Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 charter clubs of the league. The Crew are currently operated by an ownership group led by the Haslam family and former team physician Pete Edwards. The Haslam/Edwards group is the third ownership group in club history.
The franchise was founded in 1994. Its stadium is ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, opened in 2021. From 1999 to 2021, the Crew played home games at Historic Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium built for an MLS team, with a seating capacity of 19,968 as of the 2015 season. From 1996 to 1998, the Crew played its home games at Ohio Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University. In 2023, the team set club attendance records for both most cumulative attendance and most sellouts.
The Crew have won eight major trophies: the MLS Cup in 2008, 2020 and 2023; the Supporters' Shield in 2004, 2008, and 2009; the 2002 U.S. Open Cup; and the Leagues Cup in 2024. The Crew have qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup six times, reaching the quarter-finals on five occasions. In 2021, the club won their first continental trophy by winning the Campeones Cup, and in 2024, the Crew advanced to their first Champions' Cup final.
History
The beginning (1994–1998)
On June 15, 1994, Major League Soccer announced that Columbus, Ohio, would be home to one of the ten founding members of the new top flight North American professional soccer league. Columbus had promised construction of a soccer-specific stadium and had sold over 12,000 season ticket deposits. The team was tentatively named the Columbus Eclipse in its application to the league, as a solar eclipse had passed over the city after reaching the league's 10,000-deposit minimum. Prior to the initial MLS season, a public contest was created to decide the name for the team. The name "the Crew", was picked out of 2,500 entrants and 650 nickname suggestions. The winning individual linked it to the city's namesake of Christopher Columbus, his voyages, and the crew that accompanied him on his discoveries. By the time the team had begun creating imagery and logos for the team, it was quickly realized that the connection to the explorer would likely prove to be controversial. Thus, the franchise then chose to instead emphasize another type of crew while keeping the moniker, with the team's first crest featuring three shadowed men in hard hats representing the construction workers and Midwestern work ethic.MLS investor Lamar Hunt, and his son Clark became the owners of both the Columbus Crew and Kansas City Wizards in 1996. The first players for the Crew were South African national team veteran Doctor Khumalo, by assignment, and Brian McBride. McBride was selected as the first overall pick in MLS's first draft in 1996. Former U.S. National Team coach Timo Liekoski would be the team's head coach for its first season.
The Crew played their first game on April 13, 1996, in front of a home crowd of 25,266 in Ohio Stadium against D.C. United and won 4–0. Columbus would struggle, however, winning only 5 of their next 21 games. After the 6–16 start, Tom Fitzgerald replaced head coach Liekoski. The Crew, under Fitzgerald, won 9 of their last 10 games to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference. They went on to lose in the conference playoff semi-finals.
The Black & Gold finished 15–17 in both 1997 and 1998, which put them in third and fourth place, respectively, in the Eastern Conference. Each season ended with losses in the Conference Finals to D.C. United. In 1998, the Crew reached the U.S. Open Cup Final. However, the match was postponed due to a hurricane and was controversially relocated from Virginia Beach to Soldier Field in Chicago, the home of the Chicago Fire. The Fire would go on to win the match 2–1 after extra time. Stern John, in his first of two seasons with Columbus, was the 1998 scoring champion, amassing 26 goals and 5 assists.
A new home (1999–2003)
Columbus's 1999 season began with the opening of Columbus Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States. Columbus won their first game in the stadium, 2–0, against New England Revolution in front of a sell-out crowd of 24,741. Columbus would finish in second place at 19–13, but would lose in the conference finals to D.C. United for the third straight season. The 1999 season was the last for Stern John who scored 52 goals in 65 games for the club. The team had the lowest goals against average in the Eastern Conference, and Mark Dougherty became the first goalkeeper in league history to record 50 wins, with a 4–2 win over the MetroStars on August 18, 1999, at Giants Stadium.The Crew hosted the 2000 MLS All-Star Game, with Mike Clark, Brian McBride, and Dante Washington representing Columbus in the game. The aforementioned Dante Washington was acquired from the Dallas Burn to replace Stern John, but his 13 goals in 2000 was not enough to propel the Crew to the playoffs. For the first time, Columbus failed to reach the postseason. Columbus got off to a slow 1–3–2 start in 2001, which led to the replacement of coach Tom Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, who had coached 161 of the Crew's first 183 MLS matches over parts of six seasons between 1996 and 2001, was replaced by Greg Andrulis. Andrulis would lead the Black & Gold to a 2nd-place finish in 2001 but the team was ousted from the playoffs in the league quarterfinals.
