We know there has been rabid discussion of the allocation of tickets to away supporters with the addition of the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps to MLS in March. All three Cascadia Clubs have set the number of tickets for traveling supporters to 500 for the Seattle/Portland/Vancouver Derby Matches.

If you’re one of the 31,000 Season Ticket Holders who is not affiliated with a Supporter Group and you’re interested in traveling to the Rose City or British Columbia to sit in the travelling fans section you should pay attention to a passing note by Jeremiah on Sounder At Heart.

Distributing those tickets will be the province of supporters groups. Just how supporters will distribute their tickets among the three main groups — ECS, Gorilla FC and North End Supporters — is still being determined, but you’re probably going to have to be a member of one of those groups to get a ticket.

What do you think about this? Do you think the Supporter Groups should be responsible for Cascadia Derby away ticket distribution? How does it make you feel if you’re not a “member” of a Supporter Group but want to be in the Rave Green section in Portland or Vancouver? Do you think the Supporter Groups should make tickets available to non-members?

This proposal is not set in stone yet, so if you don’t belong in a Supporter Group and would like access to the Sounders’ allocation of away tickets, speak up now!

Photo by Chris Coulter of SoundersPhotos.com

Major League Soccer has approved a plan for the supporters groups from the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC to purchase up to 500 tickets for away matches against their Cascadia rivals in 2011.

Although detailed operational plans are still being developed, the 500 tickets will be sold to each of the visiting clubs, who will then allocate those tickets to their travelling supporters groups.

“The approved plan to allocate 500 tickets for visiting supporters will help grow a rivalry that is unique to this region,” said Joe Roth, Sounders FC owner. “The three clubs, along with Major League Soccer, are committed to fostering local rivalries as well as providing visiting supporters an opportunity to support their clubs on the road.”

The rivalry between the three clubs dates back to the old North American Soccer League. Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps entered that league in 1974, while Portland Timbers followed suit in 1975. The Pacific Northwest rivalry was rekindled in the 1990s when the clubs competed in North America’s second division professional leagues.

Whitecaps FC and Timbers will join MLS in 2011 as the 17^th and 18^th clubs; Sounders FC made its MLS debut in 2009. The complete 2011 MLS schedule will be released in the coming months. Prior to the start of the 2011 season, MLS will announce League-wide guidelines for travelling supporters.

Thanks to Chris Coulter and SoundersPhotos.com for the image.

Read on…

Portland, OR., Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, WA. — October 22, 2010 —The Timbers Army, Emerald City Supporters , and Vancouver Southsiders have combined forces in order to jointly oppose limiting visiting support in Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland to the 150 tickets stipulated by Major League Soccer. The united supporters groups assert that visiting support adds greatly to the atmosphere of their home stadiums and that limiting the amount of visiting supporters to 150 is an insult to the tradition and history surrounding the Cascadia Rivalry and undermines the growth of Major League Soccer in the Pacific Northwest.

In the NASL days thousands of fans packed cars and buses traveling to and from Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver. The USL proved to be no different with each group sending hundreds of fans to their rival cities in support of their hometown team. In the past decade, traveling support has increased each year between the Cascadia Clubs and in 2010 each supporters group has sent as many as 750 fans to US Open Cup matches, pre-season and regular season matches between the three teams. At the cusp of the three clubs returning to the highest professional level in North America the supporters groups have been left in the dark with rumors emanating from Seattle that owner Joe Roth has decided that only 150 visiting supporters will be allowed in to, “ensure the safety and security of the Seattle fans while keeping the integrity of the home crowd and the great atmosphere.” The Cascadia supporters groups strongly disagree with that sentiment.

“If Seattle limits traveling support at 150 in Qwest Field our front office would likely do the same to Seattle at the very least if not Vancouver as well,” said Dave Hoyt, President of Portland’s 107 Independent Supporters Trust . “It is unacceptable that any of the three clubs will limit traveling support to a mere 150 seats when the demand is far higher and all three stadiums can accommodate, at a minimum, 1,000 away supporters in a safe and comfortable manner.”

