Columbus Crew General Manager Mark McCullers announced today the 2005 Columbus Crew season schedule. The start times of the games will be released at a later date after the final national television schedule is completed.
The Crew will kick off year No. 10 of Major League Soccer on Saturday, April 2, at Columbus Crew Stadium when the Black & Gold welcome Carlos Ruiz and the Los Angeles Galaxy to town for a 7:30 p.m. match-up.
The 2005 Crew season will be a 32-game slate, including 16 home games and 16 road games. The Crew home schedule will feature 12 Saturday games, three Wednesday games and one Friday game.
Columbus will take on its five Eastern Conference foes four times each (two home, two away), while playing the six Western Conference teams twice (one home, one away).
The three Wednesday night games will be the famous "Johnsonville Buck-A-Brat Nights" at Crew Stadium. Eastern Conference rival D.C. United visits Crew Stadium twice, on Friday, April 15 and on Saturday, July 2, as part of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Fellow East rival Chicago also trips twice to Columbus, on Saturday, April 30, and Saturday, September 17.
The two new expansion teams will also make their first trips to Crew Stadium, with Real Salt Lake visiting on Saturday, May 21, and Chivas USA on Saturday, October 1.
The MLS All-Star game is scheduled for the weekend of July 30, with MLS Cup capping off year No. 10 on Sunday, November 13. The site of the All-Star game is expected to be announced within the next month, while MLS Cup will be played at the new FC Dallas soccer stadium at the Frisco Soccer and Entertainment Center in Frisco, Texas.
Currently, the only way to get tickets to Crew home games is to purchase a season-ticket package. Interested parties can call 614-447-Crew or visit the official website at TheCrew.com for details and pricing.
