Christine Sinclair and the Portland Thorns have found their spark just in time for Seattle
The greatest goal scorer in international soccer history has rekindled her love for the sport under interim Portland manager Rob Gale.
PORTLAND — Christine Sinclair was told not to swear.
It was a few weeks after the Portland Thorns won the club’s third NWSL title in 2022 when the team’s all-time leading scorer took to the podium at Providence Park, announced her return for 2023 and then exercised the freedom one earns when they’re the most accomplished athlete to ever spend their career in this city.
“Fuck Seattle,” Sinclair said to drop the mic.
The crowd ate it up.
And while the following 2023 season didn’t end with another title, the Thorns did beat Seattle twice in a season that eventually ended in the NWSL’s semifinals. Despite her publicized retirement from an international career that saw her score more goals than any man, woman or GOAT on the planet, Sinclair signed a one-year deal with Portland in Janauary, saying that with new ownership she was “thrilled to be back at Portland for another year and be a part of this next era of soccer in the Rose City.”
But by April, one had to wonder whether the 40-year-old had any regrets about sticking around for this assumed final ride.
The Thorns were winless through four games, Sinclair hadn’t played more than 45 minutes and when the club elected to reassign head coach Mike Norris within the organization and promote assistant Rob Gale as the team’s interim manager, well, that appeared to be a finger in the dam for a club off to its worst start in franchise history.
A couple of practices after the change, Sinclair noted the challenge the team faced — with a slight foreshadowing of what was to become.
“With Rob coming in, it’s just about energy at this point,” she said. “We’re not going to change a ton in three days, but as a collective, we’re kind of throwing out those first three games and starting fresh.”
A month later, after scoring her second goal in her last three games, this time keying Portland to its fourth consecutive win since the coaching change, Sinclair had a request for the media.
“Make sure you comment on his suits, OK?”
Since assuming his role as the team’s leader, the Thorns have rarely seen their manager in anything but his weekend’s best. In Saturday’s win over Washington, Gale sported a trim burgundy ensemble that he said grew a shade darker in color as Portland secured a 2-1 win amidst a downpour.
No worries if the coat ended up a bit soiled — Gale has a closet full of fabric.
“He wears these every day, by the way,” Portland assistant Sarah Lowdon said.
“We have a bowl with their names in it and we just shuffle and pick one,” added fellow assistant Vytas Andriuskevicius.
Gale couldn’t keep from smiling.
“I’m representing an organization and they need to see me on the sideline looking as sharp as the players are playing,” he said. “And if I can keep up with that, then we’ll be OK.”
The makeover of the Thorns on the pitch under Gale has frankly been unbelievable. It took three weeks for Portland to climb from the basement of the NWSL and back into playoff contention, where the club now sits fourth overall with a 4-3-1 (13 points) record. The club has seen a few spectacular individual performances — Sophia Smith has three braces on the year — and is playing with a flow and cohesion absent throughout the first month. It’s especially evident from the opening whistle, where Portland has scored five goals in the opening 10 minutes of its last four matches.
“We know this is the time to step up since we had such a bad start,” said defender Isabella Obaze. “It’s just having each other’s backs and just knowing that we’re in this 100 percent together. That really just helps us be ready for the game and score early.”
One of the biggest changes has been in Sinclair, who has played 45-plus minutes in each match since the change1 and has found the back of the net twice. This comes after a 2023 season where she scored just three times — her lowest output since an injury-plagued 2015 saw the Canadian score twice in nine games.
It’s a small sample size, but Sinclair’s 0.67 goals per 90 minutes played in 2024 sits as the best output of her 12 seasons with the club.
“Rob just kind of helped me re-find my love for the game,” Sinclair said. “It’s been an absolute blast and privilege to play these last four games. He has just told me to go out and play free. Just read the game.
“And yeah, I mean, I’ve always been able to put the ball in the net when you give me a chance.”
“She trains so well,” Gale added. “She’s just a fantastic footballer. The longevity. The greatest goal-scorer of all time. We can’t give her any more roses, but she deserves them all. She gets the ball, she gets into gray areas and you always trust her to score a goal. When you see the fluidity of the front three…they can play anywhere and they need to play with freedom and joy. And they do that. You can see and feel the energy and the interchanging and hopefully it keeps the opposition guessing.”
It’s worked four games in a row, giving Portland the opportunity to win a club-record fifth consecutive contest at the expense of its biggest rival on Saturday.
Setting history? Against, ahem, fucking Seattle? Now that’s the ride Sinclair signed up for as a season-long quest for a fourth NWSL title suddenly and stunningly seems back in play.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Sinclair said. “I’m not going to lie.”
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor
Sinclair wasn’t available for Portland’s 3-2 win over Bay FC on Wednesday.
Great story. And I know nothing about Rob Gale. Makes me want to google me some bio on him! Go Thorns! (I'm an Oregonian who lived in the London area for nearly 20 years, so I had a gut feeling he was British!)
Good article and great to see the Thorns back to winning. One wonders what was up the first four games.