“Obviously our stadium can accommodate traveling supporters,” said Keith Hodo, President of Seattle’s Emerald City Supporters , “According to page 30 I.14 C of FIFA football club regulations clubs are recommended to allocate 5% of the seating in their stadium to the away support. We (ECS) feel that our club should heed this recommendation and exceed it, offering as many seats as either Portland or Vancouver are willing to bring people. This will only enhance the atmosphere in the stadium and increase the profile of football here in the States.”

“A 150 fan limit simply denies the reality and passion all three sets of supporters have for their club and the fact many will travel regardless of artificially imposed limits, “ said John Knox, president of the Vancouver Whitecaps supporter’s organization. Knox continued, “The Southsiders strongly believe that there needs to be a cohesive, unified policy among all three clubs that provides for a safe and fun fan experience for visiting Cascadia supporters while maximizing the opportunity to travel in 2011 “

The three supporters groups strongly encourage traveling support from all cities in the Cascadia rivalry.

· There should be no limits on traveling support and there should be a designated section for away fans. Traveling supporters on another team’s home turf electrifies the atmosphere and increases the earnestness in supporting your own team.

· Simply letting visiting fans purchase individual tickets throughout the three stadiums will create more chaos and a higher potential for incidents all three groups want to avoid.

· Work together to find acceptable solutions to security concerns. The collective front offices should work with their supporters groups to assure the safety and security of both the home and away fan.

· Major League Soccer stands to benefit from this rivalry. In 2011 the eyes of the league will be set squarely on the Pacific Northwest. Do not rob the league and the three clubs represented from becoming the pride of Major League Soccer.

Kickoff is set for 6p PT on Saturday (4/10). It will be broadcast locally on KONG 6/16 and News Talk 97.3 KIRO FM with Arlo White calling the play….

Let us know if we’ve missed any…

Seattle: (ECS) The Atlantic Crossing

Seattle: (North End Supporters) Ballard Loft

Seattle: (Gorilla FC) Summit Public House

Seattle: (Prost & SounderAtHeart) Elysian Fields

Tacoma: (Gorilla FC & Furia Imortal) Meconi’s

Spokane: (ECS) Waddell’s

Lakewood/DuPont: (ECS) McNamara’s Pub and Eatery

Puyallup: (ECS) O’Henry Sports Bar

Bremerton: (ECS) Cloverleaf Sports Bar & Grill

Olympia: (ECS) O’Blarney’s Irish Pub

Bellingham: (ECS) McKay’s Taphouse

Everett: (ECS) The Irishman

Tacoma: (ECS) Doyle’s Public House

Southern California: (ECS) Barney’s Beanery

Phoenix: (Sonoran Sounder Alliance) The Turf

Soccer Capital USA = all teams travel to our pitch!

This year is no different. The Sounders Alliance in cooperation with the Emerald City Supporters, Gorilla FC, North End Supporters, and Immortal Fury will be hosting a series of events from the 20th through the 22nd, with the MLS Cup being the main event, of course. [Buy Tickets]

The Official Summit Events include

• A Meet & Greet Silent Auction [Friday 11/20 6-8p]
• 2009 Supporters Summit [Saturday 11/21 10a-2p] will include The Commish, Don Garber as well as Drew Carey and Officiating & Technical Discussion
• Pioneer Square Pub Crawl [Saturday 6p-10p] drink with Kasey Keller
• Pre-Game Spaghetti Feed [Sunday 11/22]
• MLS Cup [Sunday 530p] [Buy Tickets]

Other events include a volunteer opportunity, a video game competition, and a party with TV personalities.

Check out the Summit website for all the information you would need about the events and how to register.

Emerald City Supporters- ECS is the first and preeminent group. They were formed in 2005 to support the USL Sounders. The ECS primarily sits in sections 121-123 on the South End of Qwest Field.

A number of Sub-Groups have been formed under the ECS.

• Bellingham Border Boys
• Brougham Boys ‘74
• City of Rain- a group of students from Seattle U.
  
