In 1999, the Columbus Crew became the first top-division soccer team in the United States to christen a soccer-specific stadium. Fast forward 23 years and the Black & Gold are set to celebrate one year of habitation in their second soccer-specific stadium. Now, after a year of difficult form both at home and away, it’s the stage for a hopeful return to the top tier of Major League Soccer.
Sunday marks the Crew’s one-year celebration at Lower.com Field, the downtown stadium that was a by-product of the Crew’s 2018 saving from relocation to Austin, Texas. Last year, Columbus welcomed the New England Revolution, the eventual Supporters’ Shield winners, to open the second soccer stadium in Ohio’s capital city.