The 2020 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's 25th season of existence and their 25th consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States and Canada. The first match of the season was on March 1 against New York City FC. It was the second season under head coach Caleb Porter. Columbus were also set to compete in the U.S. Open Cup, before its cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first season without Wil Trapp and Federico Higuain since 2012 and 2011, respectively.
The 2020 season saw Columbus earn their second ever MLS Cup championship, their first since 2008. Columbus defeated Seattle Sounders FC, 3–0 in the championship match.
Roster
Technical Staff
Non-competitive
Preseason The Crew started preseason in Columbus. They then played games in California, Mexico and Arizona as part of the 2020 Visit Tucson Sun Cup before returning to Ohio. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Derrick Etienne.
Unsigned draft picks Miguel Berry, Remi Prieur and Danny Griffin also joined the team for preseason.
Midseason
Competitive Overview
MLS
Standings
Eastern Conference
Overall table
Results summary
Results by round
Match results On December 5, 2019, the league announced the home openers for every club, with Columbus playing New York City FC at MAPFRE Stadium. The schedule for the remainder of the season was released by the league on December 19, 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the original schedule had to be shortened and was released in installments. The remainder of the regular season schedule was announced on September 22, 2020.
Original Schedule
Restarted Schedule
MLS is Back Tournament
MLS Cup Playoffs
First Round
Conference Semifinals
Conference Finals
MLS Cup
U.S. Open Cup
The 2020 edition of the U.S. Open Cup was canceled on August 17 due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Statistics
Appearances and goals Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.
|colspan=12 align=center|Players who left Columbus during the season:
Disciplinary record No. Pos. Name MLS MLS is BackKnockout stage 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs Total 1 GK Eloy Room20000020 2 DF Chris Cadden10000010 3 DF Josh Williams10000010 4 DF Jonathan Mensah40100050 5 DF Vito Wormgoor10000010 6 MF Darlington Nagbe10000010 7 MF Pedro Santos40001050 8 MF Artur30000030 9 FW Fanendo Adi00000000 10 MF Lucas Zelarayán20000020 11 FW Gyasi Zardes10000010 12 MF Luis Díaz50000050 13 GK Andrew Tarbell00000000 14 DF Waylon Francis00000000 16 MF Hector Jiménez10000010 17 FW Jordan Hamilton00000000 18 MF Sebastian Berhalter10000010 19 DF Milton Valenzuela40000040 20 FW Emmanuel Boateng20000020 21 MF Aidan Morris30000030 22 MF Derrick Etienne Jr.00000000 23 DF Grant Lillard00000000 24 GK Jon Kempin00000000 25 DF Harrison Afful50000050 26 MF Fatai Alashe20000020 27 FW Miguel Berry00000000 28 FW Matt Lampson00000000 29 FW Krisztián Németh00000000 30 DF Aboubacar Keita10000010 34 MF Youness Mokhtar10000010Players who left Columbus during the season: 44 DF Axel Sjöberg00000000
Clean sheets
No. Name MLS MLS is BackKnockout stage MLS Cup Playoffs Total Games Played 1 Eloy Room701818 13 Andrew Tarbell20249 24 Jon Kempin00000 28 Matt Lampson00000
Transfers
In Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource MF Aidan Morris Indiana Signed to Homegrown Player deal. January 14, 2020 MF Sebastian Berhalter North Carolina Signed to Homegrown Player deal. January 17, 2020 FW Fanendo Adi FC Cincinnati Picked up off waivers January 27, 2020 MF Derrick Etienne Jr. New York Red Bulls Signed as a free agent February 4, 2020 GK Andrew Tarbell San Jose Earthquakes Traded for $75,000 in general allocation money February 19, 2020 FW Miguel Berry San Diego Drafted in the first round of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft February 27, 2020 MF Emmanuel Boateng DC United Traded for Axel Sjöberg August 14, 2020 DF Grant Lillard Inter Miami CF Traded for a third round draft pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft August 14, 2020 DF Fatai Alashe FC Cincinnati Traded for a second round draft pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. FC Cincinnati will instead receive $50,000 of 2021 general allocation money should certain performance conditions be met. August 17, 2020 FW Krisztián Németh Dunajská Streda Signed as free agent October 5, 2020 GK Evan Bush Vancouver Whitecaps FC Traded for $125,000 in general allocation money December 14, 2020 FW Bradley Wright-Phillips Los Angeles FC Signed as a free agent December 23, 2020
Out Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSourceMF Wil Trapp Inter Miami CF Traded for $100,000 in general allocation money and a 2020 international roster slot January 31, 2020FW JJ Williams Birmingham Legion Placed on waivers February 20, 2020 MF Axel Sjöberg DC United Traded for Emmanuel Boateng August 14, 2020 GK Andrew Tarbell Austin FC Option declined December 14, 2020 MF Fatai Alashe Sacramento Republic Option declined December 14, 2020 MF Emmanuel Boateng New England Revolution Option declined December 14, 2020 MF Youness Mokhtar ADO Den Haag Option declined December 14, 2020 FW Jordan Hamilton Indy Eleven Option declined December 14, 2020 FW Krisztián Németh Debreceni VSC Option declined December 14, 2020 DF Waylon Francis Columbus Crew SC Contract expired December 14, 2020 MF Hector Jiménez Austin FC Contract expired December 14, 2020 FW Fanendo Adi Minnesota United FC Contract expired December 14, 2020
Loan out Pos.PlayerLoanee clubLength/NotesBeginningEndSource GK Jon Kempin San Diego Loyal SCOption to RecallMarch 6, 2020September 19, 2020FW Miguel Berry San Diego Loyal SCOption to RecallAugust 28, 2020September 23, 2020
MLS Draft picks
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for Columbus Crew SC are listed below: Round Pick Player Position College 17 Miguel BerryFWSan Diego247 Remi PrieurGKSt. Mary's249 Danny GriffinMFProvidence
Stage Round Pick Player Position Team 2126 Eric DickGKSporting Kansas City
Awards +MLS Team of the WeekWeekStartersBenchOpponent(s)Link 1 Lucas Zelarayán New York City FC 2 Artur Seattle Sounders FCMLS is Back – Round 1 Darlington Nagbe Lucas ZelarayánGyasi Zardes FC Cincinnati MLS is Back – Round 2 Darlington Nagbe Jonathan Mensah Lucas ZelarayánNew York Red BullsMLS is Back – Round 3 Darlington Nagbe Atlanta United FC 6 Darlington Nagbe Derrick Etienne Jr. Chicago Fire FC 9 Lucas Zelarayán Philadelphia Union 10 Gyasi Zardes FC Cincinnati 11 Gyasi Zardes Chicago Fire FC 12 Jonathan Mensah Nashville SC 13 Pedro Santos Lucas Zelarayán Minnesota United FC 19 Andrew Tarbell Pedro Santos Artur New York City FC 22 Eloy Room Artur Philadelphia Union
MLS Player of the Week WeekPlayerOpponentLink MLS Cup 2020 Lucas Zelarayán Seattle Sounders FC
MLS Goal of the Week WeekPlayerOpponentLink MLS is Back – Round 1 Lucas Zelarayán FC Cincinnati
Postseason MLS Newcomer of the Year Award MF Lucas Zelarayán MLS Goal of the Year Award MF Darlington Nagbe MLS Save of the Year Award GK Eloy Room MLS Best XI DF Jonathan Mensah
Crew SC Team Awards Most Valuable Player – Lucas Zelarayán Golden Boot Winner – Gyasi Zardes Defender of the Year – Jonathan Mensah Kirk Urso Heart Award – Darlington Nagbe Humanitarian of the Year – Black Players for Change (Jonathan Mensah and Darlington Nagbe accepting on behalf of the organization) Academy Player of the Year – TJ Presthus
Kits
Type Shirt Shorts Socks First appearance / Record HomeGoldGoldGoldMatch 1 vs. NYCFC AwayBlackBlackBlackMatch 2 vs. Seattle
Notes
References