1981 Portland Timbers season explained

Club:	Portland Timbers
Season:	1981
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Vic Crowe
Chairman:	Louisiana-Pacific
Chrtitle:	Owner
Stadium:	Civic Stadium
League:	NASL
League Result:	Division: 3rd Playoffs: First round
Cup1:	U.S. Open Cup
Cup1 Result:	Did not enter
League Topscorer:	John Bain Dale Mitchell (11 goals)
Season Topscorer:	John Bain (12 goals)
Highest Attendance:	17,318 vs. VAN (Jul 4)
Lowest Attendance:	4,669 vs. SJE (May 6)
Average Attendance:	League: 10,516 All: 10,834
American:	true
Prevseason:	1980
Nextseason:	1982

The 1981 Portland Timbers season was the seventh season for the Portland Timbers in the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

Squad

The 1981 squad^[1]

North American Soccer League

See also: 1981 North American Soccer League season.

Regular season

Northwest 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	32	21	11	74	43	+31	186
2	Calgary Boomers	32	17	15	59	54	+5	151
3	Portland Timbers	32	17	15	52	49	+3	141
4	Seattle Sounders	32	15	17	60	62	-2	137
5	Edmonton Drillers	32	12	20	60	79	-19	123

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 28, 1981	California Surf	A	2 - 0	7,663	Lee, Mitchell
April 4, 1981	Seattle Sounders	A	1 - 2* (OT)	24,065	Pratt
April 11, 1981	Calgary Boomers	H	3 - 1	8,524	Mitchell (2), Anderson
April 18, 1981	Vancouver Whitecaps	H	1 - 2 (OT)	13,153	Lee
April 26, 1981	Calgary Boomers	A	2 - 1	10,114	Mitchell (2)
May 2, 1981	Tulsa Roughnecks	H	1 - 3	7,766	Bain
May 6, 1981	San Jose Earthquakes	H	3 - 0	4,669	Bain (2), Lee
May 10, 1981	Los Angeles Aztecs	A	3 - 1	3,306	Bain, Mitchell, Lee
May 16, 1981	Calgary Boomers	H	2 - 0	10,510	Mitchell, Bain
May 24, 1981	Edmonton Drillers	A	1 - 2	12,812	Lee
May 27, 1981	Vancouver Whitecaps	A	0 - 2	23,541
June 3, 1981	Minnesota Kicks	H	1 - 0	8,318	Bri. Gant
June 9, 1981	Atlanta Chiefs	A	1 - 2	3,117	Brown
June 13, 1981	Seattle Sounders	H	2 - 1	15,316	o.g., Bain
June 17, 1981	Ft. Lauderdale Strikers	H	0 - 3	11,093
June 20, 1981	Chicago Sting	H	2 - 4	12,510	Mitchell, Brown
June 23, 1981	Chicago Sting	A	1 - 0	9,568	Bri. Gant
June 27, 1981	Tulsa Roughnecks	A	1* - 0 (OT)	19,232
June 30, 1981	Edmonton Drillers	A	1 - 2	7,892	Mitchell
July 4, 1981	Vancouver Whitecaps	H	2 - 3 (OT)	17,318	Mitchell, Donachie
July 8, 1981	Washington Diplomats	H	2 - 1	8,155	Brown, Lee
July 11, 1981	Minnesota Kicks	A	3* - 2 (OT)	15,302	Bain, Brown
July 15, 1981	Dallas Tornado	A	0 - 1	2,905
July 18, 1981	California Surf	H	2 - 3 (OT)	9,134	Powell, Anderson
July 22, 1981	San Diego Sockers	A	1 - 3	10,268	Bain
July 25, 1981	San Diego Sockers	H	0 - 2	8,493
July 29, 1981	New York Cosmos	A	0 - 2	28,640
August 1, 1981	San Jose Earthquakes	A	2* - 1 (OT)	11,166	Brown
August 5, 1981	Edmonton Drillers	H	3 - 1	8,423	Cho, Bain, Brown
August 8, 1981	Dallas Tornado	H	5 - 2	8,954	Bain, Brown (2), Cho, Mitchell
August 15, 1981	Seattle Sounders	A	2 - 1 (OT)	16,747	o.g., Powell
August 19, 1981	Los Angeles Aztecs	H	2 - 1	15,923	Brown, Bain

• = Shootout win
  Source:^[3]

Postseason

Playoff bracket

Best of 3 seriesSource:

Playoff results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
August 22, 1981	San Diego Sockers	H	2 - 1	15,923	Brown, Bain
August 26, 1981	San Diego Sockers	A	1 - 5	12,039	Day
August 30, 1981	San Diego Sockers	A	0 - 2	15,244

Source:

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 – 1981. American Soccer History Archives. May 6, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20150107071347/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1981.html. January 7, 2015. dead.
3. Web site: 1981 Portland Timbers. Timbers Fan Page. May 6, 2011.