Columbus Crew SC has established a unique history and legacy all of its own over the course of the club’s now 20 MLS seasons. It officially began on June 15, 1994 when the city of Columbus was awarded one of ten original franchises in Major League Soccer. It continued when the team became the first in the league to open a soccer specific stadium in 1999.
Further enhanced with a track record of on-field success that includes 12 playoff appearances, three Supporters’ Shields, a US Open Cup and MLS Cup, the Crew SC brand has certainly become among the league’s most decorated. The identity of that brand received a fresh infusion of energy and creativity when the club unveiled a new badge last October as part of new owner Anthony Precourt’s vision for the team going forward.
That vision doesn’t just include a pretty new logo that USA Today recently rated as the sixth best in American sports. It isn’t entirely focused on a fancy new kit that the listeners of SiriusXM FC voted into the finals of that station’s kit competition. It also involves putting a product out on the field year in and year out that the fanbase can be proud of as well as being able to compete for championships.
Columbus Crew SC Legends Discuss Club’s Past, Present, Future
Last weekend was a celebration of all these things ahead of Saturday night’s match with the Portland Timbers. The club revealed its top 20 moments in Black and Gold history leading up to the game, and several Crew SC legends were in town to take part in the festivities.
Four former players took part in a panel with the media before the game where they recounted stories about their time in Columbus, discussed the exciting things taking place with the club right now, and where they see things heading down the road.
Two of the players, goalkeeper Brad Friedel and forward Brian McBride, were part of that inaugural season of 1996. McBride himself was the first player ever drafted by the club. Not only are they Crew SC legends, but their contributions at international level for the United States during their respective careers are matched only by a select few. The two have a combined 195 caps for the USMNT.
Also on the panel was Stern John, who made 55 appearances for the Black and Gold and during the 1998 season scoring 26 goals which remains the club record and is the second-highest single season total in MLS history. He is also the second most capped player for Trinidad and Tobago, appearing 115 times for the Soca Warriors.
Rounding out the panel was Alejandro Moreno, part of that illustrious 2008 squad that won the club’s only championship and also included the league MVP that year, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, along with current Crew SC brand ambassador Frankie Hejduk. Like the other three panelists, Moreno has a great deal of international experience, having made 41 appearances for the Venezuelan national team.
Friedel, now an analyst with Fox Sports, described the veritable sea change in the facilities compared to when he was in goal those first few years when the club played at the cavernous Ohio Stadium.
“Coming back here is night and day compared to when I played, playing at the Horseshoe compared to the stadium now,” Friedel recounted.
He also noted that the soccer specific stadium movement that had its impetus in Columbus was a game-changer for the league as a whole.
“I never thought back in the mid 90s or early 90s when this first started that we would see so many soccer specific stadiums, so many training grounds and the improvements to them,” he noted.
John was particularly demonstrative in emphasizing the added level of excitement being able to play in a stadium of their own imbued in the players.
“I think from playing in Ohio Stadium at the Horseshoe and then coming to play in a soccer stadium that was built for soccer, I think that night we were all pumped up for the game and were looking forward to playing,” John said.
For McBride, the stadium is just one element of many that enhanced the sense of community he felt during his eight years in Columbus.
“The city embraced us,” McBride emphasized. “It wasn’t just because we did appearances, it was because they have professional sports. And as players, we always wanted to play professional soccer. We just never had the opportunity. Now we’re here in Columbus, we had that opportunity and it was, I’m not gonna say it was a lovefest, but it was certainly one of those things where everybody was very positive about what the Crew was doing.”
McBride would help lead Crew SC to its first major trophy in 2002 when the club captured the US Open Cup that season. Six years later, Moreno would play his part in bringing an MLS Cup to central Ohio. His 31st minute goal in the final against the New York Red Bulls would open the scoring in what would eventually be a 3-1 win for the Black and Gold.
In discussing what made that 2008 championship possible, Moreno kept hearkening back to the role Schelotto played as facilitator for the scoring opportunities him and others on the team were able to take advantage of.
“And really if you look at our team in 2008 (it) was: play the ball to me I’ll hold it up, give it to Guillermo, let Guillermo find Robbie (Rogers), let Guillermo find Eddie (Gaven) and then we’re crashing the box,” he said in elaborating upon what made Schelotto so effective.
Simply put, the Argentinian’s play had the effect of simplifying the game for his teammates.
“When you have a player of that ability and that vision and that quality, then everybody else’s game becomes a whole lot more simple,” Moreno noted. “And by becoming more simple you become more effective in the way that you play.”
Fast forward to the current season and no discussion about the team would be complete without highlighting the stellar play of Kei Kamara. His 22 goals on the season are a mere four away from tying John’s club record with three games left. It kind of comes full circle for the Sierra Leone international, who was drafted by the Black and Gold in 2006.
Moreno was actually a teammate of Kamara’s early on in his career, and has been really impressed at how much he has matured from then until now.
“Having played with Kei in 2007 and seeing him now in 2015, there is a great maturation process and personal growth that you’ve seen with Kei,” Moreno said. “And that maturation process was great to see because then it allows him to truly display all the things that we saw in training at times and we saw flashes (of) but didn’t quite see (early on in his career).”
McBride praised head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter’s initiative at bringing Kamara to Columbus via the club’s allocation ranking spot, noting in particular the attributes he possesses.
“I think Gregg saw the ability that he had in being able to create opportunities especially against teams that play high lines,” McBride stated. “And it’s not just about him scoring goals. He does a lot of work, he makes some really, really good runs opening parts of the field.”
Kamara’s presence adds to a solid nucleus of players that includes everyone from seven-figure designated player Federico Higuaín to the club’s most high-profile academy product, Homegrown player Wil Trapp. It’s just another clear cut example of how much the quality of play has been elevated both within the team as well as MLS as a whole since the league’s inception.
Friedel even went so far as to posit the following question given where he currently sees the club compared to where it was when he played in those pioneering years.
“Would the likes of myself had tried so hard to go to Europe if something like Columbus Crew existed like this, like in its stage right now?” he asked. “Maybe not, because this is a very good place to be and to develop.”
As American professional soccer at its highest level continues to move forward, Friedel emphasized that there’s still work to be done. The American goalkeeping legend, whose post-Crew SC career included stints at venerated English clubs such as Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, likes the trajectory the sport is heading despite the obvious challenges that remain.
“…there’s still a lot that needs to be done in the growth of the sport,” he asserted. “There’s a lot that needs to be done on youth development, but we’re getting there and it’s getting better and better every year.”
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