I have always been a big fan of the Portland Timbers legend Diego Chara. I have a soft spot for defensive midfielders, they rarely get the credit that they’re due and they’re entire job is to make everyone else look better. Few have ever done it better than Diego Chara.

So when Diego gave me his jersey after the match on 7/4/2024, I nearly lost my mind. Diego didn’t start the game, but he came on late and subbed in at right back of all positions. Definitely not the norm, but it was neat to see him come in and do a really good job at the role. I have been trying to get Diegos jersey for years without any luck. So to finally be able to get one, wow, what a moment.

Image from Apple TV

Eryk Williamson has long been one of my favorite players. I just love the box to box midfielders who are involved in all aspects of the game. Over the last couple of seasons however Eryk has become super deadly from midfield with his ability to pick out that final pass. His ability to setup up the goalscorers to score from deep, has been a very nice feather in his cap. It’s become such a nice cap in fact, that he actually picked up a cap with the USMNT during the Gold Cup (see what I did there?)

We really do like Eryk in my house, I believe he plays the #8 role the way it’s meant to be played and I show videos of him playing to my son. His energy, effort, and physicality are a sight to behold. Well my son was excited to meet Eryk when Portland came to town. Saving you all the details, in the end with Eryk being the gentleman that he is, he told my son before the game that he would give him his shirt post game.

Cue to the end of a 1-1 game, my friend makes amazing art and gives it to the players. Truly amazing stuff. After receiving a piece of art, he gave his jersey to my buddy post game. Feeling dejected, but also understanding, we thought we were going to leave empty handed. But Eryk came up to us and told us to wait a minute and that he’d come back out. After 10 minutes of waiting, Eryk indeed came out but with a jersey in hand! Turns out it was his jersey from the first half! I did not know he was a halftime shirt switcher. It was still totally soaked, Eryk signed it for us at the bottom and added a nice inscription on it for my son and encouraged him to train hard and do his best.

They jersey is the Timbers away jersey, called Heritage Rose. Portland is known as the “Rose City.” Why, you ask? Honestly, look it up for yourself. It’s a really odd and strange series of events that happen and it’s kind of odd in my opinion that the city clung to that moniker. I suppose it does have a better ring to it though compared to something more accurate like, “Hipster Mecca.” But the jersey is a base pink with maroon roses. Or as the club calls it, ““Vapour Pink,” with accents in “Victory Crimson.””

I’m not going to lie, not a big fan of this design. I see what they were going for and I commend the effort, but just not my favorite. It has a weird 70s vibe to it. I think it was aptly named by people who gave it the nickname, “Grandmas Couch.”

The crimson Timbers logo is actually one part of this jersey that I like. I’m not sure why, but I do like it. And you can see the discoloration on the jersey in between the crest and the Adidas logo at the tip of the rose. Similar to Robin Jansson, Eryk Willimason wears Vicks vapor rub during the game. However, unlike Robin who wears it every game, Eryk only wears it sporadically it appears. So this makes it an extra neat feature.

Rose City ‘Til I Die adorns the inside of the collar. I always enjoy and appreciate the writing on the inside of collars. More teams should do it. Do note that the 3 stripes on the shoulders are screen printed on. Like Charlotte one was screen printed, and one had the raised embroidered edges. However for Portland it was opposite of Charlotte. The home was embroidered and the away was screen printed. I found that to be rather interesting.

On the bottom part of the jersey, Rose City ‘Til I Die is written again but in Latin. And the King of Clubs is a reference to a famous tifo created by the Timbers Army.

Again, the team crest and MLS logo I actually like. It’s a very nice color pairing.

The backside of the jersey is nothing to write home about, few jerseys are. But I really enjoy the color combination on the backside. Maybe it’s just the abstract rose design on the front of the shirt that leaves me wanting more (or much much less). But the backside shows what could have been with that really nice color combo.

Eryk was super nice overall. He didn’t have to come back out and give us his shirt or take the time to encourage my son and write a friendly note to him. But he did, and that’s what makes Eryk a wonderful guy. For those of you that dont know, players only get a certain amount of shirts per season. It varies from team to team but it’s alwasy a single digit number. Anything after that and the player has to buy them himself. So the fact that he gave us one of his limited number after giving one already that day is just even more incredible. It cost him money out of his pocket. That just goes to show how nice of a guy Eryk really is.

I was genuinely gutted when I learned that Eryk blew out his other ACL last season. The guy just cant seem to catch a break. I am hoping that like Jordan Morris though, that part is behind him and he can now get his career back on track and become the player he showed flashes of being. A player who has Best XI potential.

As you know from above, I do indeed like Eryk Williamson. Like a lot. And in 2023 during the jersey release, there were 2 jerseys that in my opinion were clearly above all the others. One was the Nashville Black Johnny Cash jerseys, and the other the Portland Timbers plaid home jersey. These plaid jerseys are just insanely cool in my opinion. This jersey has earned the nickname “Grandpas La-Z-Boy.” I personally prefer “The Pinnacle of Jersey Design,” but that might be a tad too wordy I admit.

See, I’m telling you this jersey is amazing. When this jersey came in, I was in awe. Below is an actual image of my reaction.

A really nicely done front part of the shirt here. They didn’t try to do too much and just let the pattern be the star of the show. They tried to do that with the Rose City, but this one actually works. I kind of wish that the green on the crest was the same color as the green on the shirt, but I guess you need at least one shirt where the crest is the actual correct color.

The lower left logo has the wood slices that the Timbers are famous for. After a Portland goal is scored at a home game, Timber Joey fires up his chainsaw and cuts off a slice of wood. I really enjoy the texture they added onto the wood. It was a minute detail but a really nice one.

Inside the collar is written Timbers set inside a cross saw. A symbol of teamwork. Again I love things written inside the collar and Portland really does a good job of utilizing this space on both jerseys. Notice the embroidered 3 stripes. If you read the previous post about the Away Eryk Williamson, you will see how those are screen printed.

I really love the backside of this jersey. The green with goldent trim on the bottom and sides is classy. But its the plaid pattern from the side panels across the top of the back that I really love. It seems to frame the name and number quite well. And you can see that Eryk signed this nice and big in a silver sharpie between the number and name, meaning it displays well.

Overall, I really love this kit. My only complaint is that for some reason the plaid seems slightly out of focus when seeing it up close. As you can tell in the photo above. There could be a design reason to that that I’m not aware of. So it could make sense, but that’s my only complaint.

Again, I was thrilled to see this jersey available at Fanatics. A player that I like a lot and a jersey that I love. Having the complete 2023 set for Eryk Williamson is really cool. I look forward to seeing him rock this jersey even more during the 2024 season.

One of my favorite players in the league, the speed at which Santi plays the game is incredible. Speed, ball control, creativity, etc. It’s incredible to watch.

Evander wore this jersey and tossed it up in the stands after a game in San Jose on 6/17/2023. It has some nice grass stains on the back as well from the game. Evander signed this for me when I saw him on 7/4/24.

Image by Ryan Clarke

As I’ve said before, one of my favorite players to watch. So picking up this awesome jersey of his was a no brainer.