October 17, 20186 yr On 10/15/2018 at 6:27 PM, ML11 said: One scary piece of random speculation surrounding the Haslams... Jimmy and Dee own the Cleveland Browns as we all know. We also know that the Browns are already getting the ball rolling on a negotiation for a future stadium in Cleveland. There are several examples around the league (Atlanta, Seattle, New England, etc.) of MLS teams playing in the same facility as their owners' NFL team, and it's a pretty attractive business model for those owners. In this particular case, it could even help the owners get additional public funding by doubling the number of active dates for a future stadium. Again it's pretty baseless speculation, but I do think it's enough to provide the Haslams with leverage over Columbus in new-Crew stadium negotiations. And if things don't get off to a great start, or if there's a major hitch in getting a new Crew stadium, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cleveland scenario floated. Get ready for the Mansfield Crew and Mansfield Browns!
October 18, 20186 yr On 10/16/2018 at 4:58 PM, ColDayMan said: Nationwide Realty 'open' to putting Columbus Crew stadium in the Arena District Now that the Columbus Crew SC might actually stay in town, where will the team play? On Friday, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, CEO of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain, and Columbus' Edwards family, including long-time Crew team physician and orthopedic surgeon Peter Edwards Jr., announced that they plan to buy the team from owner/operator Anthony Precourt. (A source close to the deal told Columbus Business First that other investors are involved with the deal and will be named later.) The news came a year after Precourt said he wanted to move the team to Austin, Texas. Austin City Council recently voted to work with Precourt on a stadium site north of downtown Austin. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/10/16/nationwide-realty-open-to-putting-columbus-crew.html This is really where it needs to go. The site is open and ready, it is just down the road from Nationwide Arena and all of that parking nearby. This is a warm weather sport and people would not mind a little walk then and they could also add some shuttles, etc. They could open up a new entrance directly to the south to 33, and even take Nationwide Blvd. across the Olentangy to 33 as well. The strip between the site and the river would be great for ground floor restaurants, etc with residential above and a nice ribbon of a riverwalk park. Also the area to the direct south(except for the power plant of course) would be ripe for development as well as the weird triangle of land to the east. Would also probably help fill in the rest of the western part of the Arena District as well. If only this will happen!!!! *going to remain upbeat and positive on this until I know otherwise
October 19, 20186 yr If a new stadium were to be built there, it would be important to build a better connection to Franklinton. Landgrant and Strongwater are about 4000 ft from that site as the crow flies, but it's currently a 1.5 mile walk there.
October 22, 20186 yr GAME #33: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-10-21-orlando-city-sc-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap https://www.massivereport.com/2018/10/21/18006940/columbus-crew-sc-drop-2-1-result-at-orlando-city-mls-2018 While #SaveTheCrew is getting the job done off the field - Crew SC is not getting the job done on the field. And that job is clinching the 2018 playoffs. They had a chance to clinch with a win at Orlando (the worst team in the East). After a listless first half, Higuain banged in a free-kick goal at 54'. But the lead didn't last long. A Sauro handball in the box gave Orlando a PK that they converted in the 57th minute. It looked like the game would end 1-1, until a soft foul in the box in the match's dying moment gave Orlando another PK. It was converted in the 96th minute to give Orlando a 2-1 win. The Crew fall into 6th-place and on the verge of playoff elimination going into next Sunday's final regular season game. The Crew can still clinch with a win at Mapfre against Minnesota. 7th-place Montreal needs a win at New England and a Crew loss or draw to pass Columbus for the final Eastern playoff spot.
October 24, 20186 yr Lots of work remains on Crew SC deal, key figure in the negotiations says If there ever is a happy ending to the Columbus Crew SC story, those who write the checks to buy the team will be remembered as heroes in the annals of Columbus history. But there are others who deserve credit, too. For example, the #SaveTheCrew group shouted from the mountaintops and made sure that Major League Soccer and Crew owner/operator Anthony Precourt did not slink away with the team to Austin, Texas, without a fight. And there's Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fischer, who has been working behind the scenes to save the team by rallying potential investors. In an interview with Columbus Business First, Fischer said the past year has been "an emotional rollercoaster." "We've simply had to improvise and team up as required," he said. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/10/24/lots-of-work-remains-on-crew-sc-deal-key-figure-in.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 25, 20186 yr good news of course and an interesting save. i am glad there is a local ownership stake along with the carpetbagger owner haslam. although he's bullish on ohio that is for sure. and as time goes by the new browns and crew stadium topics will probably entertain us as much as the teams!
October 29, 20186 yr GAME #34 (REGULAR SEASON FINALE): https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-10-28-columbus-crew-sc-vs-minnesota-united-fc/recap https://www.massivereport.com/2018/10/28/18035930/columbus-crew-sc-defeats-minnesota-united-3-2 Yesterday was Decision Day in MLS. Meaning all games started at exactly the same time because of the playoff implications for multiple teams. The Crew needed a home win against Minnesota or a loss/draw by Montreal at New England to clinch a 2018 playoff spot. The "same time" game drama quickly got derailed when a lightning delay stopped the Crew game in the 10th minute. Meanwhile, the Montreal/New England game went 0-0 into halftime. After a 68 minute delay the Crew game resumed with the Columbus having a throw-in deep in Minnesota territory. The Crew quickly cashed in with a Zardes goal to put Columbus up 1-0 in the 11th minute. Meanwhile, the Revs got a 74th minute goal against Montreal to take a 1-0 lead. By the time halftime arrived, the Revs had defeated Montreal to clinch the Crew's 2018 playoff berth. The only question remaining was would the Crew finish 5th with a win and face DC, or would they finish 6th with a draw/loss and face NYCFC. Another second Zardes goal in the 49th minute just after halftime seemed to seal the win for the Crew with a 2-0 lead. But the Loons had some fight left in them and got two goals in the 68th and 77th minutes to tie the game at 2-2. It would take a third Zardes goal in the 83rd minute to get the Crew their 14th win of the season with a 3-2 victory last night. The hat-trick was Gyasi Zardes' first in his MLS career and gave him 19 goals for the regular season.
