In hindsight, everyone now says that it had to happen that way. Football writes stories that the human brain can only imagine when they have happened: It was 1-1 in the semifinals of the US women’s league NWSL between the Portland Thorns and the San Diego Wave. 93 minutes were played, the human brain was already thinking about extra time, when Portland got another corner after a harmless attack. What happened then can be described in the unforgotten words of Herbert Zimmermann: flanked inwards; header, saved; Dunn should shoot from the background. Dunn shoots – goal, goal, goal goal!
The 22,035 spectators, the most in league playoff history that had only come to the quarterfinals in San Diego a week ago (26,215), freaked out. Pink smoke rose from behind the gate, symbolizing the city of Portland – nicknamed the Rose City – and also the fight against breast cancer; In addition to club flags, there were also many rainbow colors to be seen as a sign of diversity and tolerance. “It’s unbelievable to see so many happy faces. The fans, the players. We really pulled ourselves together with what’s happened lately,” said Crystal Dunn, the scorer afterwards.
To understand what those phrases meant, you should know what Dunn had said a few days before this game: “It’s really not easy to put on this jersey these days.”
As a reminder, the Thorns are at the center of the massive scandal that is sweeping this season, the league and US women’s soccer as a whole. Former Attorney General Sally Q. Yates had created a Harry Potter volume-thick report with explosive content. The summary: The NWSL is a league in which “emotional abuse and sexual misconduct have become a system – and stretches across multiple teams, coaches and victims”. At the center of the investigation was the club that has now reached the final, the Portland Thorns. They play in the city, which has a second nickname besides “Rose City”: “Soccer City USA”.
Club owner Merritt Paulson was considered a doer who showed that a women’s football franchise can be run profitably. Now he is considered the one who wanted to cover up the scandal
It’s no exaggeration to say that the Northwestern city is the country’s most passionate about soccer. That’s because out of the big four men’s sports, only one basketball franchise (the Trail Blazers) is based in Portland. But the main reason is that they did a lot right: cute stadium in the center on historical grounds, where sport has been practiced for more than 130 years and thus in the US calendar since the beginning of mankind. Two clubs with a philosophy of identification (no aging stars from Europe) and fan culture: when the men’s club Portland Timbers scores, a slice is sawed off a tree trunk and presented to the scorer after the game, with the Portland Thorns the best player gets one Match a rose. Fans flock to the arena for Thorns games, as well as downtown’s Sports Bra – the first bar in the US to feature exclusively women’s sports.
Club owner Merritt Paulson, 50, who owns both the Timbers and Thorns, was seen as a doer who showed Americans that men’s soccer can fill stadiums – and that it’s possible to run a women’s soccer franchise profitably. In 2014, FC Bayern paid their respects to Portland on their US tour and flew in their newly crowned world champions for a game against a selection from the US men’s league MLS.
Flaws in the system: Former Attorney General Sally Q. Yates issued a report describing sexual misconduct as an inherent problem in the league.
(Photo: Steven Senne/AP)
But they also did a lot wrong in Portland, as this report shows. Two questions are therefore central: have people been blinded by the success, and is Merritt Paulson becoming one of far too many figures in professional sports who believe that if you win on the pitch, you can think of yourself as invulnerable off the pitch? The second question arises from the first: shouldn’t Paulson be forced to sell both clubs? Although he has resigned as CEO, he writes in a statement: “I love this organization like my family; the most important thing for me now is to put everything right.” Translated, this means: I regulate it myself.
Fired in North Carolina in 2021 for sexual misconduct: successful coach Paul Riley, who was previously a coach in Portland, among other things.
(Photo: Randy L. Rasmussen/AP)
It is now said that Paulson got a little too carried away in the role of football promoter and enjoyed the cheering of the people of Portland after titles (Thorns 2013 and 2017, Timbers 2015) too much. That he must have known about the abuses in his club. That he not only ignored them, but deliberately covered them up. That he covered his tracks by bringing the successful coach Paul Riley into play in such an offensive way at other clubs and even as a national coach that nobody even thought of asking if there was anything against Riley.
Riley was fired by North Carolina Courage in 2021 and the US Football Association revoked his coaching license. In Portland, Riley was previously suspended after several players accused him of sexual misconduct. Yates writes in her report that the Thorns actively obstructed her investigation.
There was therefore a dilemma ahead of this semi-final – the first Thorns game since the scandal broke. “I would understand if people stayed at home,” said Rachel Greenough, chairwoman of the Rose City Riveters fan club. Goalkeeper Bella Bixby penned an open letter to fans asking: “We need you more than ever!” And people came to a playoff game in Portland more than ever before. Of course, what can the actors do if the management fails and not only tolerates abuse, but covers it up? On the other hand, Paulson gets the revenue, and if the Thorns win the final against Kansas City Current (2-0 against OL Reign) next Saturday and Paulson owns the trophy, then that would be a lot more than just a taste .
Merrit Paulson, second from right, owner of the Portland Thorns, alongside his father, former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
(Photo: ZUMA Wire/Imago)
There are therefore many who say that the only way Paulson can put things right is to agree to the sale before the final. There’s the grassroots movement in Portland Onward Rose City, which wants to take over the club as a fan group, just as the Packers football franchise is owned by the residents of the city of Green Bay. You can become a shareholder for $107 per share, and more than $4 million had already been raised by the weekend. Of course, that is not enough. The company that manages Timber and Thorns is valued at $685 million.
Experts estimate that Paulson is likely to price up to 100 million just for the Thorns. If he sells them, the Portland Thorns, which he founded himself ten years ago and with which he obviously did a lot right and a lot wrong.
