2000 Columbus Crew season

Columbus Crew

2000 season
Investor-operators	Lamar Hunt Clark Hunt Dan Hunt Lamar Hunt Jr. Sharron Hunt Munson Ron Pizzuti and a group of local investors
Head Coach	Tom Fitzgerald
Stadium	Columbus Crew Stadium
Major League Soccer	Division: 4th Overall: 10th
MLS Cup Playoffs	Did not qualify
U.S. Open Cup	Quarterfinals
MLS Spring Training	9th Place
Top goalscorer	League: Dante Washington (15) All: Dante Washington (15)
Highest home attendance	24,741 (5/15 v. NE)
Lowest home attendance	3,297 (7/19 v. HAM)
Average home league attendance	15,451 (68.5%)
Biggest win	CLB 4–1 NEW (7/12) CLB 4–1 HAM (7/19)
Biggest defeat	TAM 5–1 CLB (3/18)
Home colors Away colors

The 2000 Columbus Crew season was the club's fifth season of existence and their fifth consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top flight of soccer in the United States. The first match of the season was on March 18 against Tampa Bay Mutiny. It was the fifth season under head coach Tom Fitzgerald. The Crew's USL A-League affiliates this season were Cincinnati Riverhawks, Indiana Blast, Milwaukee Rampage, Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Rochester Raging Rhinos.^[1]

As of August 9, 2000^[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Mark Dougherty 2 DF  USA Mike Lapper (captain)[3] 3 DF  USA Mike Clark (captain) 4 DF  ARG Mario Gori 5 DF  USA Matt Chulis 6 MF  USA Todd Yeagley 7 MF  BOL Roland Vargas-Aguilera 8 MF  USA Miles Joseph 9 FW  USA Dante Washington 10 MF  USA Brian Maisonneuve 11 FW  USA Jeff Cunningham

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 MF  USA Jason Farrell 13 DF  TRI Ancil Elcock 14 MF  COL John Wilmar Pérez 15 DF  USA Mike Duhaney 16 MF  USA Steve Armas 17 FW  USA Brian West 18 GK  USA Matt Napoleon 19 MF  POL Robert Warzycha 20 FW  USA Brian McBride 21 MF  USA Mario Longo 22 DF  USA Dominic Schell 23 DF  POL Mirosław Rzepa 24 MF  USA John DeBrito 33 GK  USA Matthew Nelson (on loan Cape Cod Crusaders)

Position	Staff
General Manager	Jim Smith
Head Coach	Tom Fitzgerald
Assistant Coach	Greg Andrulis
Assistant Coach	Marcelo Carrera[4]
Assistant Coach/Scout	Nick Roberts
Head Trainer	Amy Baer
Team Manager	Mark De Feyter

Columbus brought multiple non-roster invitees to preseason camp. These included Steve Armas and Mario Longo who later signed contracts with the Crew. It also included Joenal Castma, Phil Karn, Gerardo Reinoso,^[6] Horacio Melgarejo,^[7] Ian Checcio, and Nikoli^[8] who did not sign with the team.

The Crew played a variety of friendly matches during the regular season. They invited non-rostered players Chuck Browder to play against Kansas City Wizards^[9] and Chumski Momose to play against Pittsburgh Riverhounds.^[10]

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Major League Soccer	March 18, 2000	September 9, 2000	Matchday 1	10th	32	11	5	16	48	58	−10	034.38
U.S. Open Cup	June 14, 2000	August 9, 2000	Second Round	Quarterfinals	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5	066.67
Total					35	13	6	16	55	60	−5	037.14

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chicago Fire	32	17	9	6	67	51	+16	57	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Tampa Bay Mutiny	32	16	12	4	62	50	+12	52
3	Dallas Burn	32	14	14	4	54	54	0	46
4	Columbus Crew	32	11	16	5	48	58	−10	38

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
8	Colorado Rapids	32	13	15	4	43	59	−16	43
9	Miami Fusion	32	12	15	5	54	56	−2	41
10	Columbus Crew	32	11	16	5	48	58	−10	38
11	D.C. United	32	8	18	6	44	63	−19	30
12	San Jose Earthquakes	32	7	17	8	35	50	−15	29

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
32	38	11	16	5	48	58	−10	7	6	3	29	25	+4	4	10	2	19	33	−14

Source: MLS standings
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

The Columbus Crew failed to qualify for the playoffs in this season.

Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		MLS		U.S. Open Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	USA	Mark Dougherty	25	0	25+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	USA	Mike Lapper	26	1	20+4	1	2+0	0
3	DF	USA	Mike Clark	31	0	28+0	0	3+0	0
4	DF	ARG	Mario Gori	28	1	19+6	1	2+1	0
5	DF	USA	Matt Chulis	6	0	2+4	0	0+0	0
6	MF	USA	Todd Yeagley	28	0	24+1	0	3+0	0
7	MF	BOL	Roland Vargas-Aguilera	19	1	3+13	0	2+1	1
8	MF	USA	Miles Joseph	23	3	8+12	2	2+1	1
9	FW	USA	Dante Washington	30	15	28+2	15	0+0	0
10	MF	USA	Brian Maisonneuve	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
11	FW	USA	Jeff Cunningham	32	2	16+13	2	3+0	0
12	MF	USA	Jason Farrell	27	4	13+11	3	3+0	1
13	DF	TRI	Ancil Elcock	21	1	18+1	1	1+1	0
14	MF	COL	John Wilmar Pérez	32	3	30+0	3	2+0	0
15	DF	USA	Mike Duhaney	23	2	14+6	1	2+1	1
16	MF	USA	Steve Armas	5	0	4+0	0	0+1	0
17	FW	USA	Brian West	29	7	24+4	6	0+1	1
18	GK	USA	Matt Napoleon	11	0	7+1	0	3+0	0
19	MF	POL	Robert Warzycha	31	6	29+1	6	1+0	0
20	FW	USA	Brian McBride	19	7	17+1	6	1+0	1
21	MF	USA	Mario Longo	1	0	0+0	0	0+1	0
22	DF	USA	Dominic Schell	9	1	1+6	0	1+1	1
23	DF	POL	Mirosław Rzepa	5	0	4+1	0	0+0	0
24	MF	USA	John DeBrito	21	0	17+3	0	1+0	0
33	GK	USA	Matthew Nelson	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
			Own Goal	0	1	-	1	-	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
16	MF	USA	Rob Smith	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0
23	FW	USA	Christof Lindenmayer	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
33	GK	USA	Chuck Browder	0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

No.	Pos.	Name	MLS		U.S. Open Cup		Total
1	GK	Mark Dougherty	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Mike Lapper	4	0	1	0	5	0
3	DF	Mike Clark	6	0	0	0	6	0
4	DF	Mario Gori	5	0	0	0	5	0
5	DF	Matt Chulis	2	0	0	0	2	0
6	MF	Todd Yeagley	5	0	0	0	5	0
7	MF	Roland Vargas-Aguilera	2	0	1	0	3	0
8	MF	Miles Joseph	2	0	0	0	2	0
9	FW	Dante Washington	1	0	0	0	1	0
10	MF	Brian Maisonneuve	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	FW	Jeff Cunningham	3	0	0	0	3	0
12	MF	Jason Farrell	1	0	0	0	1	0
13	DF	Ancil Elcock	5	0	0	0	5	0
14	MF	John Wilmar Pérez	4	0	0	0	4	0
15	DF	Mike Duhaney	1	0	1	0	2	0
16	MF	Steve Armas	2	0	0	0	2	0
17	FW	Brian West	5	0	0	0	5	0
18	GK	Matt Napoleon	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	MF	Robert Warzycha	6	1	0	0	6	1
20	FW	Brian McBride	1	0	0	0	1	0
21	MF	Mario Longo	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	Dominic Schell	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	Mirosław Rzepa	1	1	0	0	1	1
24	MF	John DeBrito	7	0	0	0	7	0
33	GK	Matthew Nelson	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
16	MF	Rob Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW	Christof Lindenmayer	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	GK	Chuck Browder	0	0	0	0	0	0

No.	Name	MLS	U.S. Open Cup	Total	Games Played
1	Mark Dougherty	3	0	0	25
18	Matt Napoleon	1	1	2	11
33	Matthew Nelson	0	0	0	0
Players who left Columbus during the season:
33	Chuck Browder	0	0	0	0

