Category Archives: Cascadia

A Long Overdue Ode to Billy McGrath

I’d like to introduce you to someone exceptional, also someone gone too soon. You’re going to meet a man who, in retrospect, might have been Washington’s first to be enshrined in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Instead, his tale is a tragic one, where an individual’s flaw unfortunately proved fatal: He loved the game too much.

I doubt you know of William Patrick “Billy” McGrath. For that matter, most of our state’s newfound fans of soccer have no clue about Barney Kempton or Vic Weston or Eddie Craggs. All are hall of famers, Greater Seattle’s Mr. Soccer of their day; great players or coaches who, over several decades, were always finding new ways to put this game on proper or firmer footing so that it might survive, grow and become what it was destined to be, what it is today.

William Patrick “Billy” McCrath, ca. 1924

If there’s a Rushmore for Washington’s first 75 years as a footy community, those three – Kempton, Weston and Craggs – would have their faces chiseled into the mountainside. And the fourth position might well have been McGrath. If only, if only.

I first got to know Billy McGrath while scouring the local newspaper archives, discovering and curating content for what I hope to be a lasting and living testament to everyone who has ever contributed to our golden standing in the football world. I’d been asked by a Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) representative to examine some archival photographs that lacked captions or context. One photo in particular was puzzling and also inviting. It was a wide-angle shot of a game where spectators are surrounding the field seemingly at the edge of a forest, abutting a stand of trees.

Why Play on Easter?

Continue reading A Long Overdue Ode to Billy McGrath

Soccer in Puget Sound: It’s Rarely a Holiday

If your idea of a perfect winter holiday is to while away the hours watching live top-class soccer, you best not live near Seattle.

Among native Puget Sounders, perhaps only octogenarians can speak of such an experience in their lifetime. As we take a view to scores of frigid, rain-swept Premier League matches pressed into a cramped calendar, we can only surmise that long ago someone came to their senses and simply said, No more.

Most state league games through 1920 were played on playfields with little grass and no seating for spectators, who ringed the pitch.

Who knows, someday MLS may conform to the FIFA time table. But a look back at the last century or so illustrates why playing through the winter is problematic in Cascadia and downright impossible in the majority of MLS markets. New Year’s Day 2018 forecasts 12 of those cities mired in sub-freezing temperatures. Montreal’s high is predicted to reach minus-6 degrees F.

But enough about MLS. This is more a story of the hardened souls (masochists, some might say) in Seattle’s long-ago past who truly played for the love of the game and the sense of community it fosters, and did so in some of the most trying of circumstances. This is a tale of how and why our forefathers once tread the less-than-firma terra during the short, bleak and, yes, festive days of winter.

Holiday Bonus: Another Play Date

Continue reading Soccer in Puget Sound: It’s Rarely a Holiday

SEATTLE VS VANCOUVER: BY THE NUMBERS (MLS ERA, 2011 – )

MLS Era – Sounders vs Whitecaps (2009 – 10/9/2023)

League

Home (form): 9-4-2 GD: 27-16 [DWWLLLLWWWWWWWD]

Away: 7-4-6 GD: 25-20 [WDDLDLWWWLDWDWDLLW]

Neutral: 1-0-0 GD: 3-0

[W]

Total: 17-9-8 GD: 55-36 [DWDWDWLLDLLWLWLWWLDWWWDWWWWWDWLLWD]

Playoffs – 2 Meetings

Home (form): 1-0-0 [W] GD: 2-0

Away: 0-0-1 [D] GD: 0-0

Total: 1-0-1 [DW] GD: 2-0

CCL – 2 Meetings

Home: 1-0-0 GD: 3-0 [W]

Away: 0-0-1 GD: 1-1 [D]

Total: 1-0-1 GD: 4-1 [DW]

Extremes

Record Win: 4-0, Lumen Field, 6/14/2022;  Field, 10/9/2021

Record Defeat: 4-1, CenturyLink Field, 10/9/2013; 3-0, CenturyLink Field, 8/1/2015

Record Total Goals:  5, Seattle 3:2 Vancouver 2, 6/8/2013; Seattle 1:4 Vancouver, 10/9/2013; Vancouver 2:3 Seattle, 7/8/2023

Regular Season Doubles (win home & away same season): 2/2

Individual Leaders Continue reading SEATTLE VS VANCOUVER: BY THE NUMBERS (MLS ERA, 2011 – )

