| Club: | Columbus Crew |
| Season: | 2021 |
| League: | Major League Soccer |
| League Result: | Conference 9th |
| Chrtitle: | Investor-operators |
| Chairman: | Dee and Jimmy Haslam JW and Whitney Johnson Dr. Pete Edwards |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Caleb Porter |
| Stadium: | Historic Crew Stadium (until June 19, 2021) Lower.com Field (since July 3, 2021) |
| Cup1: | MLS Cup Playoffs |
| Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Canceled |
| Cup3: | CONCACAF Champions League |
| Cup3 Result: | Quarter-finals |
| Cup4: | Campeones Cup |
| Cup4 Result: | Winners |
| League Topscorer: | Lucas Zelarayán (12) |
| Season Topscorer: | Lucas Zelarayán (13) |
| Highest Attendance: | 20,407 (7/3 vs. NE) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 16,676 (10/27 vs. ORL) |
| Largest Win: | League / All: RE 0–4 CLB (4/8, CCL) CLB 4–0 MIA (10/16) |
| Largest Loss: | League/All: NYCFC 4–1 CLB (7/30) PHI 3–0 CLB (10/3) |
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| Prevseason: | 2020 |
| Nextseason: | 2022 |
The 2021 Columbus Crew season was the club's twenty-sixth season of existence and their twenty-sixth consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The season covers the period from December 13, 2020, to November 7, 2021. It is the third season under head coach Caleb Porter.
The 2021 season sees Columbus defending their 2020 MLS Cup championship, as well as the opening of Lower.com Field, the club's new downtown stadium. They hosted the 2021 Campeones Cup against Cruz Azul, the winner of the Liga MX's Campeón de Campeones winning 2–0. The club also participated in the CONCACAF Champions League, their first appearance since the 2010–11 tournament.
The team began playing the season under the name Columbus Crew SC until a rebrand on May 10, 2021, after which the name was changed to Columbus SC. However, after criticism over the rebrand was spurred by its fans, the club announced that it would return to its original name. The "SC" was dropped and the club was once again the Columbus Crew.[1] [2]
This was the last season in which Columbus Crew played at Historic Crew Stadium, where the team played their final match against the Chicago Fire on June 19, 2021, with a 2–0 win.[3] The team then moved to Lower.com Field near downtown Columbus, where they would play their first match at the new stadium against the New England Revolution with a 2–2 draw on July 3, 2021.[4] [5]
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Signed in | Previous club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||
| 1 | Eloy Room (INT) | April 15, 2021 | 2019 | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 13 |  | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 24 | | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 28 | | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 16 | 0 | ||||
| Defenders | |||||||||
| 3 | | CB, RB, LB | April 15, 2021 | 2017 | 142 | 9 | |||
| 4 |  | April 15, 2021 | 2017 | 100 | 3 | ||||
| 5 | Vito Wormgoor (INT) | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 14 | April 15, 2021 | 2019 | 104 | 0 | |||||
| 17 | | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 19 |  | LB | April 15, 2021 | 2019 | 49 | 1 | |||
| 24 | CB | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 25 | | April 15, 2021 | 2015 | 138 | 6 | ||||
| 30 | Aboubacar Keita (HG) | | CB, LB | January 17, 2020 | 2019 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Midfielders | |||||||||
| 2 | | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 6 | | April 15, 2021 | 2019 | 15 | 1 | ||||
| 7 | Pedro Santos (INT)(DP) | April 15, 2021 | 2017 | 94 | 18 | ||||
| 8 |  | DM, AM, CM | April 15, 2021 | 2018 | 108 | 2 | |||
| 10 | Lucas Zelarayán (INT)(DP) |  | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 16 | 6 | |||
| 12 | Luis Díaz (INT) | April 15, 2021 | 2019 | 34 | 2 | ||||
| 16 | Isaiah Parente (HG) | | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 20 | Alexandru Mățan (INT) | MF | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | FC Viitorul Constanta | 0 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Aidan Morris (HG) | | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 10 | 0 | |||
| 22 | MF | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 21 | 1 | ||||
| Forwards | |||||||||
| 9 | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 11 | Gyasi Zardes (DP) | | April 15, 2021 | 2018 | 82 | 44 | |||
| 99 | April 15, 2021 | 2021 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Out on loan | |||||||||
| 18 | Sebastian Berhalter (HG) | | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 27 | FW | April 15, 2021 | 2020 | 0 | 0 | ||||
See main article: 2021 Major League Soccer season.
