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Gavin Wilkinson

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Gavin Wilkinson
Personal information
Full name Gavin Brian Wilkinson
Date of birth (1973-11-05) 5 November 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Auckland, New Zealand
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1996 Waitakere City
1996–1999 Perth Glory 68 (4)
1999–2000 Instant-Dict 13 (2)
2000 Geylang United 15 (2)
2000–2001 Kilkenny City 12 (0)
2001–2006 Portland Timbers 124 (4)
International career‡
1996–2002 New Zealand 33 (1)
Managerial career
2005–2006 Portland Timbers (USL) (assistant)
2007–2010 Portland Timbers (USL)
2012 Portland Timbers (interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:47, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 October 2007
Wilkinson (centre) with Timbers owner Merritt Paulson (left) and player Nat Borchers in 2016

Gavin Wilkinson (born 5 November 1973) is a former New Zealand footballer who served as general manager and President of Soccer for the Portland Timbers from 2009 to 2022.

Prior to this position, Wilkinson was manager of Portland Timbers in the United Soccer League before their promotion to Major League Soccer beginning with the 2011 season. As a player, he was known as a strong leader and defender.[1]

Wilkinson was general manager and president of soccer for the Portland Thorns FC from its inception in 2013 until 2022. He was mentioned in the USSF Yates Report and NWSL Covington Report which documented allegations that Thorn's coach Paul Riley had engaged in sexual misconduct. Neither report recommended sanctions for Wilkinson, who was cleared of wrongdoing by an internal investigation and report conducted by DLA Piper, which found that Wilkinson was not involved with the events beyond terminating Paul Riley.[2] He was hired by Sporting Kansas City in January 2024 to serve as the franchise's sporting director, and released by SKC on 19 January 2024.

Playing career

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Club career

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Wilkinson played defence for with the USL Portland Timbers from 2001 to 2006, adding assistant coach duties in 2005 and 2006. Wilkinson retired as an active player and was named Head Coach and General Manager for Portland Timbers in September 2006. During the 2009 season, he directed the Timbers to the Commissioner's Cup as the regular season champion and a league record 24 game unbeaten string (14-0-10), smashing the previous record of 16.

International career

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Wilkinson played for the New Zealand national football team, the All Whites and collected 33 caps in official FIFA internationals, scoring 1 goal.[3]

Post-playing career

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Wilkinson also volunteers for EastSide Timbers FC, a youth soccer club based in Gresham, Oregon that he helped found and formerly ran.[4]

Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns

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On 18 January 2010, Wilkinson was named Technical Director of the expansion Portland Timbers club in Major League Soccer (MLS), set to begin play in the 2011 season. He assumed those duties while still coaching the Timbers through the 2010 season.[5]

During his tenure as president of soccer, the team appeared in the MLS Cup Playoffs seven times, winning the 2015 MLS Cup and the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament.[6] The team also won the Cascadia Cup in 2012, 2017 and 2022.[7] The Timbers were consistently ranked on the Forbes list of the most valuable MLS clubs and Sportico's list of most valuable MLS clubs.[8] The team entered the league in 2011 for a $35 million expansion fee and reached valuation of $390 million in 2019[9] and $635 million in 2021.[8]

Wilkinson was the general manager of the Portland Thorns, the Timbers' sister club in the National Women's Soccer League from its inception in 2013. Under Wilkinson, the Thorns were the most successful team in the NWSL,[8] winning three championships between 2013 and 2021. The team had the highest attendance in the league, and was valued at $65 million.[10]

In 2021, Wilkinson was put on administrative leave from the Thorns and later replaced by Karina LeBlanc due to a scandal surrounding allegations that coach Paul Riley, originally hired by Wilkinson, had sexually harassed Thorns players during his tenure from 2014 to 2015. An investigation by DLA Piper found that Wilkinson had committed no wrongdoing and had no involvement in the scandal besides terminating Riley after the 2015 season.[11][12]

An October 2022 report on abuse in the NWSL commissioned by the USSF and led by Sally Yates stated that Wilkinson had indicated that Riley should be hired by a different club, and that he had initially claimed to reporters that Riley was fired because the team failed to make the playoffs. In the report, medical staff of the club alleged that Wilkinson was told that Riley had endangered players by interfering with medical treatment.[13]

Wilkinson and the Portland Timbers front office faced further accusations of inaction in response to abuse reports in February 2022, after Andy Polo's contract with the Timbers was terminated due to allegations of domestic violence made by Polo's ex-partner.[14] Police reports indicated that Timbers employees were present when police arrived to investigate the initial call in May 2021, but the team failed to report the incident to the league for nine months. Polo's ex-partner stated that the Timbers did not try to dissuade her from filing charges against Polo, which was confirmed by an MLS investigation in March 2022. The investigation also found that the Timbers did not intentionally conceal the incident or their involvement.[15]

On 4 October, Timbers and Thorns owner Merritt Paulson announced that he, Wilkinson, and team president Mike Golub would recuse themselves from all Thorns decisions.[16] Earlier that day, the Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters formally demanded the removal of Wilkinson and Golub and for Paulson to sell the teams.[17]

On 5 October, Wilkinson and Golub were fired from the club.[17] A report in The Athletic stated that Wilkinson was set to receive a contract extension, with a clause which allowed the club to terminate for cause.[18]

Sporting Kansas City

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Wilkinson was hired by Sporting Kansas City in January 2024 to serve as the club's sporting director.[19]

On 19 January 2024, Wilkinson and Sporting Kansas City "mutually agreed" to release Wilkinson from his role with SKC.[20]

Personal life

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Wilkinson and his wife have two children.[5]

Philanthropy

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Wilkinson has been noted for his philanthropy. During his tenure, the Timbers and Thorns inaugurated their annual Stand Together Week, which hosts volunteer efforts and community outreach events in Portland.[21] Wilkinson has volunteered with and supported nonprofit organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which helps support the wishes of critically ill children,[22] Blessings in a Backpack, which provides nutritious meals to students, Solve Cleanup, which removes litter from public spaces,[23] and student art programs.[24]

Honours

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Player

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Perth Glory
  • Most Glorious Player Award (1x): 1996-1997

Manager

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Portland Timbers

Cascadia Cup (1x): 2012

USL-1 Coach of the Year (2x): 2007, 2009

Managerial stats

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Team Nat From To Record
G W L D Win %
Portland Timbers  United States 26 September 2006 10 October 2010 118 50 29 39 42.37
Awards
Preceded by
Inaugural
 Perth Glory Most Glorious Player Award
1996–97 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Mike Anhaeuser
 USL-1 Coach of the Year
2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Colin Clarke
 USL-1 Coach of the Year
2009 		Succeeded by

References

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  1. ^ "A-International Scorers - Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  2. ^ Clarke, Ryan (30 August 2022). "Details emerge from law firm's investigation into Portland Thorns' handling of former coach Paul Riley". oregonlive. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  3. ^ "A-International Appearances - Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  4. ^ "EastSide United FC - Technical Director". ESUFC. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  5. ^ a b Timbers, Portland. "Portland Timbers sign Gavin Wilkinson to long-term contract". Portland Timbers. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Portland Timbers capture MLS is Back Tournament title". SoccerWire.
  7. ^ Timbers, Portland. "Cascadia Cup 2024 standings". Timbers.com.
  8. ^ a b c "list of most valuable MLS franchises". Sportico.
  9. ^ "MLS team valuations". NYTimes.com.
  10. ^ "NWSL's Thorns Add New Investors". Sportico.
  11. ^ "Thorns FC statement on general manager/President of soccer Gavin Wilkinson | PTFC".
  12. ^ "Karina LeBlanc named Thorns FC general manager".
  13. ^ "Read the Report on Abuse in Women's Soccer". The New York Times. 3 October 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  14. ^ Freeman, Joe (9 February 2020). "Portland Timbers' Andy Polo accused of domestic violence, suspended by MLS". The Oregonian/Oregon Live. Advance Publications. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  15. ^ Rueter, Jeff (1 August 2022). "Contextualizing the Timbers' Andy Polo saga, as questions remain among fans". The Athletic. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Portland dismiss two execs following Yates report". ESPN.com. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  17. ^ a b Timbers, Portland. "President of soccer Gavin Wilkinson and president of business Mike Golub relieved of their duties | PTFC". Portland Timbers.
  18. ^ Linehan, Sam Stejskal, Paul Tenorio, Meg. "Timbers, Thorns FC fire Gavin Wilkinson, Mike Golub". The Athletic.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Bogert, Tom; Maurer, Pablo; Tenorio, Paul (11 January 2024). "Sporting KC hires former Portland Timbers, Thorns president Gavin Wilkinson". The Athletic. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  20. ^ Illig, Michael. "Statement from Principal Owner Michael Illig". SportingKC.com. Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Kids make slime with Timbers".
  22. ^ "Timbers sign 5-year-old goalkeeper to grant wish". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  23. ^ "Timbers kick off Stand Together Week".
  24. ^ "Timbers, Thorns clean up Portland".
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