October 29, 20186 yr https://www.massivereport.com/2018/10/28/18036120/columbus-crew-scs-mls-cup-playoff-date-time-announced-dc-united-2018 The 3-2 win put the Crew in 5th-place with a 14-11-9 record and 51 points. The record and points are identical to 4th-place DC United, but DC wins the tiebreak with a better goal differential (+10 to -2). So because of the GD tiebreak, the Crew will play this week's wild-card game at DC's brand new Audi Stadium on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1.
November 2, 20186 yr MLS PLAYOFFS: KNOCKOUT ROUND: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-11-01-dc-united-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/1/18054288/penalty-kick-win-again-advances-columbus-crew-sc-from-knockout-round-mls-2018 Last year's playoff run began with a thrilling shootout victory at red-hot Atlanta. This year's playoff run is beginning with another thrilling shootout victory - this time at red-hot DC. I didn't think that any game could match the 120-minute drama of a last year's win at Atlanta. But I think this game was even better. It started out with the hero of the Atlanta game being the goat on DC's first goal. In the 21st minute, Crew goalkeeper Zach Steffen muffed an easy looking catch that DC pounced on to open a 1-0 lead. But the lead didn't last long. Higuain scored in the 30th minute on a low cross sent into the 6-yd box by Meram that bounced around and over to Pipa. A tense but scoreless second half gave way to a 30-minute overtime. It looked like Columbus had the winning goal in the 6th minute of overtime (96th minute overall). Pipa and Afful did a nifty give-and-go that Higuain headed in for his second goal of the night to give the Crew a 2-1 lead. But DC wasn't done yet and kept the pressure on for an equalizer. That equalizer came in the 26th minute of overtime (116th minute overall). And then it went to a PK shootout. Higuain converted first and Steffen saved Rooney's attempt to give the Crew an early shootout advantage. Zardes got his attempt saved to even it up until Steffen saved Acosta's attempt to give Columbus the advantage again. Former DC player had a chance to clinch it on the Crew's final attempt, but it hit the right post. DC needed to convert their final attempt to extend the PK round - and the DC player who got the 116' game-tying goal was up. But this time his shot went high over the net and the Crew win the shootout round 3-2 to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-Final vs. NYRB.
November 2, 20186 yr For your viewing pleasure, here's the highlights from last night's magnificent match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuyAuAUVfog
November 2, 20186 yr As an outsider (casually rooting for the Crew), that was a really exciting game. I'm sure for Crew fans it was torture. But at least they got the desired result.
November 5, 20186 yr MLS PLAYOFFS: EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL - LEG 1: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-11-04-columbus-crew-sc-vs-new-york-red-bulls/recap https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/4/18062296/federico-higuains-magic-sparks-crew-sc-to-1-0-win-in-eastern-conference-semifinal-leg-1 Playing on just two days rest, Columbus hosted the New York Red Bulls - the team that won the 2018 Supporters’ Shield and set a MLS record for points in a season doing it - in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semi-final. With the Crew on short and having played 120 minutes on Thursday, Coach Berhalter started the game with a 4-4-2 lineup featuring Mullins paired with Zardes and Thursday's MVP Federico Higuain on the bench. This move was to keep NYRB scoreless in the first half with a defensive structure and save Pipa for the second half. The move worked. With the game at 0-0, Higuain came on for Mullins to start the second half and the Crew resumed their 4-2-3-1 lineup. That lineup paid dividends in the 61st minute when Artur fed Valenzuela on a quick counter who fed a long pass to a forwardly located Higuain just outside the 18-yd box. Pipa's moment of magic was a no-look back heel pass to Zardes, who struck it home to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. Zach Steffen made that one goal hold with two spectacular second half saves. The first came after a Crew corner kick that turned into a Red Bull fast-break. With the Crew defense pushed forward, Steffen made a dramatic all-or-nothing save about 40 yards away from his goal! Then preserved the clean sheet with a 93rd minute diving save on a NYRB header, This sets up Leg 2 next Sunday at NYRB. With the Crew up 1-0 and the Red Bulls denied a road goal, the Crew have an advantage. Columbus can advance two ways. The first is by total aggregrate goals. They second way is by a road goal advantage- if the Crew manage a road goal next Sunday. Either way, the Crew will face a Red Bull team that needs to score at least one goal if they keep Columbus scoreless - and multiple goals if Columbus scores - or they will face elimination.
