Columbus Crew Tickets
As one of the charter members of the MLS, the Columbus Crew have been one of the stalwarts of the league, frequently finishing both at the top of the standings and towards the top in attendance. The Columbus Crew have had a rich history, as MLS teams go, starting with the original owner Lamar Hunt, one of the original investors in the league on the whole, took control of the Columbus Crew in 1994, and concurrently to that, announced the creation of the first soccer-specific stadium in the MLS. The team currently plays its games at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. For the team’s first four years, they played at Ohio Stadium, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes Football team. In 1999, the team opened Columbus Crew Stadium, making them the first MLS team with a soccer-specific stadium.
In the team’s early years, on the back of the first overall pick in the MLS draft Brian McBride as well as 1998’s scoring leader Stern John, the team reached the conference finals in each of the team’s next two years, losing to D.C. United both times. After opening their own stadium, the team finished in second place; however, they once again lost to D.C. United in the conference finals. In 2002, the team garnered its first trophy, winning the U.S. Open Cup. The team went through a evolutionary period in between winning the U.S. Open Cup and the unfortunate and tragic death of team owner and founder Lamar Hunt in 2006, as they struggled to gain any traction in the standings and battled injuries to many top players.
In 2008, the team won its first MLS Cup, with Chad Marshall winning MLS Defender of the Year and Sigi Schmid winning Coach of the Year. Since their MLS Cup victory, the team has struggled, between the loss of many key players as well as their coach. In 2011, the team finished in ninth place overall and lost in the wild card round of the playoffs to the Colorado Rapids.
The Columbus Crew have long had a history of great supporters. Originally, the team had three different groups of supporters; however, those three groups have since been molded into one group, which, unlike many MLS fan-bases, will travel with the team in support of them on the road. Columbus has created a geographic rivalry with the Chicago Fire; however, their true rivalry lies between the Crew and Toronto FC, who compete for the Trillium Cup. While the series is decidedly one-sided, an incident of violence after a 2009 match.
