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The Timbers Army is an independent supporters group of Portland Timbers, a soccer club in Major League Soccer—the top tier of the United States soccer pyramid. Its members are known for their loud, enthusiastic support and the raucous atmosphere they create at Timbers games. Centered in section 107 of Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, the Army has grown steadily over the years to encompass much of the north end of the stadium. == History == The Timbers Army was founded in 2001 as the Cascade Rangers, a reference to the Cascade Range of mountains in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The group began with a group of eight people who decided to step up their support, and began congregating in section 107 (erroneously labeled on the stadium diagram to be behind the north goal) of PGE Park to create a European-style rooting section for the club, complete with drumming, flags, scarves, smoke bombs and constant chanting and cheering. By 2002, the group had changed its name to the Timbers Army in order to lose any perception of partiality toward Scottish football club Rangers and because the Timbers uniforms at the time resembled those of Rangers rival Celtic.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History )〕 although this perception has since changed. As noted in a feature story on the front page of ''The Oregonians Sports section in 2004, the Army had grown from a small group of dedicated fans to approximately two hundred passionate supporters. By 2005, when the Army was the subject of a cover story by ''Willamette Week'', its game day support was estimated at over one thousand. In 2008, the group's lobbying was credited with helping to convince the Portland City Council to approve a deal to bring Major League Soccer to Portland in 2011. The Timbers Army were named the fifth most influential Oregon sports figure in 2010 by ''The Oregonian'', two spots ahead of Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.〔 In the piece, sports columnist John Canzano said of the Army: Drumming, chanting, scarf-wearing soccer supporters transformed overnight from a band of PGE Park rowdies to an effective and influential political organization. Their political clout ends up greasing the wheels on the effort to bring Major League Soccer to Portland. The supporters group gained national exposure in 2009 when they were featured in a two-page photo spread in the July 13–20 issue of ''Sports Illustrated'' which showed Army members celebrating after the Timbers scored against Seattle Sounders FC of MLS in the third round of the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a game they lost 2-1. In 2011, a tifo created by the Timbers Army for that game was named one of the five best tifos in MLS history〔Francis, Shawn (8 March 2011). ("Supporters Week: Top 5 all-time MLS tifo" ), "MLS Soccer.com". Retrieved 21 March 2013.〕—it featured a giant Timber Jim chainsawing down Seattle's Space Needle—despite the Timbers having played in the USL at the time. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Timbers Army」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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