Tilly

This is a bonus patch that came with the Oregon Kit 2025 Home sets, but what does it mean?

From the producer:

Tilly the Cheeseblock (they/them) was born by the magic of the TA when Tillamook’s cultural DNA was infused with PTFC. It was first manifested in the expression of Dan Wilson and grew organically from 103 and expanded outward near immediately. In fact, Dan’s name is hidden in the design.

Take a deep breath….

The Timbers army has a tradition of adding the word “Eh!” at the end of the each break in the lines of Canadian national anthem when it is sung before kickoff in games against Vancouver and Toronto. It’s a throwback to Bob and Doug and is poking fun at Canadian teams in an entirely good-natured way. I mean, we actually sing their anthem…

During the great shirt sponsor debacle of 2024, the Timbers were actually without a shirt sponsor for part of the year after it was discovered that the CFO the company that was our brand new sponsor (a company with a spotty reputation for bullying customers and shoddy end product and service) had overseen payments to cover up sexual misconduct by the CEO of the company. For seemingly the first time, the Timbers front office made the immediate correct decision in this situation (See #youKnew) and dropped Debella as the jersey sponsor.

Many thought we would be without a jersey sponsor for the rest of the season, while others speculated which regional businesses with a large enough brand presence would be a good fit. The most common answer seemed to be Tillamook Dairy, which already had a sizable in stadium promotional presence.

A few months later Tillamook was indeed revealed as the new jersey sponsor for the Timbers in a surprise announcement in May of 2024. Fans were so relieved that a local, scandal-free company held in high regard was chosen that it was almost a joyous occasion on the first home match with those new kits. The cheer of “Cheese” broke out spontaneously during our national anthem.

Instead of “O Canada! Our home and native land! …. EH!”

We heard “Oh say can you see… CHEESE!”

Did it make sense? No. Was it truly spontaneous? Probably? Who knows… but it is certainly funny. In any case it’s deeply ingrained in our culture for now. So much so that unfortunately the “CHEESE!” drowns out the customary “HA HA HA!” at the end of “…that our flag was still there.” Will it stick in the event that we no longer have Tillamook as a jersey sponsor? One day we might learn that answer, and if it does go way, it has been documented here for future Wikipedia citations.

This patch is part of a set: Oregon 2025 Kit, Oregon Kits series