OTTAWA – Ottawa Fury FC announced on Wednesday that General Manager, Julian de Guzman, had signed a new three-year contract with the club. With the agreement, the former Canadian international, all-time leader in Canadian Men’s National Team appearances will continue to take positive steps toward solidifying the club’s identity.

“Julian is fully committed to this club and its long-term success, and we couldn’t be more excited to watch him grow as a General Manager and lead Ottawa Fury FC,” said Mark Goudie, CEO of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), the parent company of Ottawa Fury FC. “When you hear Julian’s story it is about passion and sacrifice. He left home at an early age to play with and learn from the best players in the world. He has been able to bring that experience back to Canada as both a player and, now, as a general manager. There is nobody in Canada who is more committed to solidifying professional soccer in Ottawa and to giving back to the local soccer community.”

Architect of the club’s vision and resulting budding culture, de Guzman has leveraged his extensive 16-year international experience as a player, including two years with Fury FC, and his passion for Canadian soccer to establish a playbook that already has footballing circles around North America talking.

“I am extremely grateful to Mark Goudie and our ownership group for this contract extension,” said de Guzman. “Together with our operations staff, we’ll continue to patiently put the building blocks in place to lead Fury FC to future success. To me, putting Ottawa on the map for professional soccer is no different from what I did when playing, representing my country and people.”

In his first full year as Fury FC GM, de Guzman appointed a high-calibre, UEFA Pro-licensed Head Coach in Nikola Popovic, built a competitive roster made up of more than 60 percent Canadian players, and led the young club to a last-minute playoff push in the competitive USL Championship.

During his playing career, de Guzman participated in four cycles of FIFA World Cup qualifiers and six editions of the Concacaf Gold Cup, while playing professionally in France, Germany, Spain, Greece, the United States and Canada.

He joined Fury FC in 2015 and went on to feature in 28 matches before moving into an assistant coaching position ahead of the club’s first USL Championship season in 2017. It was later that season that he was handed the reigns of the club as interim Head Coach and General Manager, and the pivotal moment that allowed him to form a clear vision of what he wanted Fury FC to become in the Canadian soccer landscape. In December 2017, he was officially appointed General Manager by the club and has since worked tirelessly to build the Ottawa franchise into a sustainable, respectable and ambitious organization, on and off the field.