BEZ IS BACK
Exclamation point
Tim Bezbatchenko is coming home.
Well-placed sources have informed Disrespected Media that Bezbatchenko, 44, is returning to Columbus to take a job as "Haslam Sports Group President of Global Soccer."
An official announcement is expected soon.
Bezbatchenko will oversee HSG's soccer properties, which currently include the Columbus Crew and a National Women's Soccer League expansion team set to begin play in 2028. The "Global" in Bezbatchenko's new title suggests that HSG has plans for future acquisitions, perhaps overseas.
In this strict sense, Bezbatchenko is an excellent fit.
Since the summer of 2024, Bezbatchenko has served as President of Black Knight Soccer Club, overseeing a portfolio of teams – Bournemouth of the English Premier League, Lorient of France's Ligue 1, and Moreirense of Liga Portugal, among others. Black Knight Soccer Club is under the umbrella of sports businessman Bill Foley, owner of the NHL Vegas Golden Knights.
Bezbatchenko's experience, home and abroad, includes building stuff – stadiums, training facilities, front offices, coaching staffs, rosters, and so on. This type of multi-faceted building confronts him as HSG gears up for NWSL and beyond.
Bezbatchenko will officially rejoin HSG, and come home, once his Black Knight contract reaches term. The season is over for Black Knight's many teams. When is Bezbatchenko's contract up? The beginning of the MLS summer transfer window in mid-July? I'm not sure, but I suspect it's all negotiable. It's probably already been negotiated.
In the grander scheme of things, Bezbatchenko is worthy of the first-ever, ALL-CAPS headline in the long and storied history of thedisrespected.com.
For Columbus and for Crew fans, some of whom believe the fall of an empire began with Bezbatchenko's flight over the pond, and for the Bexley Porchfest ... I know, the Porchfest doesn't seem to fit, but trust me here ... the news that he is coming home hits at exactly the right time.
It's almost like getting value in a deal involving Daniel Gazdag, acquiring an elite striker to replace injured Wessam Abou Ali and adding depth at center back, all at once. Almost, but not quite. But huge nonetheless.
Call him "Bez." Everybody does.
He grew up in Westerville. His family had Crew season tickets since Day 1 in 1996. He was a prominent player at Columbus-St. Francis DeSales and an Academic All-American at the University of Richmond. He played for the minor-league Pittsburgh Riverhounds before his knees gave out. He got his law degree from the University of Cincinnati, worked at a white-shoe law firm in New York City, joined the MLS league office as a contract guru, and then went off to join a team. It's satisfying, joining a team.
In Bezbatchenko's six years as a 30-something general manager of Toronto FC, he won an MLS Cup, a Supporters' Shield and three Canadian Championships.
Bezbatchenko was first lured home by the Haslam and Edwards families after #SaveTheCrew saved the Crew in 2019. He didn't hire his first coach in Columbus, Caleb Porter, the owners did. Porter won an MLS Cup during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020. After that, Porter blamed his mediocrity on being denied a forward with a tattoo on his neck.
In late 2022, Bezbatchenko fired Porter and went out and got the man he really wanted, Wilfried Nancy.
A golden era in Crew history followed. Consider yourself blessed if you are a Crew fan and partook of this era. It spoiled you. It's almost impossible to recreate. But I digress.
The Crew won the MLS Cup in 2023, Nancy's first season. The victory came three months after Bezbatchenko sold a star, attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan, to a team in Saudi Arabia, and brought in forward Diego Rossi from Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce. These moves were bold, they were controversial, and they worked perfectly for Nancy and his possess-attack system. Genius.
The Crew made it to the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup – going on the road to beat Monterrey's two Liga MX giants along the way – in 2024. Remarkable.
That Crew were food-poisoned out of being competitive in the CCC championship game at Pachuca.
Days after the Crew expurgated their dehydrated selves in Pachuca, it was announced that Bezbatchenko was joining Black Knight Soccer Club and moving to Bournemouth.
A couple months later, the Crew won Leagues Cup. At that point, the Crew were the No. 1 team in CONCACAF'S club rankings and the franchise was valued at more than $600 million. (The valuation has since climbed to over $900 million.)
It was the end of something.
The Crew were bounced from the first round of the MLS playoffs in 2024 and 2025.
Key players were sold off. Midfielder Aidan Morris to Middlesbrough, now of the EPL. Cucho Hernandez to Real Betis. Darlington Nagbe retired. The roster was not adequately regenerated.
Nancy left for Celtic of the Scottish Premiership in December. Celtic fired him after 33 days.
Crew GM Issa Tall – a Bez protege at the league office and in Toronto and Columbus – hired Henrik Rydström to replace Nancy on New Year's Day. Rydström lasted 136 days before he was fired on Sunday.
Tall remains as GM.
Nancy's successor is Laurent Courtois, who flourished as Crew 2 coach and as a first-team assistant when Bez and Nancy and the Crew stood astride the continent. During that reign, Courtois won the MLS NextPro Cup in 2022 and got back to the title game in 2023.
Now, Bez is back.
Is this the beginning of something?
More to come in tomorrow's edition of The Weekly Dis. Have a nice day.
Thanks for reading. If you're enjoying what you see and you are of a mind, click on the link below and leave a tip. If you've yet to subscribe, consider making a small hop over a paywall. It'll help keep local, independent media disrespected. You can follow me @MichaelArace1.bsky.social. Have a nice day.
Click below to leave a tip. Thanks.
Michael Arace
