When did that happen? The history of the Columbus Crew

Columbus Crew timeline

June 15, 1994 – The city of Columbus is awarded one of the 10 inaugural clubs in Major League Soccer.

The Dispatch reports the next day that the new team could be named “Eclipse.”

June 8, 1995 – Lamar Hunt and his family are announced as the investor-operators of Columbus' Major League Soccer team.

Oct. 17, 1995 – Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka unveils Columbus’ name, logo, uniform, and colors.

Columbus resident Luis Orozco's suggestion of "The Crew" is picked as the winner of a month-long contest to name the team.

Feb. 6, 1996 – Major League Soccer holds an inaugural player draft, and the Crew take Brian McBride, a two-time All-American from St. Louis, first overall.

March 4, 1996 – The Crew make forward Mac Cozier out of Charlotte the club's first-ever pick from a pool of college players in the SuperDraft. He goes No. 10 overall.

April 13, 1996 – The Crew play their inaugural game against D.C. United, a 4-0 Columbus victory in front of a crowd of 25,266 at Ohio Stadium. McBride scores twice.

Aug. 2, 1996 – With The Crew in fifth place and a 6-16 record, coach Timo Liekoski resigns. Assistant coach Tom Fitzgerald is named Liekoski's replacement.

Sept. 25, 1996 – The Crew make their first-ever playoff appearance, losing at home 2-0 to Tampa Bay.

May 14, 1997 – Columbus hosts its first international friendly, a 2-1 win over Leeds United.

Oct. 4, 1997 – The Crew win a playoff game for the first time, beating Tampa Bay 2-1. They win again versus the Mutiny three days later, this time 2-0, to take the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. That's where Columbus' season ends with 3-2 and 1-0 losses to D.C. United.

Jan. 31, 1998 – The Crew select forward Jeff Cunningham from South Florida in the SuperDraft on Jan. 31.

Cunningham is the first of Columbus' notable picks in the SuperDraft, which starting in 2000 would include all eligible players, not just those in college. The club later takes Duncan Oughton and Edson Buddle (2001), Kyle Martino and Jon Busch (2002), Chad Marshall (2004), Kei Kamara (2006), Ethan Finlay (2012), Lalas Abubakar (2017), Patrick Schulte and Philip Quinton (2022) and Max Arfsten (2023), among others.

Aug. 14, 1998 – The Crew break ground on the country's first soccer-specific stadium.

MLS Commissioner Doug Logan announces the 22,500-seat stadium will host the MLS All-Star Game in 2000 and the 2001 MLS Cup.

Oct. 18, 1998 – In the last MLS game ever played at Ohio Stadium, The Crew leave “The Shoe” with a 4-2 playoff win over D.C., snapping United’s MLS record 13-game playoff win streak. The Crew end the Ohio Stadium era with an all-time home record of 33-20.

May 15, 1999 – The Crew open Columbus Crew Stadium by downing the New England Revolution 2-0 before a sold-out crowd of 24,741.

July 29, 2000 – A standing-room-only crowd of 23,495 is on hand as Columbus Crew Stadium hosts the 2000 MLS All-Star Game. Mike Clark, Brian McBride, and Dante Washington represent the hometown Crew.

May 17, 2001 – Tom Fitzgerald is dismissed as Crew head coach and replaced on an interim basis by his top assistant Greg Andrulis, who is later given the job.

Oct. 24, 2002 – With a 1-0 home victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Crew win the U.S. Open Cup.

Oct. 16, 2004 – As the result of a 1-1 tie on the road against the Colorado Rapids, the Crew earn the first of the team's three Supporter's Shields (a feat they repeat in 2008 and 2009) with the most points (49) in MLS and a record of 12-5-13 under coach Greg Andrulis.

Less than a month later, Andrulis is named MLS Coach of the Year, making him the first Crew coach so honored, and Robin Fraser is awarded MLS Defender of the Year.

July 12, 2005 – After a 49-43-32 tenure, coach Greg Andrulis is relieved of his duties. Assistant coach Robert Warzycha is named interim head coach.

Oct. 20, 2005 – Sigi Schmid is announced as the fifth head coach in Crew history. Interim head coach Robert Warzycha accepts an offer to remain as Schmid’s top assistant.

Dec. 14, 2006 – Crew Founder Lamar Hunt, one of the most renowned pioneers in American sports history, dies following an eight-year battle with prostate cancer.

Oct. 26, 2008 – By wrapping up the regular season with a 1-0 win over D.C. United, the Crew set a franchise record with 57 points (a mark they will end up matching in 2023) on the strength of 17 wins, 7 losses and 6 draws.

Nov. 20, 2008 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto is named MLS MVP, becoming the first Crew player to win the award.

Nov. 23, 2008 – Coach Sigi Schmid and the Crew cap one of the club's most successful seasons with a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup Final, giving the franchise its first title.

Dec. 9, 2008 – The Crew confirm in a statement that coach Sigi Schmid will not return next season.

Dec. 12, 2008 – Major League Soccer announces that the Seattle Sounders will pay the Crew an undisclosed amount of league allocation money and cash in exchange for the Crew’s release of former coach Sigi Schmid from the residual obligations of his contract. The league finds no evidence of tampering on Seattle’s part.

Dec. 22, 2008 – Robert Warzycha is named coach of the Crew after 13 seasons as a player and assistant coach.

