The story of the Columbus Crew remains remarkable and almost unique in professional sports.

Not only did the community save the team from leaving for Austin, Texas, find new owners and build a great stadium, the franchise has soared to new heights and nearly became the North American club champion in June. Only food poisoning to the entire team in Mexico ended that dream in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

As Columbus prepares to host the MLS All-Star Game July 24 at shiny Lower.com Field, we decided it was time to fully tell this amazing story in today's cover story.

Read our exclusive story: How the Columbus Crew climbed from near extinction to the top of American soccer

Longtime Columbus Dispatch sports Columnist Michael Arace retraces the club's history, including post-Save The Crew MLS Cups in 2020 and 2023 to give the franchise three overall. It's also now exported a general manager and homegrown player to key roles in England's top leagues, a rare feat for American soccer.

Having covered the team for more than two decades, Arace has the unique ability to share the story behind the team's success and recount the amazing work of supporters who saved MLS soccer in Columbus.

We hope you enjoy his report on the top franchise in MLS.

What is the Dispatch's eNewspaper?

I've noticed some confusion in recent weeks about our various digital products. So, I'm going to spend some time in the coming weeks explaining the depth of our digital offerings, beginning with the eNewspaper.

In short, the eNewspaper is a digital replica of the print edition with a bonus national news and national sports section produced every day. It's not the same as constantly updated content on Dispatch.com or our app, although the eNewspaper is accessible via the app.

The eNewspaper updates well before 6 a.m. each day with the same content found in print. It's not updated throughout the day.

Many loyal print readers enjoy this format when they're travelling or on days they don't receive print delivery. You can click on stories to read them and even adjust the size of type on your screen. It will even read stories to you.

Of course, on Saturdays and major holidays, the eNewspaper stands alone as we do not print the newspaper on those days.

The bonus sections are called Nation & World Extra and Sports Extra and will include later content we can't get into the print newspaper due to production deadlines.

You also can access the past 30 days of Dispatch eNewspapers and all USA TODAY Network newspapers nationwide, including 20 other titles across Ohio. Just click on universal in the navigation area.

How can I access the eNewspaper?

First, you need to connect your print subscription account to Dispatch.com. On our site, click on "Sign In" at the top right corner and then activate account. You need to use the same email address already on file.

Once you are registered, all you need to do is click on eNewspaper in the top right corner.

Happy reading!

Michael Shearer is the executive editor of The Columbus Dispatch and Dispatch.com. He can be reached at mshearer@dispatch.com or 614-245-0358.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Inside today's special report on MLS Champion Columbus Crew