November 5, 20186 yr And once again, for your viewing pleasure - the game highlights. Which did not include that spectacular 40-yard-from-goal save by Steffen - but is otherwise complete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LnCIx1lfhE
November 7, 20186 yr A well-deserved honor for 23-year-old Crew goalkeeper Zach Steffen: https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/6/18069632/columbus-crew-sc-zack-steffen-wins-mls-goalkeeper-of-the-year-2018
November 8, 20186 yr Another well-deserved MLS award for a Crew player. This time to Gyasi Zardes for MLS Comeback Player of the Year. The Crew traded Ola Kamara to the LA Galaxy for Zardes back in January. Zardes had a career-low two goals for LA in 2017. He had a career-high 19 goals for Columbus in 2018: https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/7/18073056/gyasi-zardes-named-mls-comeback-player-of-the-year-columbus-crew-sc-2018
November 12, 20186 yr MLS PLAYOFFS: EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINAL - LEG 2: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2018-11-11-new-york-red-bulls-vs-columbus-crew-sc/recap https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/11/18086098/columbuscrew-scs-season-ends-in-shutout-fashion-to-new-york-red-bull-mls-cup-playoffs-2018 The Crew had an advantage going into this second leg of this playoff series - up one goal in the aggregrate and held NYRB scoreless in their road game. Because of this, if the Crew could manage a road goal at Red Bull Arena, they would force NYRB to score three goals for them to advance. So the gameplan for both teams was to score. The Red Bulls were better at this strategy to start the game. They put pressure of the Crew and eventually scored in the 17th minute off a well-executed free-kick that also got a fortunate bounce for NYRB. After that equalizing goal, the Crew settled down for the rest of the first half. For much of the beginning of the second half, it looked like the Crew might get that one road goal they needed. But instead it was the Red Bulls that got a pair of decisive goals during a three minute stretch later in the second half. NYRB midfielder Daniel Royer scored two goals at the 73rd and 76th minutes to clinch their playoff advancement. Credit the Red Bulls - they were the best team in the regular season - and this win helps erase some of their past playoff failures against the Crew. Now they face the second-best team in MLS (Atlanta) for the Eastern Conference championship. Credit #SaveTheCrew - without their tireless effort, this could have been the final Crew game ever, instead of just the final game of 2018.
November 13, 20186 yr Sucks for our run to end but Red Bulls were the better team and I've got nothing but respect for them and everything they've accomplished. Typically I would be grieving after losing out of the playoffs but with everything weve gone through off the field in this past year.....and the positive outcome weve achieved......I'm kind of already over this season and looking forward to what lies ahead for our club. I'm really curious what our coaching situation is about to be.....who will be handling player contracts/options and the upcoming waiver and reentry drafts? Not the most important things when you look at the bigger picture....but I'll be a lot more comfortable once new ownership finally has control.
November 14, 20186 yr On 10/18/2018 at 4:23 PM, Toddguy said: This is really where it needs to go. The site is open and ready, it is just down the road from Nationwide Arena and all of that parking nearby. This is a warm weather sport and people would not mind a little walk then and they could also add some shuttles, etc. They could open up a new entrance directly to the south to 33, and even take Nationwide Blvd. across the Olentangy to 33 as well. The strip between the site and the river would be great for ground floor restaurants, etc with residential above and a nice ribbon of a riverwalk park. Also the area to the direct south(except for the power plant of course) would be ripe for development as well as the weird triangle of land to the east. Would also probably help fill in the rest of the western part of the Arena District as well. If only this will happen!!!! *going to remain upbeat and positive on this until I know otherwise I'm about a month late in responding to this but I 100% agree with everything you just proposed. I would also like to see a street going north from Nationwide Blvd...under 670....and into the new White Castle development so theres direct access to the stadium and Arena West as a whole from the north off Goodale.
November 15, 20186 yr 13 hours ago, Tobias C said: I'm about a month late in responding to this but I 100% agree with everything you just proposed. I would also like to see a street going north from Nationwide Blvd...under 670....and into the new White Castle development so theres direct access to the stadium and Arena West as a whole from the north off Goodale. I agree with the street going north....but I just wonder where they could put an underpass? They already have a street(with a very narrow access point off Nationwide)leading into the weird triangle parcel. That would need a long underpass though given the current track situation-at least 150 feet I think. I don't know if there is room to get an underpass off of Huntington park lane due north. Maybe a road extending between the old casino site itself and the 7 plus acre area to the west, going under the tracks right by the freeway-but I wonder about flooding and other issues as well with an underpass. It is such a strange and difficult area with the interstate and railroads cutting it up but I agree I good access road North would help. Too bad there is no place to take it across the Scioto into Franklinton-again because of all the railroad tracks. The Scioto Peninsula and East Franklinton just do not connect to the north at all.
November 27, 20186 yr https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20181112/michael-arace--after-so-much-adversity-crew-finds-relief https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20181117/crew-sc--offseason-may-be-time-of-change As the farewell article from Crew reporter Andrew Erickson says, the Crew's offseason may be a time of change. But as Dispatch sports columnist Michael Arace also writes - it won't be the big change that Crew fans have been fighting against all season long. With the Crew's future almost 100% secured in Columbus, fans can start to focus on the normal offseason news of player and coaching moves. It looks all but certain that head coach Gregg Berhalter will become the next USMNT head coach. After five years leading the Crew, Berhalter has built up a fine resume to move up into this prestigious but difficult position. The only question is who will replace Berhalter. Long-time assistant Josh Wolff could be elevated to the head coach position, if he doesn't join Berhalter on the USMNT staff. Former University of Akron coach Caleb Porter, who left the Portland Timbers last season, is another intriguing name out there. As are two big names with Crew ties that are currently without a coach position - Sigi Schmid and Guillermo Barros Schelotto: https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/19/18097132/offseason-questions-who-will-be-columbus-crew-scs-coach-in-2019-mls It also looks like starting goalkeeper Zach Steffen will be moving up in the soccer world as well. The Crew received a $3.9 million transfer offer from a team in the second-division English Championship League over the summer (which the team turned down). Now reports are that the Premier League leading team - Manchester City - is making an offer for Steffen in the $7 million to $10 million range. This would be a record transfer agreement for the Crew (the previous high was for defender Giancarlo Gonzalez, who was sold to the Italian club Palermo for $5 million in 2014): https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/26/18113566/zack-steffen-moving-from-columbus-crew-sc-to-manchester-city-english-premier-league-mls-2018 It is also possible that Crew captain/midfielder Wil Trapp might join Steffen overseas next season. In August, the Crew received a $1.25 million offer from the English Championship League Blackburn Rovers that the Crew turned down. With the international transfer window opening in January, more lucrative offers may be forthcoming: https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/20/18099956/offseason-questions-will-zack-steffen-and-wil-trapp-be-around-in-2019-columbus-crew-sc-mls
