JamboAl Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 If it happens, I like Atletico Ottawa. Fortunately, there are rules in the CPL to prevent this from being entirely a feeder club. But I would have no problem with Atletico putting a few of their promising kids in the lineup. In fact, I would kind of expect and wish it. Ivan and toontownman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_M Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Looks like the 32% owner of Atletico de Madrid Idan Ofer is also the majority owner of Famalicao in the first tier of Portugal..interesting..lots of possibilities there..theres 2 players of atletico madrid on loan to atletico san luis and one on loan to famalicao..and one atletico madrid b player on loan to famalicao..and atletico madrid b is in the third tier currently in first place in their group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-g-williams Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/soccer/mls/ottawa-fury-fc/pro-soccer-back-in-ottawa-group-hoping-to-field-team-in-2020-cpl-season/wcm/913f4f77-7387-4d70-a3e2-bef45c5d4c8b/amp The Ottawa Citizen is now reporting on the buzz. 👀 Edited January 16, 2020 by m-g-williams johnyb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie_the_parrot Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 19 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said: ...A lot of effort has gone into avoiding the appearance of a development league... Everybody already knows that any player that has a standout season in CanPL will want to move on to another league so why is that even important? Beyond that Atletico Ottawa isn't going to turn off the soccer community because it at least sounds like a pro soccer team name in a way the Ottawa Fury did not and Pacific, Cavalry, Valour and Forge certainly do not. If it only took a year to start to figure that out at least the learning curve has been steeper than it was with MLS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 58 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said: A lot of effort has gone into avoiding the appearance of a development league. They have been clear they dont want it to be a reserve team league but they actively promote it as a development league for players. I am very excited by this development though. I think like the red bull franchises this would hopefully be a sister team to their others and not an Atletico II. They already have a B team in spain. It's just about building profile around the world. I think it will he a huge profile boost to the league and really a bit of a boon they picked CPL not MLS. They have a chance to get in pretty much on the ground floor if the league grows. It's about growing their branding across the globe and they have a good base in north america to develop more young players if they want. Exciting times but not celebrating just yet. Ivan, Kadenge and Viruk42 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Gopherbashi said: A lot of effort has gone into avoiding the appearance of a development league. It would be a shame if this Ottawa side essentially turned out to be a development club. I think there is a massive difference between being seen as a developmental D2 for MLS, and being seen as a lower tier league with a relationship to one of the best leagues in the world. MLS is, at best, in the 3rd tier of world footy. I consider 1st tier to be Spain, England, Germany, Italy. France, Netherlands, Belgium and one or two more are what I consider tier 2. Lots of tier 3 clubs. Leagues like Portugal and Scotland with a couple of huge teams and the rest as makeweights tend to straddle my somewhat arbitrary taxonomy. I mention this because there is a huge difference in terms of the perception with respect to the leagues you openly declare yourself subordinate to. For CPL, being openly 2nd class when it comes to la Liga is really no surprise to anyone. Being a development league for MLS is something entirely different. And I know that MLS is a stronger league top to bottom. But openly declaring yourself as an inferior feeder league to what is, ultimately, not a very strong league would be detrimental to what CPL is trying to achieve. Part of CPL's success will depend on diverting national attention from the 3 MLS clubs. That is hard to do if you have embedded subordination into the very DNA of your league structure. Edited January 16, 2020 by dyslexic nam Bbeto, kmacphee, CanSuffer and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtlMario Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 If this happens I will be making a road trip this spring (hopefully their home opener). Winnipeg Fury 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanSuffer Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 1 minute ago, MtlMario said: If this happens I will be making a road trip this spring (hopefully their home opener). Ottawa CPL 2020 = Ott v York9 road trip for me too. MtlMario, Ivanovski94 and Gopherbashi 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryker911 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Gopherbashi said: The other concern I have is how much independence this club will have from Atletico. Others will know better than I would about how things stack up with their network of other clubs. A lot of effort has gone into avoiding the appearance of a development league. It would be a shame if this Ottawa side essentially turned out to be a development club. I dont think we have had a player in La Liga since de Guzman and noone in La Liga 2 now that Tabla is gone. If CPL can develop a player good enough for either of those leagues that is incredible. dyslexic nam, toontownman and Rintaran 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rintaran Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 I might, just might, be able to swing an Ottawa vs Pacific road trip. My wife's been wanting to do a trip to Ottawa since we got back at this end of the country, and this just might be enough for us to forget about the costs (and headaches with toddlers) and just do it. ted, MtlMario and toontownman 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtlMario Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 10 minutes ago, CanSuffer said: Ottawa CPL 2020 = Ott v York9 road trip for me too. This would be my fourth Ottawa season opener I attend (Ottawa pioneers, Fury at university, Fury at TD Place. I think I just dated myself.😀 ted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherbashi Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 1 hour ago, toontownman said: They have been clear they dont want it to be a reserve team league but they actively promote it as a development league for players. Sorry, you are correct. I should have specified reserve league rather than development league. toontownman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpursFlu Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 I guess an Atletico Ottawa v Atletico Madrid friendly should be something to look forward. Let's find out who is the most Atletico! Sorry had to slip in a joke. But seriously that would be cool for football fans in that area toontownman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 26 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said: Sorry, you are correct. I should have specified reserve league rather than development league. 