But the man the Sounders had to neutralize was Peter Withe, the big, strong striker who had scored both goals against them in their last game. Withe, who was just sold for $150,000 by Wolverhampton to Birmingham City in the English first division (he plays year round), is the target man in Portland’s attack, and he terrorizes goalies. A favored Portland play is a long flier to Withe, who butts the ball back to Barry Powell, who in turn deals off to Kelly. Then it’s right back to Withe, and—wham—a 60-mph bullet flying at some hapless goalie.

Peter Withe is all-too forgotten in the modern day version of Timbers lore, and I think it’s important that we resurrect his name as a PTFC legend. I should qualify this, of course – I’m an Aston Villa supporter, and Peter Withe is probably best known as the man who scored in Villa’s 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam. But as a Timbers fan, I find it incredibly important to recognize this link between my two beloved clubs. His 17 goals in 22 appearances in Timbers Green helped get him recognized by bigger clubs like Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, and eventually Villa, where he’s immortalized by that goal.

I wear a #9 WITHE Timbers jersey with great pride, and I just thought you all should know why.

" Seattle playing Portland has become as heated as any neighborhood-division rivalry they have in England," said (John) Best (sounders coach). “It’s Liverpool playing Everton. After they beat us, Portland celebrated all night. It was a victory for the whole town. And in Seattle everyone has been saying how they’d show Portland who had the best team next time. It’s what real soccer should be.”