Ottawa Fury (women)


Ottawa Fury Women was a Canadian women's soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario. Founded in 2000, the team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team competed in the W-League's Central Conference with the rest of the league's Canadian clubs.
The team was part of the Ottawa Fury FC organization, which included the Ottawa Fury FC men's professional team, the Academy and the former semi-professional team Ottawa Fury SC. The women's team was disbanded following the 2014 season.
WWW ottawafury.com/fw-index

History

The Ottawa Fury was founded as a women's team in 2000 by Andy Nera, who served as owner and coach, to compete in the USL W-League. The team failed to make the playoffs in each of their first two seasons.
In 2002, the team was purchased by John Pugh. In 2004, the Fury captured their first division title in 2004 and their first conference title in 2005. In 2005, the Fury added a men's team, Ottawa Fury SC in the semi-professional Premier Development League.
They advanced to the League Championship final in 2005 and 2006, losing both years to the New Jersey Wildcats and Vancouver Whitecaps, respectively. In 2007, they posted their first undefeated season, with a record of 11 wins and 1 draw.
After clinching their ninth consecutive Central Division title, the Fury women captured the [2012 USL W-League (1995–2015)|USL W-League season|2012 League title], defeating the Pali Blues in the championship final on penalty kicks, which was hosted in Ottawa.
Following the formation of the professional men's team, Ottawa Fury FC, the women's team adopted the Fury FC branding and logo for the 2014 season. After the 2014 season, in which the team finished the regular season undefeated and coming in third-place in the league championship tournament, the team folded in "a business decision to cease operation", with the organization focusing on it the men's professional team. Despite folding the women's team, the club remained committed to its girls development program through the Elite Girls Academy and other grassroots and community initiatives. The disbanding of the team occurred just days ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup official draw in Ottawa. The Fury women had amassed the second-most wins in W-League history.

Head coaches

CoachTenure
Andy Nera2000–2002
Frank Lofranco2003–2007
Craig Smith2008–2010
Dominic Oliveri2011–2014

Year-by-year

YearLeagueRankLeague ChampionshipRef
2000USL W-League6–3–53rd, Northern Divisiondid not qualify
2001USL W-League5–3–65th, Northern Divisiondid not qualify
2002USL W-League5–2–54th, Northern Divisiondid not qualify
2003USL W-League11–1–22nd, Northern DivisionSemi-finals
2004USL W-League13–0–11st, North Central DivisionSemi-Finals
2005USL W-League13–0–11st, Northern DivisionFinalists
2006USL W-League10–1–11st, Northern DivisionFinalists
2007USL W-League11–1–01st, Northern DivisionQuarter-finals
2008USL W-League13–0–11st, Northern DivisionQuarter-finals
2009USL W-League11–2–11st, Great Lakes DivisionSemi-finals
2010USL W-League8–3–11st, Great Lakes DivisionQuarter-finals
2011USL W-League12–0–01st, Great Lakes DivisionFinalists
2012USL W-League10–0–21st, Central DivisionChampions-
2013USL W-League7–2–32nd, Central ConferenceQuarter-finals-
2014USL W-League11–1–01st, Central ConferenceSemi-finals-

Awards and honours

Ottawa Fury Women have won the following USL W-League awards:
  • Champions: 1
  • Conference Champions: 3
  • Division Champions: 10

Stadium

Notable former players

The following Fury players have played at the senior international level: