Sophia Smith has a message for disgruntled Portland Thorns fans considering a boycott of the team’s games: Please keep showing up.
Already stinging over the team’s handling of former coach Paul Riley, Thorns fans were further rocked last week with the release of the Yates report.
The investigation revealed even more harmful actions undertaken by Thorns leadership, who were shown to have given a positive recommendation for a new job to Riley after he was fired by the Thorns amid an investigation into sexual misconduct.
In the fallout, the club has fired Gavin Wilkinson, the president of soccer for both the Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers, and the organization’s president of business Mike Golub, who the report said created “an atmosphere of disrespect and intimidation towards women and working mothers employed at the club over a span of 11 years.”
Under-fire owner Merritt Paulson has taken a step back from running the Thorns, but fans have been calling for him to go one step further and sell the NWSL club and the Portland Timbers of MLS.
Speaking to the media ahead of the U.S. national team’s friendly against Spain on Tuesday, Smith urged Thorns fans to continue showing up at Providence Park despite their justified anger with the club.
“I think what everyone is trying to do is support the players,” Smith said.
“I think that’s the most important thing that anyone can do right now. I think in terms of our home game coming up, obviously it would be really disappointing to play in front of an empty, silent stadium. I think ultimately, fans not showing up affects the players more than it affects anyone.”
The Thorns will host a NWSL semifinal match on October 23 against the winner of the San Diego Wave-Chicago Red Stars quarterfinal tie.
Last week, Thorns and Timbers supporters released a statement calling on Paulson to sell the two teams. They added that while they still back the players, “With playoffs approaching, yes, it means that game days might look different.”
Smith and her Thorns teammates hope that’s not the case.
“Talking to some of my teammates, we would still really like people to show up and support us, because at the end of the day, even through all of this, we still have to step on the field and perform and play soccer,” she said.
“Our biggest thing is we want to do that in front of our fans because that’s one of the positive things that we have left in Portland and something that we always look forward to.”
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