2014 Columbus Crew season


The 2014 Columbus Crew season was the club's 19th season of existence and their 19th consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States and Canada. The first match of the season was on March 8 against D.C. United. It was the first season under head coach Gregg Berhalter.

Review

The 2014 season was a significant break from the past, particularly off the field. New owner Anthony Precourt, having purchased the team from Hunt Sports Group midway through 2013, made his presence felt often through the year. The team enjoyed its best performance in several years, including an appearance in the playoffs for the first time in three years. Gregg Berhalter was handed the helm, serving both as head coach and sporting director. He was joined by a trio of assistant coaches that included fellow World Cup veteran Josh Wolff, and longtime MLS goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
Columbus started the season with three consecutive victories, including a road win over Seattle Sounders FC. This torrid beginning then cooled dramatically as Columbus won only one of their next 16 games. Dominic Oduro, the leading scorer from the previous year, was dealt to Toronto while Jairo Arrieta likewise struggled to make an impact. Defensively a pair of new Costa Rican signings, Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis, missed significant time due to Costa Rica's run to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The defensive changes could have been more drastic, however, as Michael Parkhurst was left off the American squad.
A handful of players emerged in the latter half of the season, however, leading the team to a dramatic turnaround and ultimately a postseason berth. Federico Higuain was joined atop the scoring charts by third-year winger Ethan Finlay, with both ending the year with 11 goals and seven assists. Other significant players included the pairing of Tony Tchani and Wil Trapp at holding midfield and goalkeeper Steve Clark.
Ultimately, however, the team's quest for its first hardware since 2009 came up empty. It was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup after two games, falling once again to the Chicago Fire. The mid season doldrums ruled the club out of contention for Supporters Shield. Finally, the team was comprehensively outplayed in the playoffs by the New England Revolution, defeated 7–3 on aggregate over a two-game series. The team finished their last playoff game with only nine players on the field after ejections to Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram.
Off the field, new owner Anthony Precourt made sweeping changes. Long-serving General Manager Mark McCullers left the organization in the spring, replaced by Andy Loughnane after a nationwide search. While there was widespread criticism of the team's new television contract with Time Warner Sportschannel Ohio, the team continued its success at the turnstile. Three years after team attendance plummeted to less than 12,000, the team enjoyed five sellout crowds during 2014 and finished the year with the highest total attendance in the history of Crew Stadium.
The most significant change, however, was the revelation of a new team identity. The team's logo, unchanged since 1996, was jettisoned in favor of a new design that tried to better reflect the team's relationship to central Ohio. The name of the team was also changed slightly, becoming Columbus Crew SC. These changes were nearly unanimously applauded, in sharp contrast to the reaction to a new MLS logo that was also unveiled during the course of the season.

Non-competitive

Preseason

The Crew started preseason in Columbus and played games in Florida before returning to Ohio. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Konrad Warzycha and Patrick Slogic.
Unsigned draft picks Ben Sweat, Fifi Baiden and Adam Bedell also joined the team for preseason.

Competitive

MLS

Standings

Eastern Conference">Eastern Conference (MLS)">Eastern Conference
Overall table

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.

Transfers

MLS Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for the Columbus Crew are listed below:

Awards

[2014 MLS All-Star Game]

;Starters

2014 MLS Homegrown Game">MLS Homegrown Game">2014 MLS Homegrown Game

Postseason

;MLS Fair Play Award
;Marketing Team of the Year
;Ticketing Sales Innovation Award
;Article of the Year

Crew Team Awards

Kits

TypeShirtShortsSocksFirst appearance / Info
HomeYellowYellowYellow
AwayWhite / Black-YellowWhiteBlack
Away Alt.White / Black-YellowWhiteWhiteMLS, March 8 against D.C. United