The 2011 Columbus Crew season was the club's 16th season of existence and their 16th consecutive season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the top flight of soccer in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The first match of the season was on March 19 against D.C. United. It was the third season under head coach

Robert Warzycha Robert Warzycha (; born 20 August 1963) is a Polish former professional football manager and player. A right winger, Warzycha had a long career in Europe, playing for teams in Poland, Hungary and England with Everton in the Premier League. He ...

Background

Review

The Crew opened its 2011 campaign with a Champions League quarterfinal fixture against fellow MLS competitor,

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. The match, the first leg of a quarterfinal series, was at

Columbus Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 u ...

on February 22, 2011 and ended in a 0-0 draw. Columbus was trying to advance past the Quarterfinal stage after falling to

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

5-4 on aggregate last season. Columbus Crew v Portland Timbers 07-25-11

On March 1, Columbus traveled to

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is a soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, United States. It is the home of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Utah Royals of the National Women' ...

and fell to

by a score of 4-1, thus ending the Crew's run in the

2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League The 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League was the 3rd edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current format, and overall the 46th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of Nor ...

. Two and a half weeks later, Columbus opened up its

campaign by traveling to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to take on D.C. United on March 19. The club's MLS home opener was one week later, when the Crew hosted

Red Bull New York The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 an ...

on March 26.

Roster

''As of September 3, 2011.''

Technical Staff

Non-competitive

Preseason

The Crew started preseason in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

and played games in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

before returning to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Mark Blades,

Neri Bandiera Neri Ricardo Bandiera (born 3 July 1989) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), winger for Atlético Grau. Career Bandiera's career started with Agrupación Deportiva Infantil ...

Pat McAfee Patrick Justin McAfee ( ; born May 2, 1987) is an American sports analyst, color commentator, and former professional football punter and kickoff specialist. He is an analyst on '' College GameDay'' and the host of the sports talk show '' Th ...

Ray Burse Ray Burse Jr. (born October 2, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Career College and amateur Burse was born in Prospect, Kentucky. He attended St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, and ...

, Alex Fraga, Alex Riggs, Josh Gardner and Eric Gehrig. Unsigned draft picks Rich Balchan, Justin Meram, Cole Grossman, Bernardo Añor, Ben Sippola and Andy Adlard also joined the team for preseason.

Midseason

Competitive

Overview

MLS

Standings

= Eastern Conference

= Overall table

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

MLS Cup Playoffs

Wildcard Match

CONCACAF Champions League

Quarterfinals

U.S. Open Cup

With a fifth-place overall finish last season, the Crew secured direct qualification into the third-round proper of the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

Reserve League

Eastern

Match results

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

Clean sheets

Reserve League 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.

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Transfers

In

Loans in

Out

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 the Columbus Crew are listed below:

Awards

MLS Player of the Week

MLS Save of the Week

Crew Team Awards

* Circle of Honor –

Brian McBride Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former association football, soccer player who played as a forward (association football), forward for Columbus Crew, Fulham F.C., Fulham and Chicago Fire SC, Chicago Fire. He is the sixt ...

* Most Valuable Player –

Chad Marshall Chad Marshall (born August 22, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player. During his 16-year career, he played for Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer. Regarded as one of the league's greatest players of a ...

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/mls/columbus-crew/2011/10/19/crew-marshall-receives-team-mvp/23857607007/ * Defensive Player of the Year – Julius James * Scoring Champion – Andrés Mendoza * Man of the Year –

Jeff Cunningham Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is a former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134. Born in Jamaica, Cunningham initially played for ...

* Coach's Award –

Eddie Gaven Eddie Gaven (born October 25, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played 11 seasons in Major League Soccer, primarily with the Columbus Crew. In July 2012, Gaven became the youngest player to play in 250 MLS matches at 25 years and 257 ...

* Newcomer of the Year –

Sebastián Miranda Sebastián Miguel Miranda Córdova (born 26 August 1980) is a Chilean people, Chilean Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He currentl ...

* Goal of the Year –

* Humanitarian of the Year – Tom Heinemann * Hardest Working Man of the Year –

Robbie Rogers Robert Hampton Rogers III (born May 12, 1987) is an American former professional soccer player. He played as a winger and as a left back. Rogers has also represented the United States men's national soccer team. In February 2013, Rogers came ou ...

* Comeback Player of the Year – Danny O'Rourke *Fan's Choice –

Emilio Rentería Emilio Rentería García (born October 9, 1984) is a Venezuelan footballer as a forward. Career Club Rentería began his professional career in Spain, where he competed in the Spanish second division with Levante UD from 2001 to 2004. He then r ...

*Jim Nelson Fans of the Year – Randy Sims & Alice Potter *Academy U15/U16 Player of the Year – Zach Mason *Academy U17/U18 Player of the Year – Connor Klekota *Academy U19/U20 Player of the Year – Matt Walker

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011 Columbus Crew Season Columbus Crew seasons

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...