Bevycup 2023 Event and Photos
There’s another soccer tradition in Portland that brings us together, one nearly as old as the Timbers. “The exact beginning of the Bevy Cup is a little sketchy,” the Cup’s website reads, “but we believe it was started by Jack Morton as the Nation’s Cup in 1980.” Originally including teams with ties to and representing Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, and the U.S., the initial version of the Cup lasted until 1986.
Then time passed.
In 1992, it returned, this time named The Bevy Cup. In its tenure, the annual event has brought together a collection of different European expats, around the game and each other, stretching generations but representing what is, ultimately, one soccer community.
Many former Timbers (and their sons) have played in the Cup over the years: Jimmy Conway, John Bain, Mick Hoban, Bernie Fagan, Tony Betts, Andrew Gregor, and Scot Thompson. That’s not an exhaustive roster.
The Bevy Cup even has a Hall of Fame, with names like Timbers Conway and Bain, and referee Eric Beck. Those familiar with the Green Is the Color podcast likely know it’s Eric who wrote and sings the song that opens and closes each episode.
And, those familiar with soccer in this area over the past four decades also know Eric as a referee and referee coordinator, from youth and local indoors to college and professional levels. Eric is in the Region IV Adult Soccer Hall of Fame, where the Region’s Referee Lifetime Achievement Award has just this year been renamed in his honor.
This season’s Bevy Cup (a one-match tie between Scotland and Ireland) kicked off on New Year’s Eve, at Buckman Field in inner Northeast Portland. And true to form, Eric got it going with a mostly formal note. “We’ll play 35-minute halves,” he told the Scotland coach John Bain. “Unless you’re ahead in the second half, and we’ll go down to 20.”
In a moment of great gravity, Timbers Ring of Honor Member John Bain pulled everyone from both sides together. “Obviously, with the Bevy Cup, we’ve had a lot of tradition and a lot of people who have been involved over the years,” he told the gathered players. “Bernie Fagan, as many of you know, him and his sons Ross and Ian have played in the Bevy Cup for many years, and Bernie has taken a turn for the worse with his health.” None there, not even John, knew at the time that Bernie had already passed, but all felt his presence in his name’s mention.
As for the soccer, Ireland easily claimed the Cup in a match that wasn’t close—but the sport is secondary. Whatever time it was that passed over the halves, it was spent together around the game with each other.
“The more we play together, the better understanding we have of each other.”
After the match, all headed to The Horse Brass Pub, itself somewhat of a Portland Soccer institution, with NASL and Timbers ephemera covering parts of the walls and ceiling, including a framed Graham Day #5 Timbers Jersey. (Coincidentally, it was Day who scored the one goal in that 1979 season finale against the Aztecs.)
Partway through the festivities, Eric Beck requested everyone’s attention. He was starting a new tradition in the Bevy Cup: A proper person-of-the-Cup award to be handed out that day and each year going forward. The award is named for his son, Kyle Beck, who passed away in January of 2022. Many in that room knew Kyle from when he was a kid, from hanging around the sidelines at fields where his dad refereed. Kyle also played for John Bain, as many have been fortunate to do. Eric wanted to honor his son’s name in the community where he’ll always live: our community, around the game of soccer.
Because of the work I’ve been doing here with Green Is the Color, to collect and share our soccer stories, Eric asked if I would present the award. I was honored to participate and present it to John Bain, a person whose contribution to soccer here is immeasurable.
The next Bevy Cup will be December 31, 2024.