• Emerald City Massive

North End Supporters- is a supporter group that has been formed in the sections behind the North Goal at Qwest Field. The primary sections of NES include the all-inclusive sections 144-152 and 100. NES will also expand to include the upper sections of 100, 101, 102, 142, and 144.

Gorilla FC- is an Anti-Racist, Anti-Fascist, Anti-Sexist, Anti-Homophobic Supoprters Group who love to party before and after the matches.

Flying Monkeys are a “lazy, yet family friendly Supporters’ Group”. They can be found on Facebook.

SoCalSound is a regional branch of the ECS and are located in Southern California. They support the Sounders during their games at the Home Depot Center and will make roadtrips to San Jose to support the rave green team.

If you know of any other Supporter Groups, let us know.

We’re sure that some fans from the Puget Sound area made the trip south, but the majority of the group are the result of organization from Emerald City Supporters who are living in Southern California.

The idea came about on the ECS Message Boards if there were others in Southern California. From there, the SoCalSound was formed as an extension of the ECS.

SoCalSound’s Mission Statement:

We are a group of passionate Seattle Sounders FC supporters who live in Southern California – but bleed blue and green! The SCS grew as a regional expansion of the Emerald City Supporters. It doesn’t matter if you have been a Sounders fan from the start, have never been to an MLS game, or have even been to Seattle – We welcome any and all who want to be a part of the excitement of singing and chanting for the Sounders.

Initially SoCalSound set aside 50 tickets for the Chivas USA game. They ended up with 80 at the game.

According to Brady, one of the founders, “We decided that if we were going to go to these games in LA, we didn’t want to be sitting quietly in our seats, waiting for a sounders goal for an opportunity to stand briefly and cheer – no, we were going to bring as many as we could to sing, stand, wave flags and scarves until the last player and coach left the field. We even got a bass drum!”

The SCS will attend each Sounders FC game in Los Angeles together to give their full 90 for the Rave Green! Winning, losing, or tied, we stand, sing, chant, beat their drum, and display their scarves and tifo to give their full support until the very last player and coach has left the pitch.

The SoCalSound meets up before each game at Home Depot Center in the East end of parking lot 6 for food and drink, singing and chanting, and getting to know each other. They march from the spot in lot 6 to their seats approximately 30 minutes before kickoff, carrying on the tradition of the March to the Match that happens at each Sounders home game! SCS is NOT a group of hooligans, and violence and verbal threats to opposing fans are not tolerated.

SoCalSound will also organize trips for more distant venues like San Jose.

Do you live in Southern California? Are you interested in joining the SoCalSound?

As of right now, they have arranged for group tickets to be held for us for each of the 2 remaining games in LA this year (June 6th vs Chivas USA and August 15th against the LA Galaxy- which will be David Beckham’s 1st MLS game in LA.

The LA Galaxy game on 8/15 is actually a priority in that they only have until 5/15 to sell out our block of 84 tickets (as of today we have 19 sold, which is great for this point).  If you want to join the SoCalSound, contact Sid: (310)-630-2236. Tickets are $25 each.

If you are interested in being with other Rave Green Supporters for the June 6th Contest against Chivas USA, contact Joseph at 310.630-4568.  We have excellent seats in row 1 and higher, same as the last game. Tickets are $18 each (+ $5 handling per order).

If you have any questions, ask away in the comments.

• 4p-550p: Membership drive at both Fuel and McCoy’s Firehouse
• 5:25 @ Fuel: Auctioning off two tickets to the match
• 5:35 @ McCoy’s: Auction off one ticket for the match
• 6:00: Leave Fuel and McCoy’s and head over to Occidental Park. Meet up with Sound Wave for the second march to Qwest Field.

Want to know where to meet up with other fans to join the march to Qwest?

The Emerald City Supporters have announced their plans for the Inaugural Match with meeting spots and times for all Sounders Fans to join.

Can’t wait, but want to show your support? Don’t forget to wear your Sounders FC scarf tomorrow!

The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle
And the hills the greenest green, in Seattle
Like a beautiful child, growing up, free an’ wild
Full of hopes an’ full of fears, full of laughter, full of tears
Full of dreams to last the years, in Seattle
. . . in Seattle!