On March 10, 2021 the league announced the home openers for every club, with Columbus playing Philadelphia Union at Historic Crew Stadium.
See main article: 2021 U.S. Open Cup. On July 20, US Soccer finally announced that the tournament would be cancelled for 2021 and would resume in 2022.[6]
On March 29, 2021, US Soccer announced that qualification for MLS clubs would be determined by the highest number of regular season points per game at the conclusion of the first three weeks of MLS play (April 16 – May 4).[7]
See main article: 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.
See main article: 2021 Campeones Cup.
Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.
|}
See also: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2021.
| Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Evan Bush | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Trade in exchange for $125,000 in General Allocation Money. | December 14, 2020 | [8] | |
| FW | Bradley Wright-Phillips | Los Angeles FC | Free agent. | December 23, 2020 | [9] | |
| MF | Kevin Molino | Minnesota United FC | Free agent. | January 7, 2021 | [10] | |
| GK | Eric Dick | Sporting Kansas City | Selected in Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft. | January 8, 2021 | [11] | |
| MF | Isaiah Parente | Wake Forest | Signed as a Homegrown Player. | January 11, 2021 | [12] | |
| MF | Perry Kitchen | LA Galaxy | Free agent. | January 28, 2021 | [13] | |
| MF | Marlon Hairston | Minnesota United FC | Free agent. | March 3, 2021 | [14] | |
| MF | Alexandru Mățan | Viitorul Constanţa | Reported $1,800,000 transfer fee. Acquired under the MLS U-22 initiative. | March 8, 2021 | [15] | |
| DF | Saad Abdul-Salaam | FC Cincinnati | Waivers. | April 17, 2021 | [16] | |
| FW | Erik Hurtado | CF Montreal | Trade in exchange for $200,000 in 2021 General Allocation Money. | July 8, 2021 | [17] | |
| DF | Steven Moreira | Toulouse FC | Free agent. | August 23, 2021 | [18] |
See also: 2021 MLS SuperDraft.
The following players were selected by Columbus in the MLS SuperDraft.
| Pos. | Player | College | Notes | Date | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF |  Justin Malou | Clemson | Selected in the First Round of the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. | January 21, 2021 | [20] | |
| DF | Joshua Jackson-Ketchup | Ohio State | Selected in the second round of the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. | January 21, 2021 |
| Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Andrew Tarbell | Austin FC | Option declined. | December 14, 2020 | [21] | |
| 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 | ||
| MF | Hector Jiménez | Austin FC | Out of contract. | December 14, 2020 | ||
| FW |  Fanendo Adi | Minnesota United FC | Out of contract. | December 14, 2020 | ||
| GK | Jon Kempin | D.C. United | Trade for third-round pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. | January 8, 2021 | [22] | |
| MF | Chris Cadden | Hibernian | Undisclosed | January 15, 2021 | ||
| GK | Matt Lampson | Hartford Athletic | Waived. | August 25, 2021 | [23] |
| Pos. | Player | Loanee club | Division | Length/Notes | Beginning | End | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MF | Sebastian Berhalter | Austin FC | MLS | Columbus Crew SC acquires $50,000 in 2021 General Allocation Money (GAM). The Crew will receive $50,000 in Allocation Money if Berhalter meets certain performance conditions in 2021. Austin FC retains the option to trade for the rights on a permanent basis. | March 3, 2021 | December 11, 2021 | [24] | |
| GK | Eric Dick | Indy Eleven | USL Championship | Columbus Crew loans goalkeeper Eric Dick to USL's Indy Eleven on June 24, 2021. Columbus retains the right to terminate the loan at any time. | June 24, 2021 | December 11, 2021 | [25] |
| Type | Shirt | Shorts | Socks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | White | Gold | Gold | |
| Away | Black | Black | Black |