Phil Neville, somehow, is back in Major League Soccer. A lot of Portland Timbers fans wish he wasn’t – and they have been vocal in saying so. When the club published an announcement video of Neville stepping over the stands at Providence Park, it inadvertently symbolised how the concerns of supporters have been ignored to appoint the former England international. The video was deleted, but fans aren’t ready to accept Neville
Neville, as his detractors see it, was a failure in the only other MLS position he has held.
Under his stewardship, Inter Miami were the worst team in the league, sitting rock bottom of the Eastern Conference when he was fired in June. This was pre-Lionel Messi, of course, but still: Neville’s qualifications as an MLS manager are far from convincing.
Timbers fans have also questioned Neville’s character, particularly relating to his past statements on social about women. “[Neville] has a history of sexist public statements that run counter to our ethos as a club, city and supporters’ group,” the Timbers Army said in a statement. Neville acknowledged his statements after being appointed manager of the England women’s team. “The tweets were wrong then and wrong now,” Neville told the Guardian in 2019.
This isn’t the first time Neville’s distasteful comments about women from more than a decade ago have been dredged up, but the discussion is particularly pertinent given the Portland Timbers’ recent controversies. This is, after all, an organization (including the Portland Thorns) that faced widespread criticism for its handling of a series of sexual misconduct and domestic violence allegations. The club settled a domestic violence lawsuit with the estranged wife of former midfielder Andy Polo in 2022. MLS fined Portland $25,000 for failing to disclose the allegations of domestic violence.
The Thorns dismissed coach Paul Riley in 2015 season after a player, Mana Shim, made a formal complaint to the team that Riley had sexually harassed her. Allegations about Riley’s sexual misconduct were known by players, a coach, an owner and an assistant general manager for another team before the complaint, according to an independent investigation into claims of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women’s professional soccer. The Thorns then helped Riley to get another job in the NWSL with the Western New York Flash, according to the report.
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