Happy New Year, Rose City! 2025 is officially in the rearview, and we are barreling forward with 2026 (a year which still kind of sounds fake, not gonna lie). As with any turning of the calendar, a new year brings fresh expectations, the promise of a chance for a fresh start, and a new batch of pressure to "get it right this time".
For no other entity is that last one more true for than the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns. The PTFCs enter a year that is poised to be hugely pivotal for both clubs. In distinct (and kind of similar) ways, Soccer City's football clubs are facing the most consequential year they have both faced in some time.
Like a clock counting down to midnight, let's run through the reasons why 2026 is such a big year for the PTFCs.
Phil Neville is in his "prove it" year with the Timbers
The Neville era of the Portland Timbers has been like most of a season of high-brow, prestige television. Every episode has the tension ramp up little by little, with something big lurking in the background. From week to week, it feels like something is coming. We get drawn in more and more in eager anticipation of the inevitable payoff.
The question that faces the Timbers is, what type of payoff will we get? A sterling Breaking Bad or The Sopranos conclusion? Or a (spoilers, I guess?) "what the hell was that nonsense" Game of Thrones style dropoff?
That's the point we're at with Phil Neville and the Timbers. The past two seasons have had some highs and (in my opinion markedly more) lows, and the messaging we've been getting from both Neville and Timbers General Manager Ned Grabavoy is that it's been building towards consistency. The men in charge have toed the line between understanding the importance of results while also preaching patience for a roster that has been gradually remade over the past 24 months.