Columbus Crew

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Full name	Columbus Crew
Nickname(s)	The Massive, The Crew, America's Hardest Working Team
Founded	June 15, 1994
Stadium	Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus, Ohio (Capacity: 20,145[1])
Owner	Clark Hunt
Head Coach	Robert Warzycha
League	Major League Soccer
2011	Eastern Conference: 4th Overall: 9th Playoffs: Wildcard
Website	Club home page
Home colors Away colors
Current season

The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio which competes in Major League Soccer (MLS). It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception.

The club was owned by Lamar Hunt, who also owned the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City), and Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) until his death in 2006. Upon his death, his son Clark Hunt took over his sports properties. The Crew currently plays their home games at Columbus Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium ever built by an MLS franchise, with a seating capacity of 20,455 - as of the 2008 Season.^[2] From 1996 to 1998, the Crew played their home games at Ohio Stadium on the campus of the Ohio State University. The nickname "the Crew" is the result of a local fan contest. The team colors are black and gold. The team mascot is Crew Cat.

The Crew has won five major trophies: MLS Cup 2008, the 2004, 2008 and 2009 Supporters' Shields, and the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Crew won the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy by a score of 1 to 0 at Columbus Crew Stadium. The game's lone goal was scored by Freddy García. The Crew then won its first MLS Supporters' Shield during the 2004 in a tie-breaker over the Kansas City Wizards. During the 2008 MLS Season the Crew won its second Supporters' Shield by six points over Houston, en route to defeating the New York Red Bulls in MLS Cup 2008 by a score of 3 to 1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto assisted on all three Crew goals. The Crew reached the 1998 U.S. Open Cup Final, which was postponed due to a hurricane and controversially relocated from Virginia Beach to Soldier Field, then the home of Chicago Fire, who won the match 2 to 1 after extra time. The Crew lost in the 2010 U.S. Open Cup Final at Qwest Field, home of Seattle Sounders, again by a 2-1 scoreline.

History[link]

The Beginning: 1994–1998[link]

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.^[3] 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 the 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.^[4][5]

The Crew played their first game on April 13, 1996 against D.C. United and won 4–0 in front of a home crowd of 25,266 in Ohio Stadium.^[6] Columbus would struggle, however, winning only 5 of their next 21 games. After the 6–16 start, Tom Fitzgerald replaced head coach Liekoski.^[7] 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 semifinals of the playoffs.^[8]