November 27, 20186 yr Beyond the three headline offseason moves of Behalter, Steffen and Trapp - it looks like the rest of the team core might be unchanged. Zardes, Higuain, Santos and Meram are all under contract for next season. Defensively, Mensah, Afful, Artur are also under contract for next season. Left back Valenzuela is on loan from his Argentinean club, but it appears that the Crew are close to a permanent transfer agreement (much like Artur's agreement reached in the last offseason). MLS contract option decisions were also announced yesterday. Goalkeepers Jon Kempin and Ben Lundgaard were retained (Kempin was Steffen’s primary backup for the 2018 season and made five starts in 2018). Veteran center backs Gaston Sauro and Josh Williams had their 2019 options exercised, as well as young defenders Alex Crognale and Connor Maloney - while young defender and part-time 2018 starter Lalas Abubakar received a new contract for 2019. Midfielders Luis Argudo and Niko Hansen also had their 2019 options exercised. Plus, Eduardo Sosa, Edward Opoku, and Patrick Mullins will also on the 2019 roster. Midfielders Ricardo Clark, Mike Grella, Cristian Martinez, plus 2017 playoff hero Adam Jahn, and goalkeeper Logan Ketterer (who only started in the 2018 US Open Cup match) all had their 2019 contract options declined - although the team is said to be in talks with Clark for a 2019 return. https://www.massivereport.com/2018/11/26/18113385/columbus-crew-sc-announce-2019-roster-decisions-mls-gaston-sauro-lalas-abubakar-alex-crognale
December 4, 20186 yr As was reported in the USMNT thread, Crew head coach & sporting director Gregg Berhalter has accepted the U.S. Men's National Team head coach position. Assistant coach Pat Onstad has been named interim general manager. The Massive Report article linked below is saying that the team is looking to split the head coach/sporting director roles that Berhalter held jointly into a more traditional HC + GM arrangement held by separate individuals moving forward with the new Crew ownership. Massive Report is also reporting that Caleb Porter and Josh Wolff have been interviewed for the head coaching position and are finalists for the role. https://www.massivereport.com/2018/12/2/18122186/columbus-crew-sc-interviewing-for-new-head-coach-general-manager
December 5, 20186 yr The Crew have nearly been saved from the awful Anthony Precourt - but the deal isn't officially official yet. And because of that, the Modell Law court case must still be dealt with: https://www.massivereport.com/2018/12/3/18124662/anothony-precourt-and-mls-motion-to-dismiss-as-potential-settlement-nears-columbus-crew-sc-2018 Before the reported agreement for the Haslam and Edwards families to be the new Crew owners, the Precourt/MLS lawyers made a motion in Franklin County court to dismiss the Modell/SaveTheCrew lawsuit. On Monday, Judge Jeffrey Brown dismissed Precourt Sports Ventures and MLS’s motion to dismiss the City of Columbus and State of Ohio’s lawsuit to seek a declaratory judgment on the applicability of Ohio Revised Code 9.67, fondly known as the “Modell Law,” exactly 90 days after hearing oral arguments. It is expected that an agreement to settle this lawsuit will be part of the eventual sale from Precourt to Haslam/Edwards to keep Crew SC in Columbus. If this sale were not to be finalized, this lawsuit would continue, with MLS being forced into releasing records as part of a potentially long and tedious discovery process. With Monday's ruling, both MLS and PSV can see the writing on the wall to their attempts to avoid significant harm should they not agree to settle this lawsuit. Also, as reported at https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-crew-developments-and-news/?do=findComment&comment=866513 in the Columbus Crew development thread -- Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced today a proposal to move the Crew’s practice facility to MAPFRE Stadium once a new Crew stadium is complete. Additionally, the grounds around MAPFRE Stadium would be turned into the Columbus Community Sports Park, that would include a shared-use center with an indoor soccer field and basketball courts as well as outdoor athletic fields.
December 6, 20186 yr This news was just posted in the Columbus Crew development thread at https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-crew-developments-and-news/?do=findComment&comment=866707 https://www.columbusunderground.com/new-crew-sc-stadium-and-mixed-use-development-proposed-for-downtown-bw1
December 11, 20186 yr So the crew staying and building the new stadium is 100% done? Also, were owners of BrewDogs a part of it? Edited December 11, 20186 yr by cincydave8
December 11, 20186 yr I would say there is still a chance it blows up, but at this point all signs seem to point to the Crew staying in Columbus. I don't think BrewDog was involved in any way aside from possibly raising awareness.
December 11, 20186 yr The downside to having multiple threads on the same subject. I'll go with my answer to Brutus_Buckeye in the Columbus: Downtown: Columbus Crew Arena / Confluence Village project and construction thread: "It is 99.9999999% done. You should've listened to me when I said we would #SaveTheCrew!" If MLS was still fighting against #SaveTheCrew, then I'd say there was a chance it could blow up. But with the Haslam/Edwards purchase pledge of the Crew, MLS has a chance to upgrade from an incompetent multi-millionaire like Precourt to a multi-billionaire like Haslam that also owns an NFL team. And with the City of Columbus and Franklin County also coming through with not only a beautiful new stadium at a great downtown location -- full details of this at https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-downtown-columbus-crew-arena-confluence-village/?do=findComment&comment=866707 and at https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-downtown-columbus-crew-arena-confluence-village/?do=findComment&comment=866753 -- but also reusing the current Mapfre Stadium as a new Crew training facility and new Community Sports Park -- full details of this at https://forum.urbanohio.com/topic/1415-columbus-downtown-columbus-crew-arena-confluence-village/?do=findComment&comment=866513 -- this new Crew facilities arrangement is fully in line with the bigger & better aspirations of the current MLS. What's left is the final paperwork type stuff to make it 100% official. At last night's City Council meeting, the City of Columbus approved their part of the new training facility/Community Sports Park deal. If the County hasn't already done the same, its assumed they'll quickly follow suit. The transfer of ownership from Precourt to Haslam/Edwards is likely to be done either later this year, or very early next year.
