Ottawa Fury announced last week that they have decided to suspend operations following issues regarding their CONCACAF sanctioning for USL in 2020. There is much to debate about decisions by those involved, however I want to take this opportunity to look back at the 16 years that Ottawa Fury were operating in the capital region, and all the Canadian players, coaches and managers that this club gave opportunities to, and helped guide along the way.

John Pugh is the man behind Ottawa Fury FC’s legacy. Photo: Ottawa Fury

Ottawa Fury began in 2003 through John Pugh (current Canada Soccer Association board member), bringing women’s soccer to the capital region in the form of a USL W-League. Between 2003 and 2014, the Ottawa Fury W-League team managed to win nine division titles, made the national finals on three occasions and were league champions once. Over the course of its eleven seasons the W-League team featured such players as Kadeisha Buchanan (now with Lyon and the Canada women’s side) as well as Ashley Lawrence (currently with Paris Saint Germain and also the Canada women’s side).

Following two years of success with the W-League side, John Pugh’s soccer club expanded to a men’s semi-pro side, playing in the United Soccer League (USL) – Player Development League (PDL) beginning in 2005. Over nine seasons in the USL-PDL, Ottawa Fury was division champions on four occasions, making it to the finals once. Carl Haworth began his career in Ottawa with the USL-PDL side, eventually going on to captain the professional side and become its all-time scorer.



Ashley Lawrence and Kadeisha Buchanan at their time with Ottawa Fury. Photo: Sue Bernard



In 2011 Ottawa was awarded a North American Soccer League (NASL) expansion side, which would begin play in 2014. John Pugh joined Ottawa Sports Entertainment Group (OSEG) in order to take the side professional, moving Ottawa Fury from USL-PDL to play in the NASL. OSEG were simultaneously launching the new CFL team Ottawa REDBLACKS, with both sides playing out of the newly renovated Lansdowne Park, with the stadium bring branded as TD Place.

Ottawa Fury FC would hire Marc Dos Santos in 2013 to help build their first professional side, with current Cavalry FC assistant coach Martin Nash as his number two. Dos Santos would spend two seasons with Ottawa Fury, helping create a winning side around Canadian players such as Mason Trafford and Mauro Eustaquio (now with Cavalry FC), Drew Beckie (now with El Paso), Carl Haworth and Julian De Guzman, who, at the time, was captain of the Canadian men’s national side. During his tenure Dos Santos, now manager for Vancouver Whitecaps, guided Ottawa Fury to be the 2015 NASL Fall Season Champions and a spot in the 2015 NASL Soccer Bowl, losing 3-2 to the New York Cosmos.

Following the departure of Dos Santos, Ottawa Fury hired Paul Dalglish as manager, with the club still looking to focus on Canadian talent. Canadian players such as Mallan Roberts (now with Tulsa), Eddie Edward, Julian De Guzman, Kyle Porter (now with York9), Maxim Tissot, Jamar Dixon, Callum Irving and Adonijah Reid (now in Ligue 2) were all important members of the club. The club also managed to get Doneil Henry (loan from Whitecaps) and Marcel De Jong (now with Pacific FC) to join the club for short stints.

Marc Dos Santos and his Ottawa Fury team won the 2015 NASL Fall Season.

Photo: NASL





Dalglish’s time at Fury saw the club move from the NASL (2014-2016) back to the USL system, this time moving to the USL’s top league, now marketed as The Championship. When the club joined the USL in 2017, it became the leagues affiliate club for Montreal Impact, leading to several loan players including Thomas Meilleur-Giguere (now with Impact) and Maxime Crepeau (now with Whitecaps) joining Ottawa Fury in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

During this league change, Julian De Guzman retired from professional soccer and signed on as Dalglish’s assistant coach. Dalglish’s squad never made the NASL or USL playoffs, however he was able to guide Ottawa Fury to two famous Voyageurs Cup wins over the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC. Despite winning the first leg of each round, the MLS sides would eliminate Fury on the return leg. During the 2017 season, Ottawa native and current Canada men’s national side and K.A.A. Gent forward Jonathan David spent time training with Ottawa Fury after being selected as an outstanding player from local development side Ottawa Internationals.

De Guzman would take over as interim-manager following Dalglish’s sacking in August 2017, eventually becoming general manager and appointing Nikola Popovic as head coach for the 2018 season. The 2018 season for Ottawa Fury was mostly forgettable, defeating PLSQ side AS Blainville in the Voyageurs Cup before facing elimination at the hands of Toronto FC, and missing out on the USL playoffs. Along with many of the names mentioned above who played under Dalglish, De Guzman added Canadians to the roster such as Nana Attakora, David Edgar (now with Forge FC), Daniel Haber, and Monti Mohsen (now with Forge FC)

Julian De Guzman served four years with Ottawa Fury, as club captain, assistant manager, head coach and general manager. Like John Pugh, he was a driving force behind the club.

Photo: Steve Kingsman

The 2019 year saw Ottawa Fury make the playoffs before being knocked out on penalties in the first round. With OSEG suspending operations, many experienced Canadian players become free agents, including Carl Haworth, Nana Attakora, Chris Mannella, Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, Callum Irving, Maxim Tissot, and Jamar Dixon, all of which could fit into any Canadian Premier League roster.

If one is able to put aside the issues between OSEG and CONCACAF, and look at the club John Pugh built, and the rosters Dos Santos and De Guzman put together, the achievements it made and the players, coaches and managers it guided along the way, it’s clear to see that Ottawa Fury played a very important role not only in the development of soccer in Ottawa, but it helped build the women’s game and men’s game across the country, with many former Fury players and coaches now plying their trade in the Canadian Premier League, Major League Soccer, CONCACAF and UEFA club competitions and representing Canada.

Along with the sadness of losing Ottawa Fury, there is also a great sense of pride as to all the lives Ottawa Fury touched. The club gave opportunities to local broadcasters, members of the media, enthusiastic club employees, coaches, players, and perhaps equally as important, the supporters. It has built something special that will not doubt continue if and when professional soccer returns to Ottawa. The club may be gone but the passion lives on.

Stay tuned for a follow up article regarding where Ottawa soccer fans go from here and the road to CPL.

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Stuart Mactaggart Stuart has covered Ottawa soccer for six years, most recently covering Atletico Ottawa.

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