PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Timbers today announced that five former players and coaches from the team’s NASL and USL eras have joined the club as alumni ambassadors for the 2011 season. Former Timbers John Bain, Jim Brazeau, Bernie Fagan, Mick Hoban and Lee Morrison will help the club in its community efforts during the team’s inaugural MLS season.
The five ambassadors join Scot Thompson, who was named the team’s official community ambassador on Jan. 19, in celebrating the Timbers’ past and present and helping to grow the sport of soccer in Portland.
As alumni ambassadors, the group will represent the team at various community appearances, events and speaking engagements. Additionally, the ambassadors will occasionally assist with Timbers youth soccer camps and clinics.
Bain played five seasons for the Timbers from 1978-82, finishing as the NASL club’s all-time leading scorer with 45 goals and 55 assists in 148 games. Following his playing career, he coached the Mountain View High School boys team to two Washington state championships and coached the Portland Pride of the Continental Indoor Soccer League before joining the Westside Metros youth soccer club, which he has coached and operated since 1995.
Brazeau served as the USL Timbers’ goalkeeper coach for eight seasons (2001-05, 2007-09) after playing collegiately under noted coach Jimmy Conway at Pacific University and Oregon State University. He played professionally for six seasons, with the Seattle Storm outdoor team, and Washington Warthogs and Portland Pride of indoor soccer. Since 2000, Brazeau has been at the helm of Pacific‘s men’s soccer program and served double-duty for four seasons, also coaching the Pacific women’s team from 2002-05. In 2010, the former Northwest Conference Coach of the Year led the Boxers to their first NWC championship in over a decade.
Fagan played three seasons as a defender with the NASL Timbers from 1980-82 and has spent the last 28 years in the area coaching at Warner Pacific College and Portland State University. In addition, he is the founder and head coach of Oregon Soccer Academy, a successful youth soccer club that fields select and premier teams. Fagan was also heavily involved in Special Olympics for over a decade, serving as the organization’s Soccer Director from 1991-2004.
Hoban was a Timber for four seasons from 1975-78 while also serving as the NASL club’s community relations manager. After retiring in 1978, the former Aston Villa midfielder was hired by Blue Ribbon Sports, which eventually became Nike, Inc., and became the company’s first-ever soccer employee. He joined Umbro USA as the Vice President of Soccer Promotions from 1988-95. In 2000, Hoban helped form Soccer Solutions, LLC, a soccer consulting firm and was a partner there for 10 years before leaving to assume his previous role as an independent soccer marketing consultant.
Morrison played five seasons as a defender with the Timbers from 2003-07, ranking fifth on the USL team’s career list with 113 games. He also played professionally for the Dallas Burn and Kansas City Wizards of MLS. A first-round pick of Dallas in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft, Morrison played four years at Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in international relations and was a three-time All-American. Morrison has been coaching with Bridlemile Soccer for the past six years and currently works in commercial real estate for Cushman & Wakefield.
“We are excited to bring back to the organization this group of former Timbers,” said Timbers Chief Operating Officer Mike Golub. “These past players have already done so much for the sport and for the community here in Portland and we are eager to have them represent the club in our inaugural MLS season.”
Thompson, along with the alumni ambassadors, will also act as the main point of contact for the Portland Timbers Alumni Association. Former Timbers players and coaches who wish to be included on PTAA e-mail newsletters are urged to send contact information to rmorse@portlandtimbers.com.
