The gathered adults were split into two large groups. A dozen balls were thrown out. And we were encouraged to “play”which meant mostly "kick and run". Afterward, people interested in joining newly forming teams were directed to gather at one of several “stations” where team sponsors would sign us up.
Mike and I and about a dozen other guys including Mark Dillon ended up in a group sponsored by Glenn O’Dell, partner in an engineering firm—Seton, Johnson & O Dell. None of us had met before. I am not sure anyone had played on a soccer team before. My 'experience' was 'bounce passing and trapping' on a nearby basketball court.
We named the team SJO Irregulars. The title was inspired by our jerseys--orange and yellow polo shirts from the Jantzen sportswear 'irregulars' table. I have no clear memories of that summer’s games. But the experience was good enough that we decided we should sign up in the fall Portland Men’s League.
We never looked back. O’Dell left for Seattle, and we became Stouthearts for Schwabe attorney Bob Stout, our goalkeeper. I recruited my brother Brian Porter. He recruited his friend Pat McKernan. New players arrived and others left. Bob Stout moved to Eugene in the early 80s. We practiced Wednesday nights under the lights of the adjacent tennis court at Colonel Sumner Park. Rain or shine. We finished our evenings at Don Younger's Horse Brass Pub nearby.
Mike picked up the sponsor search and took the team's reins. He convinced the local representative for Young’s Brewery in England to sponsor us. Our patronage at the Horse Brass helped. We played in jerseys with the logos of Newcastle, Rams Head, Old Nicks, Tiger Beer and Young's Pale Ale. Mike and Doug Morasch became key figures in the team mechanics.
By the mid-80s the team became two teams. For the most part we played as Old Nicks and Newcastle. Mike and Doug were team managers. Notable players included Alex Addy, Dominic Yambasu, who coached us to a championship and a growing international cast of characters. What an eye-opening experience! Mike was at the helm of the group
Our core group shared a common attraction to the European club model. Teams that were anchored by having a family friendly component, a field of their own and a clubhouse. I had experienced that model of soccer in Munich in '76. As we entered 1997 still playing together, desire for a more substantial structure became intense. We conceived of creating a non-profit club which would be the umbrella organization for individual teams. By fall of that year FC77, our football club, became a reality. We hosted a summer Athletic Cup picnic and kickaround for families and current and past players. Mike used his graphic design skills and designed a black and white logo. I purchased a s
upply of t-shirts, sweats, hats and other items with the new logo to sell and strengthen our sense of identity. Five teams were now affiliated with the club through several divisions. Mike Calder was the president.
In 2007, I stopped in the office at Montessori Earth School to ask about using their sport field for some of our soccer matches. The talks led to FC77 and the school agreeing that the club teams would play all their home games on the grass soccer field on SE 148th. The annual Athletic Cup would be held there. The club would receive per game field fees from the GPSD which they would pay over to Montessori. For a short time it appeared to be an ideal agreement. Hosting more than fifty matches on the grass field, particularly during wet springs, degraded the field condition and the school decided that the agreement was not workable as a result.
At the beginning of the Millenium, Old Nicks signed up for a new adventure. On the MLK holiday each year, a tournament named for Dr. King was held in Las Vegas. The tournament was an entertaining adventure. The Nicks weren't competitive in a mix that included former NASL players and ethnic select teams. But over the next years, they selected stronger teams, traveled and won more often. In 2005 not enough Nicks players were able to go. Team member Lyle McBride asked players from other teams in the league if they were interested. A squad from Masterbooters, Old Nicks and Jimmy O's Pizza went and they played under the acronym FC77 MOJOs employing the first letters of the three team names.
FC Mojos became a separate tournament soccer club. An FC77 anchor, Glenn Fithian Barrett's Bier Wagen, became a club institution. The Athletic Cup became a family event. And new competitions like the tournament in La Paz began.
Mike Calder was a central figure in all of these evolutions. He managed the Newcastle team for years. He was always reliable; if he said he'd do something he did it. He was noted for believing that camaraderie was more important than winning. While he often found situations frustrating I can't remember a time he got angry--often talking players into setting aside differences. He was passionate about making it possible for people to play. To that end he helped form teams for players who didn't have one. Miscellaneous United and Random assortment were his humorous names for two of them. The key was persuading someone to be the manager with Mike's help.
Mike was generous with his time and skills off the field as well. He volunteered on the GPSD board and elsewhere. He always helped out at events and was active in club governance. He was an "uncle" to kids his sister Karen fostered. He had a wicked sense of humor and collaborated with Mark Dillon creating funny copy for the FC77 website and Newk News an occasional newsletter. He would include terrible puns at the end of his match reports. When the Athletic Cup was launched he found a base from an old trophy and glued an actual 'athletic cup' to the top, spray painting it gold.
Mike was a writer. He was working on a science fiction novel about the NFL and organized crime. He was a talented artist traveling to Asia on projects to create faux images for hotels and similar buildings. He applied his graphic design skills to create the original FC77 logo. When the club held a contest for a new logo in our 40th year, Mike updated his orginal logo design and added the logo "We Play Till We Die" in Latin script. Little did we imagine how literal that might be. He was on the O70 field playing just before the holidays. As 2025 ended he contracted an infection which took his life on January 13, 2026.
For almost fifty years of being his friend and team mate, he gave me opportunities to keep playing the game and to emulate his style of being an admirable human.
