The Portland Thunderbirds, formerly the Portland Pioneers, were a semi-professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

from 1961 to 1966. They played at

Multnomah Stadium Multnomah may refer to: *The Multnomah people, a Chinookan people who lived in the area of modern Portland, Oregon, United States **''Multnomah'', the middle Chinookan dialect of the Multnomah people ;Places, vessels, and institutions whose name ...

(now known as Providence Park).

History

An amateur football team known as the "Pioneers" played in 1961, but not in an organized league. In 1962 the North Pacific Amateur Football League was formed, which barred players with professional football experience. The Portland team renamed themselves the "Thunderbirds". The team returned in 1963 with John Moynihan as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

. The league was renamed the North Pacific Football League and reclassified as a semi-professional circuit. That year the Thunderbirds held practices at

Delta Park Delta Park is a public municipal park complex in north Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Delta Park is composed of two distinct sections referred to as East and West Delta Park. The Owens Sports Complex is a notable attraction of East Delta Pa ...

in North Portland. The Thunderbirds joined the newly formed Pacific Coast Semi-Pro Football League in 1964. They were sponsored by the Portland Junior Chamber of Commerce that year. Plans to join the Continental Football League failed in 1967, and the Thunderbirds subsequently disbanded.

References

American football teams established in 1961 American football teams disestablished in 1966 Thunderbirds Thunderbirds Defunct American football teams in Oregon 1961 establishments in Oregon 1966 disestablishments in Oregon {{oregon-sport-team-stub

History

See also

References