Oct. 25, 2009 – Columbus wraps up the regular season with a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution, but wins the Supporter's Shield with 49 points and a 13-7-10 record.

April 27, 2013 – Anthony Precourt, a managing partner at a private equity firm, wants to own an MLS team and goes to Columbus to research the Crew. Before the first Crew game he will ever watch in person, a 3-0 win over D.C. United, the scoreboard catches fire, delaying the match's start.

July 30, 2013 – Precourt Sports Ventures purchases the Crew from Hunt Sports Group for $68 million. Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman and Hunt Sports Group Chairman Clark Hunt say a key point in the sale is that the Crew remain in Columbus, although the contract fails to include language tying the team to the city.

Nov. 6, 2013 – Precourt announces the hiring of former U.S. international player Gregg Berhalter as coach.

Berhalter leads the Crew to the playoffs four times and to the MLS Cup final in 2015. Columbus loses that championship game at home 2-1 to the Portland Timbers, and Berhalter ends his tenure after the 2018 season with a 67-58-45 record. He leaves to coach Team USA.

Oct. 8, 2014 – The Crew unveils their first change to the club’s name, Columbus Crew SC, and logo since Major League Soccer’s inaugural season in 1996. The new visual identity features a circular logo; however, the new logo will not appear on jerseys until next season, when all-new uniforms will be revealed.

March 3, 2015 – The team announces its first stadium-naming rights partner, Mapfre Insurance and the change of the stadium name from “Crew Stadium” to “Mapfre Stadium.”

June 14, 2017 – In the fourth round of the US Open Cup, the Crew fall 1-0 to FC Cincinnati, then a member of the USL. This victory impresses many and, as a result, helps pave Cincinnati's path to Major League Soccer and future "Hell is Real" rivalry games.

Oct. 17, 2017 – The Dispatch reports that Anthony Precourt is considering relocating the Crew, and his Precourt Sports Ventures, confirms this later that same day, saying it is “exploring strategic options.”

March 5, 2018 – The State of Ohio and the city of Columbus file a lawsuit to keep the Crew from ditching Columbus in favor of Austin, Texas. The lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, invokes a 1996 law enacted after Art Modell moved his Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. The state law says no professional team that gets public assistance or uses public facilities can leave town without giving six months' notice and providing locals an opportunity to buy the team.

May 29, 2018 – MLS Commissioner Don Garber announces FC Cincinnati as the league’s newest expansion team, to begin play in 2019.

July 31, 2018 – Austin, Texas commercial real estate firm Capella Capital Partners told the Austin Business Journal it has submitted two separate proposals for McKalla Place, the 24-acre, city-owned site in north Austin, both include plans for an Austin soccer stadium.

August 15, 2018 – After four hours of discussion, the Austin City Council votes 7-4 to move ahead on a $200 million stadium that Precourt Sports Ventures will pay for and the city will own.

August 22, 2018 – The Crew's ownership group unveils the name of its future Austin Major League Soccer team as Austin FC and its colors as green and black.

The Austin FC logo includes an image of an oak tree as part of its design. The team uses the slogan “Grow The Legend” in its branding.

October 12, 2018 – Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are part of a prospective ownership group seeking to purchase Crew SC and keep it in Columbus, Major League Soccer announces.

“Major League Soccer and the Columbus Partnership have been working together for several months on a plan to keep Crew SC in Columbus and we have made significant progress,” the statement read. “Recently, the Haslam Family — along with the Columbus-based Edwards Family — have joined the effort to keep Crew SC in Columbus.

December 6, 2018 – A public-private partnership states that it intends to break ground on a new $230 million Downtown soccer stadium for Crew SC on a site west of Huntington Park.

Dec. 28, 2018 – Major League Soccer announces it has reached agreement with the Haslams and Crew team doctor Peter H. Edwards Jr. to be part of the team's new ownership group, and the city of Columbus and state of Ohio have moved to dismiss a lawsuit against MLS and the team.

Jan. 4, 2019 – The Crew announces that Tim Bezbatchenko, 37, has been hired as the club’s president and Caleb Porter, 43, will take over as coach.

Oct. 10, 2019: Garber, Crew ownership and front-office personnel, city and state officials dig into a pile of dirt to signify the beginning of a project scheduled to end in July 2021 with a new 20,000-seat stadium.

Nov. 13, 2019 – The Crew acquires Lakewood native Darlington Nagbe via a trade with Atlanta United. The midfielder is the longest-tenured player on the current roster.

Dec. 12, 2020 – Just two years into the Haslam era, the Crew win their second MLS Cup, defeating the Seattle Sounders 3–0 at a nearly empty Mapfre Stadium, which is absent of fans due to pandemic restrictions.

Dec. 6, 2022 – The Crew hire Wilfried Nancy as the eighth full-time coach in team history.

Dec. 9, 2023 – Columbus wins the team's third MLS Cup thanks to a 2-1 victory over Los Angeles FC. Cucho Hernandez and Yaw Yeboah score for the Crew. Patrick Schulte makes four saves.

June 1, 2024 – At Estadio Hidalgo in Mexico, the Crew come up just short in their bid to be considered North America's best team. Battling a case of food poisoning that affects nearly the entire team, Columbus loses 3-0 to CF Pachuca in the Champions Cup final.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Timeline: The history of the Columbus Crew