OTTAWA – Ottawa Fury FC announced on Thursday it had appointed Nikola Popovic as the club’s new Head Coach, as Julian de Guzman was appointed as the club’s permanent General Manager after serving as Fury FC’s interim Head Coach and GM to conclude the 2017 season. Popovic arrives from the Swope Park Rangers, where he led the side to a second consecutive trip to the USL Cup after winning the Western Conference Championship this past season.

“We are thrilled that Nikola will be joining Fury FC,” said de Guzman. “Nikola has the experience, the passion and the drive to allow this club to achieve its goals. We agree on how the game should be played, the type of players we want in Fury colors and product that we want to provide our fans.”

A UEFA Pro-licensed coach – the highest UEFA license available – Popovic has coached in eight countries, speaks four languages (Serbian, Portuguese, English and Spanish) and has coached at the academy, club and international levels. He harvested his coaching philosophies with internships at Inter Milan (2012-13), Portugal Under-21’s (2013) and Serbia and Montenegro Under-21’s (2006).

“I’m very proud to be part of this organization,” said Popovic. “I first want to thank Julian, Mark Goudie, John Pugh and the owners for the opportunity to become the next coach of Ottawa Fury FC. I also want to assure our fans and supporters that we will do everything to make them proud.

“We must build a very strong culture within Ottawa Fury FC. It is important that we have strong core values and a commitment to an attractive way of playing the game. Everything that I’ve seen in Ottawa and everything we have in place going forward gives me great confidence in the future of this club.”