Portland Timbers' week gets worse as captain Liam Ridgewell gets arrested for DUI, risking deportation

A day after the Portland Timbers missed the Major League Soccer playoffs with an embarrassing 4-1 loss to the rival Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday, meaning they’ll be unable to defend their 2015 championship, there was more embarrassing news for the proud Rose City club.

Following a disastrous 12-14-8 season, in which the Timbers failed to win a single away game in spite of being favored to grow into one of the league’s juggernauts, both starting goalkeeper Jake Gleeson and captain Liam Ridgewell were arrested for driving under the influence early Tuesday.

According to an Oregonian report, Gleeson crashed his BMW into another car late on Monday night. He called Ridgewell to pick him up, but the BMW’s emergency system had notified the police. When it arrived, both men were arrested and jailed on a DUI accusation, as it appeared Ridgewell was also intoxicated. They both failed field sobriety tests and then refused to take breath tests, for which they were cited. Gleeson also stands accused of reckless driving and reckless endangerment. Both men were booked into a county jail and released on a $7,500 bond.

The Timbers released the following statement on their website:

“The team is aware of the events that occurred last evening involving players Jake Gleeson and Liam Ridgewell and is in the process of gathering information on the matter. The team has been in close contact with the players, local law enforcement and the league office. The club will not have further comment until more information is available.”

Ridgewell is the Timbers’ defensive rock and their best-paid player with a $1.14 million guaranteed annual salary. His contract was recently renewed through the 2018 season. The Designated Player, 32, had started his career in the English Premier League with Aston Villa, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion.

Gleeson, 26, is from New Zealand and became the team’s starting goalkeeper this year. He has been in the country long enough to receive his green card, which will protect his status in the country from a DUI conviction. Ridgewell, however, is an Englishman who appears to still be in the United States on a P-1 work visa, a special designation for professional athletes.

The retention and renewal of such visas can be complicated significantly by a DUI conviction, or even for an arrest on such a charge. Stringent new State Department regulations now allow for the revocation of visas on those grounds. Ridgewell, in other words, could be deported for this incident.

The Timbers may have just lost their title defense as well as their captain in the span of two days.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.