December 11, 20186 yr https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/12/11/columbus-crew-sc-transfer-zack-steffen-manchester-city-summer-2019 The transfer of Zach Steffen to Man City has been officially announced. Although it does have one twist that is good for the Crew. Instead of Steffen leaving the Crew during the next available transfer window of January 2019, he will join Man City in the summer transfer window that opens in July 2019 and he will begin the 2019 MLS season with the Crew. So at least we'll have Steffen for part of 2019. The MLS article did not disclose the transfer fee, but did say it was the most ever received by an MLS club for a goalkeeper in the league’s 23-year history. According to one of the comments, the BBC is reporting a transfer fee of 7 million pounds (about $8.7 million) - which is consistent with previous reports of a $7 million to $10 million range.
December 23, 20186 yr Columbo can dig up links if hes interested but.. It looks like weve just about got all of our commitments of help from the city, county, and state locked down so hopefully the ownership announcement will be soon. Austin also has just about finalized their lease of land to Precourt for their new stadium which I think has also been a factor holding the league back from announcing us. I'm anticipating sometime in the next couple weeks from things I've heard. Weve officially purchased Milton Valenzuela from Newells Old Boys in Argentina after having him on loan so were set at LB now. Sources in Brazil have reported that we have signed 23 year old winger Robinho (not the famous older player) from recently promoted Brasiliero Serie A club Ceara.. although he has not been announced by the Crew yet. Hes barely played for his main club but performed well in 2018 on loan to Serie B club Santa Cruz. He scored 8 goals in 38 appearances I believe. Most of his playing experience has been on loan at Serie B and C teams so it itll be interesting to see how large of a role he will fill here in Columbus potentially. Multiple outlets have reported that our next coach will most likely be Caleb Porter, formally of the Portland Timbers and the University of Akron. The rumored deal is quite extraordinary for a decent but not outstanding domestic coach.....apparently hes agreed to a 5 year deal worth 5 million dollars (so 1 mil a year). 1 million is a big paycheck for a coach of his profile. But that's not nearly as mindblowing to me as is the 5 year commitment. Most coaches get like 3 years. I'm hoping theres some stipulations/caveats in that contract. Either way.....only good things happening in Crewville. Edited December 23, 20186 yr by Tobias C
December 28, 20186 yr It's official: MLS announces deal with investor group for Columbus Crew Good job... Major League Soccer officials have announced a deal with the investor group seeking to purchase the Columbus Crew SC and keep the team in town. In other words, the Crew has officially been saved, said Mayor Andrew Ginther and the Columbus Partnership. “In October of 2017, our community faced the seemingly impossible task of keeping Columbus Crew SC where it belongs. Today, we are proud to announce an achievement many said was unattainable: The Columbus Crew is saved," Ginther and Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fischer said in a joint statement. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2018/12/28/its-official-mls-announces-columbus-crew-deal-with.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 29, 20186 yr As the Columbo character would say, "Just one more thing": https://www.massivereport.com/2018/12/28/18159083/columbus-crew-sc-officially-sold-to-pete-edwards-dee-jimmy-haslam-pete-edwards Okay, one more other thing - the MLS announcement: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/12/28/agreement-reached-haslam-edwards-families-operate-columbus-crew-sc
January 4, 20196 yr Columbus Crew SC names Tim Bezbatchenko as President and announces Caleb Porter as Head Coach https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2019/01/04/columbus-crew-sc-names-tim-bezbatchenko-president-and-announces-caleb-porter-head 2019 Season Ticket Memberships are now on sale https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/tickets/memberships The CrewSC hashtag is out and the Crew96 hashtag is back All systems are going for 2019.
January 5, 20196 yr On 1/4/2019 at 2:29 PM, cbussoccer said: Columbus Crew SC names Tim Bezbatchenko as President and announces Caleb Porter as Head Coach https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2019/01/04/columbus-crew-sc-names-tim-bezbatchenko-president-and-announces-caleb-porter-head https://www.massivereport.com/2019/1/4/18168694/columbus-crew-sc-officially-announce-caleb-porter-tim-bezbatchenko https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20190104/michael-arace--new-crew-coach-gm-to-come-aboard-at-key-time I'm thrilled by these two hires. I remember back in 2012, when the Crew were languishing in the final years of the Warzycha-era, when Caleb Porter left the University of Akron. Lots of Crew fans thought that the team should've replaced Warzycha for Porter for the 2013 season. But the Hunt Family was in the process of selling the team to Precourt in 2013 and the Crew missed their chance when Porter accepted the Portland for 2013. (We were fortunate to get an outstanding consolation prize of Gregg Berhalter for 2014 to 2018!) But now Caleb Porter becoming the next Crew head coach just feels right. He won an NCAA title with the Zips in 2010. He had Crew captain Wil Trapp on his last two Akron teams. And we know first-hand that he can coach an MLS team to the MLS Cup! Plus, Porter's coaching style is very similar to Berhalter's - so there's no need for a big roster revamp to bring in "his kind of players". I wasn't aware of the new GM hire Tim Bezbatchenko until this announcement. But I like what I'm hearing about him. Bezbatchenko grew up in Westerville and played high school soccer at DeSales. His parents reportedly have been Crew season-ticket holders since the team's founding in 1996. But more importantly, Bezbatchenko has been the general manager of Toronto FC since 2013. He helped build the TFC team that won the Supporters’ Shield/MLS Cup championship double in 2017, when it posted the best record in league history. Both of these hires are young guns with big-time MLS cred - Porter is 43 and Bezbatchenko is 37 - and have Ohio ties. Combine this with committed local ownership in the Edwards and deep pocketed Ohio-tied ownership in the Haslams and I literally cannot wait for the start of the 2019 season!
