The 2019 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's twenty-fourth season of existence and their twenty-fourth consecutive season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, the top flight of American soccer. Columbus also competed in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

and took part in the Carolina Challenge Cup during preseason. The season covered the period from November 12, 2018 to the start of the

2020 Major League Soccer season The 2020 Major League Soccer season was the 25th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on February 29, 2020, and was originally planned to end on October ...

Roster

Non-competitive

Preseason

On December 21, 2018, Crew SC officially announced its preseason schedule, with three confirmed matches. The club began preseason by spending two days in Lewis Center, Ohio before traveling to

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

for a week-long training camp. While in California, Crew SC played a friendly match against Japanese club Vissel Kobe. After another week in Ohio, Columbus will then play in the Carolina Challenge Cup, looking to defend their title in the tournament for the third consecutive season. Crew SC will play a pair of rivals in the CCC, facing Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati, as well as the tournament hosts. Columbus announced the addition of two friendly matches on January 21, both taking place while the club trains in California and behind closed doors. Crew SC played Mexican club Tijuana on January 31 before facing fellow MLS side Los Angeles FC on February 4. Both matches were open to media but closed to the public.

Competitive

MLS

Standings

= Eastern Conference

=Overall table

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

On December 20, 2018,

the league ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

announced the home openers for every club. Columbus will make their season debut at

Mapfre 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 the opening day of the season, playing host to

New York Red Bulls 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 and be ...

– the team that eliminated Crew SC from the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in 2017. Columbus will also take part in the home-opening matches for two other clubs, with a trip to

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Footb ...

to face

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

on March 9 and a visit to Saputo Stadium to take on Montreal Impact on April 13. The schedule for the remainder of the season was released by the league on January 7, 2019. Crew SC will play twice against every Eastern Conference opponent and once against every Western Conference team.

U.S. Open Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Federico Higuaín entered the season with 196 career appearances for Crew SC, good for eighth place all-time, and 58 goals for the club, good for third place. In order to move up the charts in each category, he needed to appear in four matches and score 17 goals. He appeared for the fourth time on the season on March 23, moving up the charts in the Crew's defeat against Philadelphia Union. Justin Meram also came into the 2019 season sitting in the top ten in club history in both appearances and goals: his 225 appearances were good for fifth place in club history, and his 43 goals were good for sixth. In order to move up, Meram needed to play in 17 games and score 10 goals. He was traded on May 7, however, after playing just nine matches without scoring, departing without moving up in either category. Club captain Wil Trapp was tenth place in club history in appearances coming into the season, with 177 games played for the Crew. In order to move up, he needed to appear at least 11 times in all competitions. Trapp made his 11th appearance on May 8, starting in the club's victory against LA Galaxy. , - , colspan=10 align=center, ''Players who left Columbus during the season:''

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Zack Steffen came into the season with the fifth-most shutouts in club history, keeping 22 through his first three seasons with the club. In order to move up on the all-time charts, he needed to keep two clean sheets in 2019. Steffen accomplished that mark in just three matches, moving up the chart following a clean sheet against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

on March 16.

Transfers

In

SuperDraft

The following players were selected by Columbus in the MLS SuperDraft, but did not sign a contract with the club. Crew SC passed with the 91st overall pick.

Out

Loan out

Awards

Kits

References

{{2019 in American soccer Columbus Crew seasons Columbus Crew SC Columbus Crew SC Columbus Crew SC