CB – Liam Ridgewell – Unattached
The Portland Timbers’ captain for their 2015 success was Englishman Liam Ridgewell, who brought his Premier League knowledge and experience to the team. He played 37 times for the Timbers in their MLS Cup-winning season.
His career started way back in 2002, with Aston Villa in the Premier League. Ridgewell spent five seasons with the Villans, playing at both centre-back and left-back. The defender then moved to city-rivals Birmingham City, where he spent another five years. He played over 150 times for the side and was part of the Carling Cup-winning side in 2011.
From there, Ridgewell moved to West Bromwich Albion and spent a further two and a half years playing for the Baggies in the Premier League. He moved to Portland in June 2014 and was named to the MLS All-Star side that same season. After an off-season loan spell with Wigan Athletic, Ridgewell came back to Portland to lead the team to glory in the 2015 MLS Cup.
He also had a short off-season loan spell at Brighton and played his last game for the Timbers in the 2018 MLS Cup final defeat to Atlanta United. Ridgewell signed for Hull City, playing seven games for the Tigers in the 2018-19 campaign, but was released at the end of the season.