January 10, 20196 yr The new Ownership group along with league officials held a press event yesterday downtown at the Ivory Room and it looks like the Crew is officially here to stay. Overview of the event and what was billed as the "Official relaunch of the club" highlighted in the article as well as a taste of whats to come. Columbus Crew SC's downtown stadium construction to start in summer of 2019 http://www.espn.com/soccer/columbus-crew-sc/story/3747372/columbus-crew-scs-downtown-stadium-construction-to-start-in-summer-of-2019 Quote "One of the things we have to get going on is -- because we want to break ground really quickly on the stadium -- is doing the whole, entire comprehensive plan," Dee Haslam said. "We've done this so fast. I don't know that anyone has ever put a concept together [this fast], and we hope to be in the ground this summer for sure in order to make deadline. I think we're going as fast as we can go." Exciting times! What a crazy ride the last 15 months have been. Edited January 10, 20196 yr by DevolsDance
January 21, 20196 yr So we officially signed 23 yr old Brazilian winger Robinho (not the famous Robinho people have heard of). Hard to tell what they see his role being. Cant see Meram and Santos not being the starters, at least to start the season....and we already have moderately promising, and decently serviceable depth in Hansen, Opoku, and Argudo. Robinho belonged to Serie A - Serie B yo-yo team Ceara but rarely played for them....getting most of his playing time with Serie C teams in lower level competition, so it's hard to know how hell translate to our league. Luckily he only cost us 250k to get and I'm guessing his salary wont be anything big, considering Artur was only in 100k when he first came here, and after proving himself and performing well, is still only on 244k....and he came from a much bigger Brazilian team, Sao Paulo...so i cant see Robinho making much more than 150k, give or take. We re-signed midfielder Ricardo Clark after his contract was not renewed at the end of the season. I'm glad to have him back as he was solid in the games he played in and gives us reliable experienced depth at d-mid. We also acquired goalkeeper Joe Bendik from Orlando City recently. He was a starter there and I'm guessing we brought him on as insurance for when Zack Steffen leaves us for Manchester City...seeing as our other options at GK arent really guys you want to rely on for an entire half of a season. Bendik isnt really an impressive signing though....and I'm hoping they're searching for a higher level replacement for Steffen.....but at least we have sufficient coverage at that spot. It was also just reported today that weve signed University of Virginia freshman defender, and Crew Academy product, Aboubacar Keita, to a homegrown deal (but the team hasnt announced this yet). A 6'2" center back, Keita was one of the highest rated freshman players through out the NCAA this year. Were super deep at CB already so its hard to see him finding a spot with the team this season unless he absolutely kills it in preseason and/or we let go of, sell, or trade one of our guys. A loan to a USL team like Crognale was on last season would make sense and as a promising talent would be a better place for him to develop than playing college soccer.
February 6, 20196 yr I am sooooooo happy to get back to posting on-the-field Crew updates and not the horrible, no good, very bad off-the-field PSV-related updates of the past season!!! With the polar vortex and snowpocalypse Central Ohio just went through, it seems inconceivable that the Crew's 2019 training camp and preseason has been underway for two weeks! The new Porter-led Crew is now finishing up their California training camp and has played three preseason games against a Japanese club, a Mexican club and MLS' LAFC. According to the excellent preseason Crew guide at https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMassive/comments/a1ikcs/20182019_columbus_crew_sc_offseason_guide/ - the Crew will be returning to Central Ohio tomorrow and staying until they travel to Charleston, SC for the Carolina Challenge Cup. The Carolina Challenge Cup has become an annual preseason thing for the Crew in recent years. This year, Columbus will play the Chicago Fire on 2/16, USL's Charleston Battery on 2/20 and then FC Cincinnati on 2/23 -- marking the first MLS match between Columbus and Cincinnati. I'm calling this 2/23 game "The Hell is Real Derby - This Time Its Friendly"(!)
