FILE - Providence Park stadium in Portland, Ore., in 2024, home of the Portland Timbers soccer team.
Jenny Kane / AP
The Portland Timbers have a new head coach.
Martí Cifuentes, a 44-year-old Spaniard with more than two decades of coaching experience in Europe, is the Timbers’ next leader, the club announced Tuesday.
“A new era begins now for the Portland Timbers,” Ned Grabavoy, the team’s general manager, said in a press release Tuesday, “and we look forward to welcoming Martí and his family to this amazing club and city.”
Cifuentes, who is from Catalonia, Spain, previously coached in England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain. He helped the London-based Queens Park Rangers avoid relegation in 2023. He also managed Leicester City in the English Football League Championship in 2025 and was fired in January.
The Timbers “mutually parted ways” with Phil Neville, the club’s coach since the 2024 season, in late May after a rough start to the season. The Timbers made the postseason in Neville’s first two seasons as manager.
Cifuentes said in a statement that he was excited to join the Timbers. He said the club, “with such an incredible fanbase and an exciting group of players, is truly special.”
Martí Cifuentes has been named as the new head coach for the Portland Timbers, with a three-year contract through the 2028-29 season.
Courtesy of the Portland Timbers
“We want to build a team with a clear identity, strong ambition, and a real sense of togetherness, one that represents this city and makes our supporters proud,” Cifuentes said.
With the approval of a work visa, Cifuentes is expected to lead the team through the rest of the 2026 Major League Soccer season. He’ll join the team on a three-year contract that continues through the 2028-29 season.
He’ll be the fifth head coach in the Timbers’ MLS era. Jack Cassidy, the team’s interim head coach, will continue in his role until Cifuentes arrives. Cassidy coached just one match so far, a 5-1 thrashing of the Seattle Sounders on July 16. The MLS was on a three-week hiatus to make way for the FIFA World Cup.
Cifuentes garnered a winning record of 128-96-84 during his eight years of coaching.
The Timbers picked Cifuentes after what was “by far the most detailed and exhaustive head coaching search the Timbers have ever executed,” club owner Merritt Paulson said in the news release.
Paulson described Cifuentes as “a young, analytical leader who is as intellectually curious about his trade as I have seen in a coach.”
“He has been tested in a variety of high-pressure environments and countries, and I have no doubt that with our support, Martí Cifuentes will build something truly special in Portland,” Paulson said.
The Timbers, with a record of 5-8-2, are 11th in the Western Conference.
