I'm going to be visiting a friend of mine in working in Portland and we plan on attending the April 7th match against Chivas. I've heard great things about the fan support and general atmosphere at Jeld-Wen. We want to sit where the action is going to be (knowing that we really can't be in the thick of a supporter's section). What section should we sit in to get a feel of what a timbers match is all about? Thanks in advance for the advice.
Since you are asking this, I'll assume you don't have tickets to the game yet. This means your choices are to either get obstructed view seats at the Jeld-Wen box office, or to go to a reseller site. All games are already sold out except for obstructed view which are only available on site at Jeld-Wen. I'd say try to get whatever seats you can afford because any seat in the house is going to have the same general atmosphere.
If you want to sit in a section with some atmosphere but not within the TA (general admission sections) then 109-116, 209-211, and 99 are your best bets. The west side (old side) is more involved in specif chants as a whole but nothing like the TA still. Do not sit on the new side (east side) except for 99 unless you want to be in with the prawn sandwich brigade. As well one section within that 109-116 block is mainly corporate sponsorship seating and those people just sit on their thumbs but i forgot what section it was and heard those folks might be moved to somewhere else in the stadium for this year.
I agree completely. Get as close to timbers army as possible. Being that it's against chivas, and we play them twice at home this year, you very may well be able to get tickets in TA through a resale site online for not a ridiculous price. But what do I know about that really. If you do manage to get TA tix be sure to get to the stadium two hours before game time to get a good seat as the whole of Timbers Army section is general admission--your tix will have a seat listed but it's all first-come first-served.
Thank you for your input, guys. I bought general adm tickets through stubhub for $50/each. I'll make sure to get to the stadium early.
Thanks for this input as well. I'll be in Portland for the Assoication of Children's Museums Conference in May. Hopefully I'll be heading to the Timbers match vs. Columbus. I've been a fan of soccer since WCQ leading up to the 2002 Cup. Love the support the Rose City has for the beautiful game and looking forward to witnessing the TA in person. 2 MLS home games down, 17 to go.
If you appreciate sipping wine/ piss beer with your legs crossed and do golf claps, east side is your place. And there's not shouting there. You'll be fine with the rest of the stadium. The GA side is where it's at but if you have kids , bring them to the reserved seats area where they belong.
No kids (yet). I wouldn't bring them anyway until they reach a certain age. I didn't know wine was even sold at games. Good beer is the only way to go. I want to be close to the TA, basically to add to my match-day experience. I'll aim to watch near the GA seating. I don't mind standing, especially after a long flight. I stood in 2 of the 3 of the European matches I was fortunate to go to, while studying abroad a few years ago.
Then 115-109 will work, or the higher up 210-209. Section 99 is a good spot near the TA too. But seriously, there are very few places where you will not be seeing the Timbers Army [it is 16 sections strong] and undoubtedly you will hear them anywhere in the stadium.