Our fancy new German Ballon d’Or winning keeper Nadine Angerer just finished a Twitter Q&A by asking who would be there Saturday for the Thorns home opener.
Simple answer: we will be.
There’s been a lot of discussion over the last week about support of women’s soccer and what it should look like and whether the league’s marketing efforts are well-placed. Every one of us has an opinion. None of that matters when Saturday dawns.
We stand. We sing. We support. We raise flags and do whatever is within our power to spur our team toward victory. We are at the stadium long before the gates open and we linger after the match until security asks us to leave. We are all ages, all races, all creeds, aligned perfectly for a few hours each week when our team takes the field. This is what support looks like in Portland.
Do you want to be a part of it? As we did last season, the Riveters will be focusing on concentrating support in sections 106-108 of the North End at Providence Park. While the entirety of general admission is set up as standing-singing sections, this is where the loudest of us will be. If you want to sit and watch, you are welcome to do so from elsewhere in the stadium. Flags and banners are welcome here, though if your banner is super huge, you should probably consider hanging it from the front of one of the North End sections. Zip-ties are your friends.
If you’re still looking for a ticket to the match Saturday, please check the Timbers Ticket Exchange page on Facebook. Our friends there have set up event pages for each Thorns match and monitor the page to make sure folks are playing by the rules: face value only. No scalpers.
If you’ve got an extra ticket you can’t use and would like to donate it to the Riveters tifo fund, please email it in pdf form to info@rosecityriveters.org. We will sell these (again: face value) at Fanladen before the match. Fanladen is the home of the 107ist located at 1633 SW Alder, just a few blocks from the stadium.
This year, Fanladen will also be our base for merch sales. If you need a scarf, a patch, a t-shirt or a bandana, you’ll find them here until about 45 minutes before game time and then for a VERY BRIEF time post-match. We’ll open the doors at about 4 p.m. for merch, ticket exchange, and 107ist sign-ups and member services.
Above all else, have fun. Portland is home to a league champion team. We’ve earned this. Let’s enjoy it.
SPEAKING OF CHAMPIONS:
The Riveters will be hosting a photo-opp with the championship trophy and Thorns midfielder Allie Long on Tuesday, April 29. We’ll be set up at Fanladen, and you will need to register in advance. This isn’t a meet-and-greet. There will be limited time to get people through the line for photos so please register ahead of time and be a few minutes early for your time. You can register here.
Scarves up, everyone. It’s time.
