On Nov. 7, Stuart Mactaggart sat in the stands in Glasgow, Scotland, watching FC Porto take on his Glasgow Rangers. The Rangers scored to go up 2-0 in what Mactaggart describes as one of the best sporting moments in his life.
It was at that same moment he saw a text from his friend telling him the news: the Ottawa Fury suspended operations after failing to obtain sanctioning from soccer’s governing bodies to play in the United Soccer League (USL).
“I literally went from one of the highest sporting moments of my life to one of my lowest,” said Mactaggart, who did part-time commentary for the Fury on Rogers and TSN before moving to the U.K. “I was instantly heartbroken.”
Leaving the game, the news really set in. “It’s almost like a girlfriend was leaving you,” he explained.
Mactaggart’s emotions were echoed on social media and with fans of the Fury, which since it’s inaugural season in 2014 has developed a tight-knit community.
The team played in the North American Soccer League until 2017, when it jumped to the USL, a previously exclusively American league. In order to compete as a cross-border organization, all teams must obtain sanctioning from Canada Soccer, U.S. Soccer and Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)—the governing body for soccer in North and Central American and the Caribbean.
The Fury had previously obtained sanctioning in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and received approval from Canada Soccer earlier this year, however the two other bodies did not approve sanctions in time to play in 2020. The push to add the Fury to the newly-created Canadian Premier League (CPL) also fell through.
When the news broke, Fury president John Pugh immediately questioned the decision.
“Why would an established team which made the playoffs in the 2019 USL Championship season, had the second best season in its six-year history, developed a loyal fan base and won a league award for its team and game day operations be suspending operations?” asked Pugh in his statement. “Politics.”
The sole organization who gave support for the 2020 sanctioning, Canada Soccer, said in a press release that they were “extremely disappointed.”
“We have always supported the growth and development of all levels of soccer,” read the statement from the organization.
Local fans, however, are still confused.
“It’s almost like a girlfriend was leaving you.” — Stuart Mactaggart
Eddie Benhin, a second-year student at Carleton University who runs an Ottawa-focused sports blog 613Sports, speculates that the league could have considered the CPL would not be profitable enough for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG)—the company that owns the Fury, Redblacks and 67’s, and operates TD Place—which had already been losing money.
He also says another theory could be the fact that an English rugby team wants to play in Ottawa, and OSEG may lease the stadium to the organization.
“If OSEG knew this was a possibility and a really high possibility, why didn’t they do something about it?” said Benhin.
“None of it makes sense to me,” said Joseph Civitella, a season ticket holder since the Fury’s inaugural season. “Everybody’s to blame here.”
“What really upsets me is that the losers in all of this are the fans,” Civitella continued. “They took a razor sharp knife and just cut all of that almost arbitrarily.”
Civitella and Benhin will miss the interaction between the players and the fans, and the intimate community that was formed the most. After games, attendees could go on the field and talk to the players, creating a dynamic different from that of other professional teams.
“It was a real sense of family and community,” said Mactaggart, who told stories of married couples who met at games and brought their kids to the stadium. “I’m going to miss that.”
Players felt the same way. Carl Haworth, the only player to play for the Fury for the entirety of its existence, held back tears in an interview with CTV Ottawa. “It’s a really sad day for soccer,” said Howarth.
Carleton men’s soccer player Emad Houache, who spent a season with the Fury in 2015 before becoming a Raven, also expressed the same feelings when he heard the news.
“I thought it was devastating, especially for the city. It was the only professional outlet for the league’s here and they were calling up a lot of local kids to train with them but now that’s gone,” said Houache.
General manager Julian de Guzman clenched a tissue at the press conference and struggled through his speaking time.
“It’s just a very disappointing day for soccer in Canada,” said Guzman. “It’s just really hard to digest at this moment.”
While the Fury could regroup and return in 2021 through the CPL—or even in the USL, should it receive sanctioning—most fans are pessimistic about the odds.
“This incarnation of the Fury is done,” said Civitella.
“As far as the actual club goes, this is most likely it,” echoed Mactaggart.
However, that doesn’t mean that soccer is done in Ottawa. Fans started an online petition to bring an Ottawa team to the CPL and founded a similar Twitter page and Facebook group that is “supporting local soccer and the arrival of a [CPL] club to the nation’s capital.”
“I’m done grieving,” said Benhin. “We’re now focusing our attention on a campaign to bring soccer back to Ottawa.”
But for some, like Mactaggart, the emotion of the Fury’s dissolution is still overpowering.
“This is our memories,” said Mactaggart. “This is the stuff we’ll carry on forever.”
Featured image by Tim Austen.
