The Ottawa Fury FC and Carleton University have reached an agreement for the school to host the team’s home games while it awaits the completion of renovations to the TD Place stadium.
The team plays in the North American Soccer League (NASL), and the Fury FC’s season is divided into Spring and Fall sections, with a break in July.
The team will be playing five home games in the spring season at Keith Harris Stadium at Carleton.
Jennifer Brenning, Carleton’s athletic director, said the university is a fitting place for the Fury to play for a number of reasons, as well as the many organizational considerations that go along with the agreement.
“We were selected because of our proximity to Lansdowne, our central location, our access to parking and the size of our stadium,” Brenning said. “We had a meeting with all of the various departments in terms of what they required from a hosting perspective and it’s quite a large event for Carleton.”
Fury FC president John Pugh also spoke about Carleton as an appropriate venue to host the team’s spring season.
“Looking around the city, taking into account location and everything else, Carleton was one of the obvious spots to look at,” Pugh said. “There are facilities at Carleton that basically aren’t at any other venue in terms of supporting our training needs.”
He added the stadium was secure and there wouldn’t be any security risks with playing there.
While this agreement came largely out of the team awaiting completion of its home field at TD Place, Pugh hinted at some possible future arrangements between the Fury FC and Carleton.
“The women’s World Cup is coming in 2015 to Ottawa,” he said. “There will be times when we cannot train and cannot play at TD Place. So again, Carleton would be an obvious choice to look at for that kind of thing.”
The first game at Carleton will be April 19.
