1978 Portland Timbers season explained

Club:	Portland Timbers
Season:	1978
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Don Megson
Chairman:	Oregon Soccer, Inc.
Chrtitle:	Owner
Stadium:	Civic Stadium
League:	NASL
League Result:	Division: 2nd Playoffs: National Conference final
Cup1:	U.S. Open Cup
Cup1 Result:	Did not enter
League Topscorer:	Clyde Best (12 goals)
Season Topscorer:	Clyde Best (14 goals)
Highest Attendance:	League: 23,536 vs. VAN (Jul 21) All: 24,515 vs. NYC (Aug 18)
Lowest Attendance:	6,495 vs. COL (Apr 19)
Average Attendance:	League: 11,803 All: 12,902
American:	true
Prevseason:	1977
Nextseason:	1979

The 1978 Portland Timbers season was the fourth season for the Portland Timbers in the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

Squad

The 1978 squad^[1]

North American Soccer League

See also: 1978 North American Soccer League season.

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
March 12, 1978	San Jose Earthquakes	A	0 - 1
March 19, 1978	Colorado Caribous	H	2 - 0	7,877	Scullion, Roboostoff
March 25, 1978	Vancouver Whitecaps	A	1 - 2		Bain

Regular season

National Conference, Western Division standings

width=30	Pos	Club	width=30	Pld	width=30	W	width=30	L	width=30	GF	width=30	GA	width=30	GD	width=30	Pts
1	Vancouver Whitecaps	30	24	6	68	29	+39	199
2	Portland Timbers	30	20	10	50	36	+14	167
3	Seattle Sounders	30	15	15	50	45	+5	138
4	Los Angeles Aztecs	30	9	21	36	69	-33	88

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source:^[2]

League results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
March 31, 1978	California Surf	A	0 - 1	15,206
April 8, 1978	Oakland Stompers	H	1 - 0	10,554	Roboostoff
April 15, 1978	San Diego Sockers	H	2 - 3	8,355	Best (2)
April 19, 1978	Colorado Caribous	H	2 - 1	6,495	Scullion (2)
April 22, 1978	Rochester Lancers	H	3 - 2 (OT)	8,667	Bain, Scullion, Anderson
April 29, 1978	San Diego Sockers	A	3 - 5	3,830	Gant, Best, Scullion
May 3, 1978	California Surf	H	2* - 1 (OT)	8,328	Seale
May 7, 1978	Vancouver Whitecaps	A	0 - 1	13,155
May 10, 1978	Detroit Express	A	1 - 0	6,729	Howard
May 13, 1978	Memphis Rogues	H	1 - 0	6,955	Flater
May 17, 1978	New York Cosmos	H	2* - 1 (OT)	12,484	Best
May 20, 1978	San Jose Earthquakes	A	3 - 2	13,856	Bain, Best, Flater
May 24, 1978	Washington Diplomats	H	2* - 1 (OT)	10,558	Bain
May 29, 1978	Los Angeles Aztecs	A	4 - 1	5,206	Seale, Best, Scullion, Flater
June 7, 1978	Los Angeles Aztecs	H	1 - 0	9,054	Conway
June 10, 1978	Seattle Sounders	H	1* - 0 (OT)	15,526
June 16, 1978	New England Tea Men	H	2* - 1 (OT)	14,615	Scullion
June 21, 1978	Tampa Bay Rowdies	A	0 - 2	13,777
June 24, 1978	Washington Diplomats	A	1 - 2	10,816	Best
June 28, 1978	Rochester Lancers	A	1 - 0	5,025	McNeill
June 30, 1978	Minnesota Kicks	H	1 - 0	14,125	Best
July 4, 1978	Oakland Stompers	A	1 - 0	15,890	Flater
July 7, 1978	San Jose Earthquakes	H	5 - 1	15,827	Best, Scullion, Anderson, Flater (2)
July 13, 1978	Tulsa Roughnecks	A	0 - 1	9,620
July 15, 1978	Dallas Tornado	A	3 - 1	6,388	Seale, Best, Flater
July 19, 1978	Toronto Metros-Croatia	A	1 - 3	6,490	Best
July 21, 1978	Vancouver Whitecaps	H	0 - 2	23,536
July 25, 1978	Dallas Tornado	H	2 - 1	11,971	Gant, Anderson
July 31, 1978	Seattle Sounders	A	2 - 3 (OT)	22,042	Gant, Best
August 2, 1978	Colorado Caribous	A	3 - 1	8,638	Bain (3)

• = Shootout win
  Source:^[3]

Postseason

Playoff bracket

• = Shootout win; MG = Series decided by 30-minute mini-game (score of mini-game in 3rd column)
  Source:

Playoff results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
August 9, 1978	Washington Diplomats	H	2 - 1 (OT)	14,230	Bain, McNeill
August 12, 1978	Vancouver Whitecaps	H	1 - 0	16,437	Best
August 16, 1978	Vancouver Whitecaps	A	2 - 1	32,266	Best, Anderson
August 18, 1978	New York Cosmos	H	0 - 1	24,515
August 23, 1978	New York Cosmos	A	0 - 5	65,287

Source:

International friendlies

Date	Opponent^[4]	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
May 27, 1978	Galasca (Guatemala)	H	5 - 0	6,715	Scullion (2), Gant, Flater (2)
June 1, 1978	Bristol City F.C.	H	0 - 1	8,038

Notes and References

1. Web site: Portland Timbers rosters. North American Soccer League Jerseys. May 6, 2011.
2. Web site: The Year in American Soccer – 1978. American Soccer History Archives. May 6, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20150217025808/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1978.html. February 17, 2015. dead.
3. Web site: 1978 Portland Timbers. Timbers Fan Page. May 6, 2011.
4. http://www.nasljerseys.com/Friendlies/Teams/Timbers%20Friendlies.htm