On June 26, it was announced that Crew president/general manager Tim Bezbatchenko was leaving to become the first president of Black Knight Football Club, which has a portfolio of teams in England, France, Scotland and Australia/New Zealand. The news jackhammered Crew fans.

Bezbatchenko, the son of Crew season-ticket holders, grew up in Westerville. He was a star soccer player at DeSales and the University of Richmond. After a stint with the USL Pittsburgh Riverhounds, he went to law school at the University of Cincinnati, then worked for a white-shoe firm in New York. He took a job at MLS headquarters in 2010 and, in 2013 at age 31, became the youngest general manager in the league in Toronto. He ran an operation that brought Toronto an MLS Cup, a Supporters’ Shield, three Canadian Championships and a berth in the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League final.

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In 2019, after the Crew was saved from relocation, Bezbatchenko answered the call to come home. He was 37. He played a supporting role in the building of a new stadium and training facility and a primary role in shaping soccer operations to a championship caliber.

On June 26, when it was announced that he was leaving Columbus after 66 months, two MLS Cup championships, a Campeones Cup thing and a berth in the 2024 Champions Cup final, it marked the end of a distinct era in club history.

Black Knight Football Club is owned by billionaire Bill Foley, who is best known as the owner of the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights, last year’s Stanley Cup winner. Foley owns all or part of three teams under the Black Knight umbrella − Bournemouth of the English Premier League, FC Lorient of the France’s Ligue 1, Hibernian FC of the Scottish Premier League and Auckland FC of the Australian A-League Men.

According to Black Knight, “Bezbatchenko will work with BKFC’s portfolio of clubs to improve and better coordinate player development and recruiting, enhance player pathways and optimize commercial opportunities across the group to deliver on-field success and strong financial performance.”

Columbus Dispatch's interview with Tim Bezbatchenko

Recently, Bezbatchenko, 42, sat for an hourlong interview in the patio area outside of a restaurant in Bexley, a town he and his family came to love. He talked about his decision to return home in 2019, about his family’s thinking on leaving for England and about his successor, new general manager Issa Tall. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You got the news the Crew were saved on Oct. 12, 2018, a day before your 37^th birthday. There was talk that new ownership was interested in Bruce Arena. Can you describe the draw of the Crew job for you at the time?

A: I feel like there was a moment. There was a right moment for me to come back. There was this very horrific experience that will leave scars for fans and the city (after) you almost lose something. … Yes, it’s coming home and seeing my family – but I saw my parents, a lot. They came to a lot of games. It wasn’t that. It was more about a club that I cared about, that meant a lot to this city – and the project. I thought it was something that matched my skill set. And now as we move on, Issa will do a good job. He’s ready. He’ll figure it out. That’s what makes it fun.

Q: Why leave now?

A: First, you don’t get to pick and choose when opportunities come. It’s not like opportunities come every week, month or year. There are only 29 (GM) jobs in MLS. Then there’s Canada and Mexico … For me, it was Columbus or broke. I mean, Columbus was it. I’d worked for the team (Toronto) that spent the most and I loved my experience there, but this job, for the period of time, was it. And we built something great. And we have a fantastic coach (Wilfried Nancy) and a great staff. If I was going to leave, I wanted to do something a bit different. If I’m going to leave Columbus, I’m going to stretch myself and learn some things. Period.

Q: What attracted you about the Black Knight job? You and your wife, Annie, have two middle-school-aged kids, Jack and Sarah. One would imagine that this had to be an offer you just couldn’t refuse. Was it?

A: I look around and we love our community, our school is fantastic, my wife and family are around me and we’re in a very good place. To decide to leave, its going to have to take something monumental, and so when the opportunity came where they were asking me to help oversee a club in the Premier League – it’s a small club, but they’ve punched above their weight – and it’s the Premier League. They have stakes in other clubs. They need to build a stadium; they’re already building a brand-new training ground and they’re trying to figure out how to increase their influence with other clubs. I felt like this could be an opportunity that was interesting. And if I don’t take an opportunity like this, well, I’m going to get personal here: We’re not moving over there when the kids are in high school. At the end of the day, I had a window. This opportunity came at the right time, and it was a chance to do something different.

Q: You keep saying, “it’s the Premier League” …

A: It’s brutal over there. It’s the sweatbox. It’s the pressure cooker. You can always come back to MLS. I don’t know where. But I feel like if I didn’t leave now I never will. I would be OK being a president/GM the rest of my life – it’s a great job. But I started pretty young in Toronto after leaving a law career and MLS HQ and I want to see something different in the game. I have the chance to experience it at the epicenter of club soccer. When you have a 100-year history, it’s just different. That’s no knock on MLS. We’re going to get there as a country, but we’re not there yet. So, I want to experience it.

In the backdrop is our friend, Jamie, one of my wife’s wonderful friends. An incredibly free spirit. She had a horrific brain tumor. She came to our game in Charlotte last year. It was probably the last time she was able to walk the three blocks it took her to get to the stadium. She deteriorated after that. You go through that with someone you love, whether it’s a spouse or a friend, and you just … Annie was going through that. She was like, "I’m up for this (move). Life’s too short." We’re comfortable here and it’s really nice, but when the opportunity came … it was just as Jamie was really deteriorating.