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/notes	Date	Source
DF	Mike Duhaney	NY/NJ MetroStars	Traded for Thomas Dooley	January 28, 2000	[11]
FW	Dante Washington	Dallas Burn	Traded for a first round draft pick in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft	February 6, 2000	[12]
MF	Roland Vargas-Aguilera	Tahuichi Academy	Drafted in round 2 of the 2000 MLS SuperDraft.	February 6, 2000	[12]
MF	Brian Winters	Portland Pilots	Drafted in round 3 of the 2000 MLS SuperDraft.	February 6, 2000	[12]
FW	Christof Lindenmayer	Loyola Greyhounds	Drafted in round 4 of the 2000 MLS SuperDraft.	February 6, 2000	[12]
DF	Dominic Schell	Mobile Rams	Drafted in round 5 of the 2000 MLS SuperDraft.	February 6, 2000	[12]
MF	John Wilmar Pérez	Deportivo Cali	Allocated by Major League Soccer	March 7, 2000	[13]
MF	Miles Joseph	NY/NJ MetroStars	Traded for a second-round pick in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft	May 3, 2000	[14]
MF	Mario Longo	MLS Project-40	Acquired from MLS Project-40 via lottery	May 8, 2000	[15]
MF	Steve Armas	Raleigh Capital Express	Signed via discovery	June 3, 2000	[16]
DF	Mirosław Rzepa	Odra Opole	Signed via discovery	August 9, 2000	[17]

Pos.	Player	Parent club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
GK	Chuck Browder	Indiana Blast	Short term agreements	May 6, 2000 July 11, 2000	May 10, 2000 July 22, 2000	[18][19]
GK	Matthew Nelson	Cape Cod Crusaders	Short term agreement	September 6, 2000	End of Season	[20]

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
MF	Andy Williams	Miami Fusion F.C.	Traded for a first round draft pick in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft	January 3, 2000	[21]
DF	Thomas Dooley	NY/NJ MetroStars	Traded for Mike Duhaney	January 28, 2000	[11]
DF	Billy Thompson	Retired	Placed on waivers	February 21, 2000	[22]
MF	Brian Winters	Portland Timbers	Placed on waivers	March 14, 2000	[3]
GK	Juergen Sommer	New England Revolution	Traded for a third-round pick in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft and future considerations.	March 14, 2000	[23]
MF	Rob Smith	Retired		May 4, 2000	[24]
FW	Christof Lindenmayer	Hershey Wildcats	Placed on waivers	June 3, 2000	[16]
DF	Dominic Schell	Nashville Metros	Placed on waivers	November 1, 2000	[25]
MF	Steve Armas	Atlanta Silverbacks	Placed on waivers	November 1, 2000	[25]
DF	Mirosław Rzepa	Stomil Olsztyn	Placed on waivers	November 1, 2000	[25]
MF	Jason Farrell	Seattle Sounders	Contract expired	December 31, 2000	[26]

Pos.	Player	Loanee club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
DF	Dominic Schell	MLS Project-40	Multiple short term agreements.	April 8, 2000	End of Season	[27]
MF	Steve Armas	MLS Project-40	Multiple short term agreements.	April 8, 2000	End of Season	[27]
MF	Mario Longo	MLS Project-40	Multiple short term agreements.	April 8, 2000	End of Season	[27]
GK	Matt Napoleon	MLS Project-40	Multiple short term agreements.	April 8, 2000	End of Season	[27]
FW	Christof Lindenmayer	MLS Project-40	Multiple short term agreements.	April 8, 2000	June 3, 2000	[27]
DF	Dominic Schell	Cincinnati Riverhawks	Short term agreement			[28]
MF	Steve Armas	Cincinnati Riverhawks	Short term agreement			[28]
FW	Brian McBride	Preston North End		September 10, 2000	March, 2001	[29]
DF	Ancil Elcock	Joe Public F.C.		November 1, 2000	March, 2001	[25]

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:

2000 Columbus Crew SuperDraft Picks[30]
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
2	21	Roland Vargas-Aguilera	MF	Tahuichi Academy
3	33	Brian Winters	MF	Portland
4	45	Christof Lindenmayer	FW	Loyola University Maryland
5	57	Dominic Schell	DF	Mobile