SEATTLE VS VANCOUVER: BY THE NUMBERS (USL ERA, 1994-2008)

A-League/USL Era – Sounders vs 86ers/Whitecaps (1994-08)

League – 73 Meetings

Home (form):19-8-9 GD: 59-29 [WWWLWWL(TW)LWLWWWL(TW)DWWLWWWDWDDWDDWWLWDL]

Away: 16-12-9 GD: 61- 52 [(TL)LWW(TW)WW(TL)WWWLLWW(TW)LWLWLWLWWDLLLWDDDLLDW]

Total: 35-20-18 GD: 120-81 [(TL)WLWWWW(TW)LWWWW(TL)L(TW)WLWWWLL(TW)LLLWWWWW(TW)L(TWLWDWLWWLLWLWWWWWDDWLDLLDWWDDDDDWWLLLWDWDL]

Playoffs – 10 Meetings

Home: 1-1-3 GD: 3-6 [(TW)(TW)LDW]

Away: 1-2-2 GD: 3-7 [WLL(TW)D]

Total: 2-3-5 GD: 6-13 []

Extremes

Record Win: 5-0, Tacoma Dome, 7/30/1994; 5-0, Memorial Stadium, 9/8/2001

Record Defeat: 5-0, Swangard Stadium, 9/4/2000

Record Total Goals: 8, Seattle 2:6 Vancouver, 9/15/2002

Doubles (win home & away same season): 9/1

Individual Leaders Continue reading SEATTLE VS VANCOUVER: BY THE NUMBERS (USL ERA, 1994-2008)

Seattle vs Vancouver: By the Numbers (WSL Era, 1984-90)

Western Soccer Alliance/League Era – FC Seattle Storm vs Whitecaps/86ers (1984-90)

League – 0 Meetings

Home (form): None

Away: None

Total: None

Playoffs – 0 Meetings

Home (form): None

Away: None

Total: None

Friendlies – 8 Meetings

Home (form): 2-1-2 GD: 8-7 [DL(TW)WW]

Away: 1-2-0 GD: 5-8 [WLL]

Total: 3-3-2 GD: 13-15 [DWL(TW)WLLW]

Extremes

Record Win: Three 1-goal win, most recent 2-1, Memorial Stadium, 8/8/1990

Record Defeat: 2-0, Swangard Stadium, 8/27/1989; 5-3, Swangard Stadium, 8/5/1990

Record Total Goals: 8, Vancouver 5:3 Seattle, 8/5/1990

Doubles (win home & away same season): 0/0

Individual Leaders Continue reading Seattle vs Vancouver: By the Numbers (WSL Era, 1984-90)

Seattle vs Vancouver: By the Numbers (NASL Era, 1974-82)

NASL Era – Sounders vs Whitecaps (1974-83)

League – 25 Meetings

Home (form): 5-6-1 GD: 17-16 [WWWWLLWLLLL(TL)]

Away: 2-10-1 GD: 14-28 [WLLLLLL(TL)WLLLL]

Total: 7-16-2 GD: 31-44 [WWLLWWLLWLLLL(TL)WWLLLLLLL(TL)L]

Playoffs – 4 Meetings

Home: 2-0-0 GD 4-1 [WW]

Away: 2-0-0 GD: 4-1 [WW]

Total: 4-0-0 GD: 8-2 [WWWW]

Other – 2 Meetings (EuroPac Cup)

Home: None

Away: 1-0-1 GD: 3-2 [DW]

Total: 1-0-1 GD: 3-2 [DW]

Extremes

Record Win: 3-0, Memorial Stadium, 7/19/1975

Record Defeat: 5-0, Empire Stadium, 8/12/1981

Record Total Goals: 5, Vancouver 3:2 Seattle, 8/13/1976; Vancouver 2:3 Seattle, 5/2/1981; Vancouver 5:0 Seattle, 8/12/1981; Vancouver 3:2 Seattle, 8/28/1983

Doubles (win home & away same season): 1/5

Individual Leaders Continue reading Seattle vs Vancouver: By the Numbers (NASL Era, 1974-82)

Seattle vs Portland: By The Numbers (MLS Era, 2009- )

MLS Era – Sounders vs Timbers (2009- ) [as of 9/4/2023]

