The 2003 Portland Timbers season was the 3rd season for the Portland Timbers—the 3rd incarnation of a club to bear the Timbers name—of the now-defunct A-League, the second-tier league of the United States and Canada at the time.
Preseason
Canterbury Cup
Regular season
May
June
July
August
Competitions
A-League
Western Conference, Pacific Division standings
Pos Club Pts Pld W L T GF GA GD1Seattle Sounders532816754524+212Vancouver Whitecaps522815674524+213Portland Timbers4728151123933+64Team Calgary152842131662−46
Results summary
Results by round
Club <div style="float:left; width:47%;">
Coaching staff PositionStaffHead coach Bobby HoweAssistant coach Jimmy ConwayGoalkeeper coach Jim BrazeauAthletic trainer Tony GuyetteStrength and conditioning Coach Carl Davison</div> Management
Squad
Kits
Final roster
Recognition A-League All-League Second Team PosPlayerGPFW Byron Alvarez21
A-League Player of the Week WeekPlayerOpponent(s)12 Byron AlvarezVancouver Whitecaps (x2)
A-League Team of the Week WeekPlayerOpponent(s)Ref5 McKinley TennysonCalgary Storm, Seattle Sounders7 Byron AlvarezVancouver Whitecaps11 Byron AlvarezCalgary Storm (x2) Josh Saunders12 Byron AlvarezVancouver Whitecaps (x2)13 Hugo Alcaraz-CuellarEl Paso Patriots, Milwaukee Wave United Byron Alvarez17 Byron AlvarezSeattle Sounders (x2)18 Gavin WilkinsonIndiana Blast, Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders20 Scott BenedettiEl Paso Patriots Bryn Ritchie
Statistics
Appearances and goals All players contracted to the club during the season included.
Top scorers Players with 1 goal or more included only. Rk.Nat.PositionPlayerTotalA-League1FWByron Alvarez12122FWMcKinley Tennyson11113FWFadi Afash44MFJake Sagare445DFGavin Wilkinson226MFHugo Alcaraz-Cuellar11FWDan Antoniuk11MFScott Benedetti11MFJason Melendez11DFLee Morrison11DFBryn Ritchie11TOTALS3939
Disciplinary record Players with 1 card or more included only. No.Nat.PositionPlayerTotalA-League 4DFBryn Ritchie50505DFGavin Wilkinson61616MFManuel Brasil10107MFHugo Alcaraz-Cuellar41418MFJason Melendez10109FWMcKinley Tennyson404010FWFadi Afash303011MFBrian Winters505014MFScott Benedetti414115FWByron Alvarez202019DFNick Downing404020MFJake Sagare010123DFAaron Heinzen606024DFLee Morrison2020 TOTALS474474
Goalkeeper stats All goalkeepers included. No.Nat.PlayerTotalA-LeagueMINGAGAASVMINGAGAASV(1)Curtis Spiteri905171.6938905171.693821Cole Burgman18010.50918010.50930Josh Saunders1493150.90581493150.9058 TOTALS2578331.151052578331.15105
Player movement
Transfers in DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubFee/notesRef April 1, 2003 Dan Antoniuk (R) FW Wheaton Lyons Free April 1, 2003 Jason Melendez (R) MF UNLV Rebels Free April 1, 2003 Lee Morrison DF Dallas Burn Free April 1, 2003 Curtis Spiteri (R) GK Portland Pilots A-League College Player Draft, 2nd round April 1, 2003 Jake Vaughn MF Unattached Free April 1, 2003 Adam Wilson MF Hershey Wildcats Free April 4, 2003 Cole Burgman GK Atlanta Silverbacks Free April 2003 Byron Alvarez FW MetroStars Signed amateur contract due to complications acquiring a P-1 visa; played entire 2003 season without pay May 27, 2003 Jake Sagare MF Grimsby Town Free
Loans in DatePlayerPositionParent ClubFee/notesRef April 14, 2003 Nick Downing DF New England Revolution Season-long loan June 25, 2003 Josh Saunders GK San Jose Earthquakes Season-long loan
Transfers out DatePlayerPositionDestination clubFee/notesRef End of 2002 season Chugger Adair FW N/A Contract expired and not re-signed End of 2002 season Sean McAuley DF N/A Contract expired and not re-signed End of 2002 season Jake Sagare MF N/A Contract expired and not re-signed January 22, 2003 Greg Howes FW Unattached Released January 24, 2003 Matt Napoleon GK Unattached Retired April 2, 2003 Vadim Tolstolutsky FW Unattached Retired April 8, 2003 Chris Smith GK Unattached Released April 14, 2003 Keith Costigan DF Unattached Released April 14, 2003 Erik Ozimek MF Unattached Released April 14, 2003 Ben Somoza MF Unattached Released June 9, 2003 Jake Vaughn MF Unattached Released July 1, 2003 Curtis Spiteri GK Unattached Released August 7, 2003 Brent Sancho DF Dundee Undisclosed fee
Loans out DatePlayerPositionDestination clubFee/notesRef September 13, 2002 Brent Sancho DF San Juan Jabloteh Season-long loan; allowed to tour with the Trinidad and Tobago national football team following San Juan Jabloteh's season; subsequently sold to Dundee
Unsigned draft picks DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubNotesRef December 17, 2002 Ryan Coiner FW San Diego Toreros Orange County Blue Star A-League College Player Draft, 1st round
Notes ^ The United Soccer Leagues took over operations of the Calgary Storm following financial troubles by the ownership group and the team finished the season as Team Calgary. On February 14, it was announced that a tentative deal had been reached with the City of Portland in which Portland Family Entertainment (PFE) would be dissolved and a new group, Metropolitan Sports (a subset of PFE investors), would take over ownership of the Timbers and the Portland Beavers baseball club. The Timbers referred to Metropolitan Sports as the owner throughout much of the 2003 season. However, Metropolitan Sports was not able to secure the required funding and the deal was never completed.
References