Ottawa Fury Women - Disbanded

[sloth8]

Ottawa Fury Club President, John Pugh, announced yesterday that the club would cease operation of the W-League team. Not much information was provided by the club regarding the decision except for that it was a "business decision". During an interview with the CBC, Pugh did state that attendance was an issue and the costs of boarding the players and travel to the games. No concrete numbers though.

 

It seems a shame that they did this before the Women's World Cup. You would like to think that the increased attention on the women's game would have gotten people in Ottawa interested in the team.

 

http://www.ottawafuryfc.com/news/detail/uuid/d1mt7b5cu7nj1k7ro4t0f97eo/fury-fc-w-league-era-draws-to-a-close#.VICIMnsYFYl

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-fury-women-s-soccer-team-shut-down-in-business-decision-1.2857953

 

http://www.ottawasun.com/2014/12/02/oseg-pulls-plug-on-fury-womens-team

[Red and White]

Sad news. They were formed in about 2000 and have consistently been a quality side over the years. In many ways, both the PDL and subsequent NASL teams likely wouldn't exist if if weren't for the W-League team setting the stage early on.

A number of us in Ottawa made sure they had a supporters group over the last two seasons. The players were always a class act and showed appreciation for the support. From that standpoint, at least a message was sent that there is a small core of fans willing to support women's soccer in Ottawa. Unfortunately, they didn't do a good job of attracting more casual types.

I suspect disbanding the W-League was purely a decision to clip an undesirable asset by the Fury's ownership. They are worth much more than that though. I'll miss going to their games, they were fun as a supporter.