In 2002, Columbus would win the U.S. Open Cup for the first time in team history. They advanced to the finals by beating the Richmond Kickers, MetroStars, and Kansas City Wizards. In the final, they beat LA Galaxy, who had just won the MLS Cup earlier in the week. Freddy García scored the only goal and keeper Jon Busch posted the shutout in Columbus's 1–0 win. It was the first championship in team history. The Crew finished 11–12–5 in the regular season and finished in a tie for first place. They lost in the league semi-finals to New England. Kyle Martino won rookie of the year in 2002, a first for the Crew. By winning the 2002 U.S. Open Cup, Columbus received a bid to play in the 2003 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. They advanced to the second round by beating Árabe Unido 4–2 on aggregate in the first round before losing to Monarcas Morelia, 6–2. McBride would play his final season with Columbus in 2003 before joining Fulham of the Premier League.
Transitions (2004–2006)
With the departure of Brian McBride, Columbus added Robin Fraser and Simon Elliott to the club. These additions proved to be vital as Fraser went on to win the Defender of the Year award in 2004. The Crew won the Supporters' Shield set a franchise record for points, 49, by going 12–5–13, thanks in part to an 18-game unbeaten streak to end the season. Despite winning the Supporters' Shield for best record in the league, the club would be eliminated from the MLS Cup in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. In his last season for the Black & Gold, Jeff Cunningham scored his 62nd goal, which tied him with McBride for the franchise record.Over both of the next two seasons, Columbus battled injuries to several players and struggled to win many games. Despite winning the MLS Coach of the Year Award in 2004, Andrulis was replaced on an interim basis by Robert Warzycha midway through the 2005 season. After missing the playoffs in the 2005 season, the club would hire former L.A. Galaxy and UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid. Schmid had won an MLS Cup and U.S. Open Championship in his six seasons with Galaxy. Warzycha remained on staff under Schmid. In 2006, the Crew went on a 13-game winless streak between June 10 and August 19. The season ended on a tragic note when team founder and owner Lamar Hunt died on December 14, 2006.
Around this time, Columbus Crew supporters began using the term "Massive" to describe the club and city, at first ironically, but then as a term of pride and endearment of the club that continuously fought the odds.
The Barros Schelotto era (2007–2010)
The 2007 season in Major League Soccer started with news that global icon David Beckham signed with the LA Galaxy. The Crew followed suit by signing Guillermo Barros Schelotto on April 19, 2007. Columbus also signed forward Alejandro Moreno to bolster its attack. Even with these new players, the Crew still missed the playoffs in 2007.In 2008, the Crew won its first Eastern Conference title, and subsequently, its first MLS Cup. Led by Barros Schelotto, who scored seven goals and had 19 assists and won the MLS Most Valuable Player Award, the team also won its second Supporters' Shield. After going 17–7–6 in the regular season, the Black & Gold won playoff games against Kansas City and Chicago Fire before beating the New York Red Bulls 3–1 in the final. Chad Marshall won MLS Defender of the Year award, and Sigi Schmid won Coach of the Year.
After the 2008 season, Sigi Schmid declined a contract offer from Columbus and became coach of Seattle Sounders FC. The Crew's ownership believed that Schmid had been in contact with the Sounders despite being denied permission to talk to other teams during the season. It was also alleged that he shared confidential information with Seattle after his contract with the Crew had ended. Major League Soccer ruled that no tampering had occurred, but ordered Seattle to financially compensate the Crew. Columbus would then name former player and assistant coach Robert Warzycha head coach. In 2009, Barros Schelotto was rewarded with the honor of becoming the franchise's first Designated Player. The club went 13–7–10 in the regular season, good enough for 49 points and their second consecutive Supporters' Shield. The Crew were eliminated by Real Salt Lake in the two-legged Eastern Conference semi-finals, 4–2 on aggregate. Chad Marshall won his second consecutive MLS Defender of the Year award.
Columbus started the 2010 season in the CONCACAF Champions League. They reached the quarterfinals but lost to Toluca in March. The club finished the season 14–8–8 but lost in the quarterfinals of the MLS Cup playoffs to the Colorado Rapids. The Crew lost 2–1 in the 2010 U.S. Open Cup Final at Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Sounders.