Timbers will field a team in new MLS League

In conjunction with Major League Soccer’s announcement of a new professional league, the Portland Timbers announced on Monday that they will field a team that will participate in the new league during the inaugural season.

The Timbers also announced that T2, the former development team for the Timbers that played in the USL, will undergo a rebrand. T2 was halted this past season after being a part of the USL’s first division for six seasons (2015-20).

“We made the difficult decision to halt T2 this year knowing that MLS was likely to start its own league in 2022,” said Timbers owner and CEO Merritt Paulson via the press release. “Strategically this new league makes a ton of sense. It will be integrated and aligned with all the clubs participating in it and it will be exciting to watch it grow and develop. The Timbers will have a team competing in the new MLS initiative next year and I look forward to it.”

The new league was announced by MLS earlier on Monday, with the emphasis being on “providing clubs with the optimal environment to produce the next generation of players.” It will consist of 20 MLS and independently own clubs, with the season kicking off in late March of 2022 and concluding in December with the championship match. More details will be provided at a later date.

For the full press release, click here.