February 6, 20196 yr Like I said in the previous post - the Crew have been training for a couple of weeks already (since 1/23 to be exact). New HC Porter has had his full 2019 roster available - except for Zardes, Trapp and Steffen, who have been training and playing international friendlies with the USMNT (under former Crew HC Berhalter). Its all been going well according to the reliable Massive Report website -- https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/4/18211458/columbus-crew-beats-los-angeles-football-club-4-2-to-continue-in-great-preseason-form Unfortunately, a big piece for the upcoming 2019 season may have just become unavailable. The Dispatch reported that left back Milton Valenzuela suffered a serious knee injury in training over the weekend that could cost him the entire 2019 season -- https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20190205/crew-sc-reacquires-waylon-francis-after-milton-valenzuela-suffers-serious-knee-injury. As the link headline suggests, the new Crew GM/HC combo has dealt with this serious Valenzuela injury in an interesting way. They acquired former Crew left back Waylon Francis from Seattle for $50,000 in General Allocation Money. The 28-year-old Francis is well-known to Crew fans from his four seasons with the team from 2014 to 2017. He also was a key starter in the 2015 MLS Cup season. Hopefully Francis still has some crossing-pass magic left for 2019. More about the Francis signing at https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/5/18212320/columbus-crew-sc-waylon-francis-seattle-sounders-trade-mls-2019
February 13, 20196 yr I just love this pic from Massive Report about a recent Crew training session in cold & snowy Central Ohio (full story at their link below). Everyone looks in agony - except for Ghanaian forward Edward Opoku (#27) ? https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/10/18219563/crew-return-to-columbus-with-intense-cold-training-session-mls-2019
February 14, 20196 yr I did a double-take when I saw this news today: Crew receives up to $400,000 in Allocation Money for Kekuta Manneh from FC Cincinnati: https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/13/18223561/columbus-crew-receives-up-to-400000-in-allocation-money-for-kekuta-manneh-fc-cincinnati Kekuta Manneh? That Kekuta Manneh who played part of the 2017 season with the Crew? That Kekuta Manneh who didn't re-sign with the Crew for 2018 and didn't play in MLS last season and I lost track of? That Kekuta Manneh? Yes, THAT Kekuta Manneh. The Crew offered Manneh a contract following the 2017 season, which he turned down. Apparently this contract offer allowed the Crew to retain his MLS playing rights and made this trade to FC Cincinnati possible. FC Cincinnati is sending a guaranteed $300,000 in allocation money to the Crew - with another $100,000 available for the Crew if certain performance-based conditions are met by Manneh with FCC. This is a good deal for the Crew because they get back the $300,000 in allocation money they sent to Vancouver to acquire Manneh in 2017. It also could be a good deal for FC Cincinnati if the 24-year-old Manneh regains the scoring touch he once had with Vancouver, and partially had with the Crew.
February 14, 20196 yr FC Cincinnati has been in need of some forwards to help out the striker. It's a badly needed position right now. Hope it works out for FCC personally.
February 14, 20196 yr 8 hours ago, Columbo said: I just love this pic from Massive Report about a recent Crew training session in cold & snowy Central Ohio (full story at their link below). Everyone looks in agony - except for Ghanaian forward Edward Opoku (#27) ? https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/10/18219563/crew-return-to-columbus-with-intense-cold-training-session-mls-2019 SNOBETZ!
February 14, 20196 yr 16 hours ago, ryanlammi said: FC Cincinnati has been in need of some forwards to help out the striker. It's a badly needed position right now. Hope it works out for FCC personally. Manneh is worth taking a chance on. He's super fast but with questionable finishing skills. But I liked him in his brief stint with the Crew - he was effective at times. Hope he works out with FCC (except during the Hell is Real games, of course ?).
February 14, 20196 yr The Crew unveiled their 2019 home yellow jersey (lovingly referred to as the Banana Kits by Crew fans). Looks good, especially with the subtle checkerboard patterning. Although I think I prefer the 2018 version better (I really liked the black checkerboard up the sides plus the bolder black arm and neck rings). No word about the 2019 road/alternate jersey yet. I kinda hope they just re-use the all-black 2018 kit. For as terrible as our previous ownership was, that 2018 all-black kit they introduced was pretty sweet looking. Here is a detail view of the 2019 yellow jersey from the team at https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2019/02/04/columbus-crew-sc-unveils-new-gold-kit-2019-and-announces-individual-match-tickets And here is a comparison of the 2018 vs. 2019 yellow jerseys from https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMassive/comments/an5ie2/2018_left_vs_2019_right_columbus_crew_banana_kits/
February 14, 20196 yr This is some WOW news on the broadcast front: https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/13/18224217/fox-sports-ohio-to-become-columbus-crews-new-multi-year-broadcast-partner Props to J.D. Smith (aka T-Bone on 97.1 The Fan) for his twitter preview of this news - and the Crew fans response to his tweet: https://twitter.com/DegenerateTBone/status/1095824012578557953
February 23, 20196 yr Preseason Hell is Real today at 5PM: https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/23/18237150/columbus-crew-fc-cincinnati-preseason-friendly-live-stream-time-tv-schedule-lineups-and-highlights This is a milestone event for Ohio professional soccer - having two Ohio MLS teams playing each other for the first time. However, it will pale in comparison to the Real Deal Hell is Real in August when the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati face each other in their first two MLS regular season games. The Crew will host FC Cincinnati on Aug. 10, and then the teams will play at Nippert Stadium on Aug. 25. But despite today's matchup being preseason and located in Charleston, SC - some hardware is on the line. FC Cincinnati can claim the Carolina Challenge Cup with a win today. The Crew can win this preseason title for a third straight year with a win, coupled with a draw or loss by the Chicago Fire vs. the Charleston Battery hometeam.