League

Home (form): 7-5-6 GD: 23-20 [DWDWWWWWWDLLLDLLDD]

Away: 7-9-3 GD: 35-36 [WLDLDWLLLDLWWWLWWLL]

Total: 14-14-9 GD: 55-52  [DWLDWDWLDWWWLWLWLWDDLLWLWWLLDWWLLLLDD]

Playoffs

Home: 1-1-0 GD: 4-4 [LW]

Away: 0-2-0 GD: 3-5 [LL]

Total: 1-3-0 GD: 7-9 [LLLW]

Open Cup

Home: 2-2-0 GD: 7-7 [WLWL]

Away: 1-0-1 GD: 3-2 [WD]

Total: 3-2-1 GD: 10-9 [WDWLWL]

Extremes

Record Win: 6-2, Providence Park, 8/15/2021

Record Defeat: 4-1, Providence Park, 6/28/2015; 3-0, Lumen Field, 7/9/2022; 4-1, Providence Park, 4/15/2023

Record Total Goals:  8, Portland 4:4 Seattle, 4/5/2014

Doubles (win home & away same season): 2/3

Top Attendance Continue reading Seattle vs Portland: By The Numbers (MLS Era, 2009- )

Seattle vs Portland: By The Numbers (WSL Era, 1985-90)

Western Soccer Alliance/League Era – FC Seattle Storm vs FC Portland/Timbers (1985-90)

League – 12 meetings

Home (form): 2-2-2 GD: 7-9 [DDWWLL]

Away: 3-3-0 GD:12-6 [WWLWLL]

Total: 5-5-2 GD: 19-15 [WDWDLWWWLLLL]

Playoffs

Home: None

Away: None

Total: None

Other – 1 Friendly

Home: 0-1-0 GD: 0-2 [L]

Away: None

Total: 0-1-0 GD: 0-2 [L]

Extremes

Record Win: 6-1, Civic Stadium, 7/3/1985

Record Defeat: 3-0, Memorial Stadium, 7/18/1990

Record Total Goals: 7, Portland 1:6 Seattle, 7/3/1985

Doubles (win home & away same season): 1/2 Continue reading Seattle vs Portland: By The Numbers (WSL Era, 1985-90)

Seattle vs Portland: By The Numbers (USL Era, 2001-08)

A-League/USL Era – Sounders vs Timbers (2001-08)

League – 32 Meetings

Home (form): 9-4-3 GD: 26-16 [WDWWWWLLLLWDWWWD]

Away: 7-7-2 GD: 15-16 [LWWLWWLLWLDLWDLW]

Total: 16-11-5 GD: 41-32 [LWDWWWLWWWWWLLLLLWLWLDDLWWWDWLDW]

Playoffs – 4 Meetings

Home: 2-0-0 GD: 4-0 [WW]

Away: 1-1-0 GD: 2-2 [LW]

Total: 3-1-0 GD: 6-2 [LWWW]

Open Cup – 2 Meetings

Home: 1-0-0 GD: 2-1 [W]

Away: 0-1-0 GD: 0-2 [L]

Total: 1-1-0 GD: 2-3 [LW] Continue reading Seattle vs Portland: By The Numbers (USL Era, 2001-08)

Seattle vs Portland: By the Numbers (NASL Era, 1975-82)

NASL Era – Sounders vs Timbers (1975-82)

League – 20 Meetings

Home (form): 7-2-1 GD: 21-11 [WWWWWW(TW)LLW]

Away: 4-4-2 GD: 12-10 [WLWL(TL)L(TW)LWW]

Total: 11-6-3 GD: 33-21 [WLWWWWL(TL)WLWW(TW)(TW)LLLWWW]

Playoffs – 1 Meeting

Home: None

Away: 0-1-0 GD: 1-2 [L]

Total: 0-1-0 GD: 1-2 [L]

Extremes

Record Win: 5-1, Kingdome, 6/30/1979

Record Defeat: 0-3, Civic Stadium, 6/11/1977

Record Total Goals: 6, Seattle 5:1 Portland, 6/30/1979

Doubles (win home & away same season): 3/1

Portland’s Chris Dangerfield, left, and Mike England battle for the ball in the Timbers’ first visit to Seattle, in 1975.

Individual Leaders Continue reading Seattle vs Portland: By the Numbers (NASL Era, 1975-82)