👍Thought that was probably what you meant! Either way it is a huge club that will bring exposure and resources into the league. I can see peoples worries about them potentially bailing if things get tough but I don't know this would be different with a Canadian owner either. That is up to the CPL bigwigs to vet potential ownerships and make sure they are in for the long haul. Biggest difference is the expansion fee to join the league, running of the club etc.. will be nothing to a club the size of Atletico. In comparison to starting an MLS team or a team in another bigger league somewhere else in the world, this will be very cheap and likely reasonably straight forward to run. The way the league is set up and operates is much more natural to them than the MLS would have been. I am excited for what the ownership can also bring to the league in terms of experience and resources. There is much the league and other clubs/ownership could potentially gain from the experience this ownership would bring. Gopherbashi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 11 minutes ago, toontownman said: In comparison to starting an MLS team or a team in another bigger league somewhere else in the world, this will be very cheap and likely reasonably straight forward to run. The way the league is set up and operates is much more natural to them than the MLS would have been. I am excited for what the ownership can also bring to the league in terms of experience and resources. There is much the league and other clubs/ownership could potentially gain from the experience this ownership would bring. Agreed. And look at it from Athletico's point of view. They just saw an expansion MLS team awarded at a cost of $300+ million US. A CPL expansion team is (maybe) $9 million CDN. While there is more risk in the newer entity in the smaller country, they will have entry into the fourth largest market in this country. Plus, and I may be reaching a bit here, they also saw a team from this league knock off an MLS outfit last year. Investment vs possible return makes this seem like reasonable business for an organization of this size and resources. Ansem, Ams1984, Winnipeg Fury and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 johnyb and gator 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ams1984 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 12 minutes ago, Ansem said: The plot thickens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viruk42 Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Problem there is... toontownman, johnyb, Greatest Cockney Rip Off and 1 other 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawafan Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Surprised it took so long for the story of AM to come out. They toured the city almost a month and a half ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zem Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Honestly, I hope they integrate as many scraps of the Fury as they can. I'm hoping the guy they're partnering with is John Pugh, and if JDG, Eddie Edward and Victor Oppong want to be part of the front office or coaching staff in some capacity, I'm all for it. I'm also excited for the possibility of more local players in the team between the few former Fury guys and the handful of other Ottawa natives who are out of contract. And, of course, the possibility of a proper professional academy in the future is huge. I think a lot of CPL clubs have gotten off to a good start with the U20 teams and will slowly expand their youth systems, but I'm hoping Atletico invest in a complete system quickly and look to set the standard for the league. The other thing is that this is a direct bridge to Europe, and even if it takes a long time for Atletico Madrid to actually sign an Ottawa player, they have loads of connections that will make it a lot more likely for a standout player to be bought by another European side. That, and Atletico Madrid will surely be scouting all the other clubs in the league too, so in terms of transfers this will be huge for the league and players in general. Rattler280, Ottawafan and DrummingInMySleep 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Marc Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Victor Oppong - now there's a name I hadn't heard in 10 years Winnipeg Fury 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawafan Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 8 minutes ago, Zem said: Honestly, I hope they integrate as many scraps of the Fury as they can. I'm hoping the guy they're partnering with is John Pugh, and if JDG, Eddie Edward and Victor Oppong want to be part of the front office or coaching staff in some capacity, I'm all for it. I'm also excited for the possibility of more local players in the team between the few former Fury guys and the handful of other Ottawa natives who are out of contract. And, of course, the possibility of a proper professional academy in the future is huge. I think a lot of CPL clubs have gotten off to a good start with the U20 teams and will slowly expand their youth systems, but I'm hoping Atletico invest in a complete system quickly and look to set the standard for the league. The other thing is that this is a direct bridge to Europe, and even if it takes a long time for Atletico Madrid to actually sign an Ottawa player, they have loads of connections that will make it a lot more likely for a standout player to be bought by another European side. That, and Atletico Madrid will surely be scouting all the other clubs in the league too, so in terms of transfers this will be huge for the league and players in general. As much as Pugh has done to further the game in the city, he will always be viewed by the local clubs as Fury. Not pro soccer Fury but youth academy Fury. The name and what they tried to do was a major detriment amongst the local clubs. This new club will have to get those clubs on board. Even if it means kissing the asses of some of the bigger clubs and those that rule them. Zem, h coach and Red and White 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cblake Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 3 hours ago, Ottawafan said: As much as Pugh has done to further the game in the city, he will always be viewed by the local clubs as Fury. Not pro soccer Fury but youth academy Fury. The name and what they tried to do was a major detriment amongst the local clubs. This new club will have to get those clubs on board. Even if it means kissing the asses of some of the bigger clubs and those that rule them. Is John Pugh one of the five OSEG owners? Will be interesting to see how his possible involvement would take shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawafan Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 47 minutes ago, Cblake said: Is John Pugh one of the five OSEG owners? Will be interesting to see how his possible involvement would take shape. OSEG is not an owner in the new group. I do not believe Pugh is involved as an owner either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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