Every year the Timbers Army holds a vote for the Supporters' Player of the Year and announces the winner at the Portland Timbers' final match of the regular season. This year the award goes to Diego Chara, the first repeat winner of the award since its inception in 2011 when the Timbers joined Major League Soccer.
The People's Champ. #RCTID #DecisionDay pic.twitter.com/5vr6NaAlVd
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) October 26, 2015
Chara, who also won the award in 2012, held the winner's belt aloft in front of the Timbers' Army after tonight's season closing 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. Chara was forced to come off with an injury early in the second half, but despite the injury tonight, Chara has been one of the team's most consistent players this year, making 28 appearances in a season marked by uncertainty in the midfield.
Although Chara's position is, by nature, not one that tends toward individual highlights, Chara did manage a trio of goals in 2015, most notably a leaping, headed finish in last week's season defining 5-2 win over the LA Galaxy that, when the dust settled, turned out to have been the game-winner.
Since joining MLS alongside the Timbers five years ago, Chara has played 146 regular season games for the Timbers, committing 356 fouls and racking up 40 yellow cards in that time while patrolling Portland's midfield. Chara's 63 fouls in 2015 are his fewest in a season since joining the Timbers.
Update: The Supporters' Player of the Year was first awarded in 2005 and was taken over by the Timbers Army in 2011, when the Timbers joined MLS. Here are the previous years' winners.
- 2005: Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar
- 2006: Luke Kreamalmeyer
- 2007: Josh Wicks
- 2008: Cameron Knowles
- 2009: Mandjou Keita
- 2010: Ryan Pore
- 2011: Troy Perkins
- 2012: Diego Chara
- 2013: Will Johnson
- 2014: Diego Valeri