing as the Champions of the Rose City League in 1931-32.  The inscription reads that in addition to being champions, they are winners of the Meier & Frank and Burnett Cups, and runners up for the Oregon State Cup.   Two cup trophies and an inscribed plaque with laurel leaves are in the grassy foreground.   Prizes of local soccer history long gone missing, I suspect.   ( Another reason for soccer enthusiasts to work with the Oregon Historical Society to create an archive of soccer's history, curated by professionals, for future generations.)
There are four men in the picture who are wearing suits.  And who appear to be older by a fair bit.   The crew in uniform,  including their keeper in a white shirt in front, total thirteen.  None of your modern squads carrying a roster of eighteen.   

In that photo,  they smile out at us from eighty years past, young men now likely all departed.  They have a look that anyone who's played the game knows: satisfaction and confidence.  Not cocky.  Squinting slightly in the sunlight.  Glad of their wins and achievements,  but more,  glad that they had the chance to lace on their boots and play.   And glad they will get to go again.   


Coming-  The effect of WW II on the game. Rebirth in the postwar years.  Keepers of the flame.  Lost treasures:what happened to the Cameron Cup?   Heroes of soccer in the old days and not so long ago.  Jim Gorsek.  Ted 
Zyelinske,  Club Germania, Andy Clark.  And more. Because the Game is and always will be true PDX.