The funeral was the morning of the Pachuca game. I flew out right after and got there at game time, just after kickoff. That’s how I missed getting food poisoning. Sometimes, there are emotional moments and you’re like, "Don’t let this sway you." But other times, you want to let it carry you away and not look back. There’s always a context to what’s happening in peoples’ lives.

One time, Jimmy (Haslam) asked me the question, "Why would you want to leave?" and I said, "You need to go to a game in Europe or Mexico." At Pachuca, Jimmy was sitting behind me. He leaned over and he was like, "I’ve never seen anything like this." It’s just different Those fans don’t stop for 90 minutes. It’s powerful.

Q: Many Crew fans feel you might be the one irreplaceable part. What do you say to them?

A: Everyone is replaceable because the club is the most important thing for the city. The fans and the club are irreplaceable. The spirit, the fans, Nordecke, traditions – those things are irreplaceable. Owners, as the Haslams have said, they’re stewards for the club for a period of time. I learned very quickly in our business, everyone is replaceable. Period.

It doesn’t mean it’s not difficult. It doesn’t mean there aren’t legacies that are left. But the game moves quickly. When Aidan Morris (a homegrown midfielder recently sold to Middlesbrough of the English second league), the replacement is not Aidan. Aidan Morris is a unique individual. The missing piece of the puzzle – it’s not like you replace it. That whole puzzle, every piece, actually changes. Soccer is more fluid than some other sports.

A: I’ve been connecting with Crew folks, colleagues, partners and fans, as well as friends form the league office and other people at MLS clubs. Then, of course, I’m establishing relationships with Black Knight Football and AFCB people. I spent a few days out in California with Bill Foley. I don’t formally begin until July 15^th.

Q: You’ve had some time off before your new adventure. What’ve you been doing?

I’ve been taking in Crew games and looking forward to the All-Star Game as a fan at Lower.com Field. On a personal side, I’m enjoying Bexley a lot. Summers and the 4^th of July in particular are incredible here. And I’m doing my bit, car pooling to kids' soccer camp.

We leave with the family for the U.K. near the end of July. We’re keeping our house in Bexley for the foreseeable future. The city will always be one of our homes.

Q: Your successor, Issa Tall, has been a protégé of sorts. He worked with you at MLS headquarters, with Toronto FC and here in Columbus. Why do you believe in him?

A: I don’t care what your field is, there’s a baseline level of work. People throw the words “hard work” around. When it’s hard work, it’s not enjoyable. “Hard” means it sucks. Issa understands that, and he naturally does the hard work. There’s not a lot of people who I’ve worked with who inherently understand that. So, that’s a baseline level.

Then, there’s understanding the game at every level of the club. The purpose of development – why we have an academy, and why the academy can contribute to long-term success, and why that can be really important in Columbus. He gets that.

So, he works hard and he understands player development. And he has learned through working at the league office all the byzantine rules of Major League Soccer. The esoteric machinations, to use big words. In simpler terms, you need to trade well, you need to draft well, you need to sign DPs well – and you need to re-sign and treat the people that are there – coaches, staff everyone – you need to treat them well.

So, he works hard, he gets player development, he understands MLS. He’s now well-connected. And he’s also enjoyable to be around. He understands when to keep things light, how to enjoy the moment, what it means to win a game – that passion, it’s contagious. When you’re around Issa, people are pulled it. Wilfried has that, too.

Q: Before you jet off over the pond, do you have any parting words to Crew fans?

A: In 2017, 2018, when I was watching from afar in Toronto, I was telling my parents, "The Crew are probably going to leave." To the fans, I say thank you for being there for the club, and for the city. But for what you did, the club wouldn’t be here. Save the Crew? By God, you did it! It takes more than passion, it takes organization and expertise – so many people in marketing and legal and finance, accounting, creative – not just in Columbus, but they galvanized support across the country. It struck a chord.

You don’t just do that. In today’s world, where nothing is uncrossable, where you can say anything, you don’t do that. And I thank the fans for being vocal and being passionate and keeping this team.

I will also say, they hold us accountable. You can’t be a front-office executive and a fan. Obviously, I started as a fan. It’s in my bones to be a Crew fan. But you also have to make decisions that Crew fans may not like. I like … well, I don’t like … I appreciate when they give it back when we do things they don’t like. Lucas (Zelarayan, who was transferred to a team in Saudi Arabia last year), for example. If you believe in what you’re doing, you have to do it, but you also have to respect the fans and show them a little glimpse of what you’re trying to do – like bringing in (Diego) Rossi. We’re not going to move Lucas without having Rossi there right away. You’ve got to respect the fans.

I just want to say thanks to the fans, thanks for the passion, thanks for holding us accountable. There’s a bright future. I don’t know about the Megatailgate being there forever given all the development going on in back of the stadium. But I will be there with them.

marace@dispatch.com

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tim Bezbatchenko built 'something great' with Columbus Crew