Columbus Crew SC Team History

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, but it was eventually renamed the Crew.

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 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th edition of the MLS Cup Playoffs, the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. The tournament culminated the 2020 MLS regular season. The playoffs began on November 20 and concluded with MLS Cup 2020 on December 12.

On October 29, the league announced that the final regular-season standings and playoff qualification would be determined by points per game rather than by overall points. This was due to eight MLS clubs, all in the Western Conference, being unable to play all of their scheduled 23 regular season matches in time due to COVID-19 cases. Seven postponed matches were canceled altogether in order for the playoffs to be able to start on the scheduled date.

The 2020 regular season Supporters’ Shield champions were the Philadelphia Union, who were eliminated in the first round by the New England Revolution.

Seattle Sounders FC were the defending MLS Cup champions, having won their second title in MLS Cup 2019. They were beaten by Columbus Crew SC 3–0 in the MLS Cup final. As a result, Columbus Crew SC earned their second MLS Cup title, and first since 2008.