February 24, 20196 yr https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/23/18237911/columbus-crew-fc-cincinnat-carolina-challenge-cup-2019 https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/02/23/fc-cincinnati-0-columbus-crew-sc-3-2019-mls-preseason-match-recap Hell is Real - and so is Gyasi Zardes. The Crew striker scored in the 5th & 20th minutes to give Columbus a 2-0 lead, before a straight red card awarded to FC Cincinnati in the 30th minute reduced them to 10 men and reduced their comeback chances to nil. Pedro Santos added another goal two minutes into the second half to finish the game score at 3-0. (WOW - a Santos goal. That equals his entire goal total for 2018!) ? The win over our new MLS in-state rival gave the Carolina Challenge Cup title to the Crew for a third consecutive year. (Chicago beat host Charleston 1-0 later last night - apparently a Chicago draw/loss was not necessary for the CCC title, as was posted previously using info from Massive Report). Now its on to the 2019 MLS season, which begins next Saturday, March 2nd(!) I can't believe its less then a week away. I can't believe we still have an MLS team! I can't believe we have new owners!! I can't believe we have another Ohio MLS team to play against!!! I can't believe we have to wait until August to play FCC!!!! On to Mapfre for Crewsmas!!!!! ⚽ ⚽ ⚽
February 26, 20196 yr Another win for the Crew: Crew SC returns to Fox Sports Ohio, SportsTime Ohio in TV deal https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20190226/crew-sc-returns-to-fox-sports-ohio-sportstime-ohio-in-tv-deal
March 2, 20196 yr On 2/26/2019 at 6:21 PM, aderwent said: Another win for the Crew: Crew SC returns to Fox Sports Ohio, SportsTime Ohio in TV deal https://www.dispatch.com/sports/20190226/crew-sc-returns-to-fox-sports-ohio-sportstime-ohio-in-tv-deal This article answered a question I had when news of this TV deal was previewed a few weeks ago. I remember when Crew games were broadcast of Fox Sports Ohio (FSO) in 2012 and 2013. It was a massive upgrade from the then-recently defunct ONN channel that had previously aired the games to the literally dozens of households who had that channel(!) The only problem was when other FSO-broadcast games (like the Reds, Cavs & Blue Jackets) were being aired at the same time as a Crew game. In theory, the Crew game would be shown on the FSO-alternate channel and the other game shown on the main FSO channel. At that time Sports Time Ohio was a separately owned & operated entity. So FSO only had those two FSO channels to use. This was sometimes a problem in March, when the Crew, Cavs and CBJ might be playing at the same time. Even after the Cavs and CBJ regular seasons were finished during April, there still was a glitch when Reds and Crew games were being aired. Sometimes, FSO didn't switch one of their channels to the Crew game! This was a semi-frequent annoyance to wait for FSO's switching software to kick-in and join Crew games some 10 or 15 minutes in progress. But eventually FSO got their switching software to actually switch on time and by 2013 it was an enjoyable broadcast experience. But then the hate-able Anthony Precourt bought the team and foisted that awful Time Warner Cable Sports Channel (later Spectrum Sports Channel) deal on Crewdom. Returning to FSO is outstanding. And it should be even better then the 2012-13 version because STO is now part of the FSO family. Meaning that some of the Crew games will be shown on STO (particularly during those high conflict early months) and some will be shown on FSO. According to the Dispatch and from Massive Report, FSO will televise 19 Crew games and STO 14 - including Saturday’s opener against New York Red Bulls. The remaining game, Aug. 25 at FC Cincinnati, will be shown nationally on Fox Sports 1. Because Hell is Real and the whole nation needs to know ? Here is the complete Crew TV schedule from https://www.massivereport.com/2019/2/26/18241753/columbus-crew-sportstime-ohio-fox-sports-ohio-as-local-tv-broadcast-partners-mls-2019: SAT - 03/02/19 - 4:30 PM - New York Red Bulls - STO SAT - 03/09/19 - 2:00 PM - @ New England Revolution - STO SAT - 03/16/19 - 2:00 PM - FC Dallas - FSO SAT - 03/23/19 - 7:30 PM - @ Philadelphia Union - FSO SAT - 03/30/19 - 7:30 PM - Alanta United - STO SAT - 04/06/19 - 7:30 PM - New England Revolution - FSO SAT - 04/13/19 - 1:00 PM - @ Montreal Impact STO SAT - 04/20/19 - 7:30 PM - Portland Timbers - FSO WED - 04/24/19 - 7:30 PM - D.C. United - STO SAT - 04/27/19 - 8:30 PM - @ Houston Dynamo - STO SAT - 05/04/19 - 8:00 PM - @ D.C. United - STO WED - 05/08/19 - 7:30 PM - LA Galaxy - FSO SAT - 05/11/19 - 7:30 PM - Los Angeles Football Club - FSO SAT - 05/18/19 - 8:00 PM - @ Minnesota United - STO SAT - 05/25/19 - 9:00 PM - @ Colorado Rapids - STO SAT - 06/01/19 - 7:30 PM - New York City FC - STO SUN - 06/23/19 - 7:30 PM - Sporting Kansas City - STO SAT - 06/29/19 - 7:30 PM - Orlando City - FSO WED - 07/03/19 - 10:00 PM - @ - Real Salt Lake - FSO SAT - 07/06/19 - 7:30 PM - Seattle Sounders - FSO SAT - 07/13/19 - 7:30 PM - @ Orlando City - FSO WED - 07/17/19 - 8:00 PM - @ Chicago Fire - FSO SAT - 07/20/19 - 7:30 PM - Montreal Impact - FSO SAT - 07/27/19 - 8:00 PM - @ New York Red Bulls - FSO SAT - 08/03/19 - 10:30 PM - @ San Jose Earthquakes - STO SAT - 08/10/19 - 7:30 PM - FC Cincinnati - FSO SAT - 08/17/19 - 7:30 PM - Toronto FC - STO WED - 08/21/19 - 7:00 PM - @ New York City FC - FSO SUN - 08/25/19 - 8:00 PM - @ - FC Cincinnati - FS1 SAT - 08/31/19 - 7:30 PM - Chicago Fire - FSO SAT - 09/14/19 - 7:00 PM - @ Atlanta United - FSO SAT - 09/21/19 - 5:00 PM - @ - Vancouver Whitecaps - FSO SUN - 09/29/19 - 5:00 PM - Philadelphia Union - FSO SUN - 10/06/19 - 4:00 PM - @ Toronto FC - STO
Create an account or sign in to comment