Over the past decade Ottawa has been home to one of the world’s best-kept soccer secrets – the Ottawa Fury. Their ten-year history has been filled with tremendous success, triumph and heartbreak, but every season, regardless of change, they continually find a way to remain tops of their division and in the top of the W-League rankings. Since their inaugural W-League season in 2000 the Fury Women have compiled a remarkable record of 87-22-11 amassing 404 goals while only surrendering 93. Like most expansion teams the Fury had to work hard to make a name for themselves in their first few years, but it was the new ownership of John Pugh after the 2002 season that turned the Club into the powerhouse that it is today. Since Pugh took over as Owner and CEO the Club has amassed a W-League-best 71-6-3 record making the playoff in each of the six years under Pugh and look to make it seven in 2009.

Frank Lofranco was the Fury head coach from 2003-2007 and left with a record of 58-5-3, but has since returned to the Club as its Academy Director. Under Lofranco the Fury won 4 Northern Division Titles (2004-2007), 2 Eastern Conference Titles (2005 & 2006) and reached the Championship Finals twice (2005 & 2006). During these years of W-League dominance, the Fury received outstanding contributions from Rhian Wilkinson, Taryn Swiatek, Robyn Gayle, Diana Matheson and Amy Vermeulen who were the core of the Fury success. In 2005 the Women were coming off a 3rd place season and after recording their second consecutive 13-1-0 season the reach the Championship Finals for the first time in Club history. The finals ended in heartbreak as the Fury fell 3-0 to the New Jersey Wildcats. After the 2006 Season the 5 aforementioned players were released by the Fury at the request of the National Team in preparation for the 2007 World Cup. With the loss of such a core crop of talent, skeptics wonder if the Fury could maintain their success.

Undaunted, their depth shone through with the likes of Kelly Parker, Jodie Taylor, Anna Laue, Leah Robinson and Annie Hamel picking the slack up on offense while defender Marie-Eve Nault and goaltenders Erin McNulty and Vanessa Philips-Bosshart helped the Fury to 6 shutouts in 2007.  Proving all doubters wrong the Fury finished with an undefeated record going 11-0-1 and reached the Championship Finals for a second consecutive season – only again to end in heartbreak this time at the hands of their Canadian counterparts the Vancouver WhiteCaps by a 3-0 score.

As of March 2009 there are 9 former Fury W-League players that play on the Canadian Women’s National Team. Diana Matheson (91 caps), Rhian Wilkinson (70), Melanie Booth (43), Amy Vermeulen (12), Marie-Eve Nault (11), Leah Robinson (5), Kelly Parker (3) and Erin McNulty (0) were recently joined by Christina Julien (3 caps) who became the first Fury Youth program graduate to make the Canadian Senior Women’s team.

With Coach Frank Lofranco stepping aside following the 2007 Season coupled with the loss players like Parker, Nault, McNulty, and Robinson the Fury would have many new faces to start the 2008 Season. It began with the appointment of Craig Smith as the new head coach. Smith, from Greenock, Scotland, had success as both a player in Scotland and Australia, and as a coach in Vancouver working with respected coaches such as Tony Waiters, Derek Possee and Carl Valentine. Smith possession-style of play proved effective with the new crop of talent as the Fury finished with a 13-1-0 record to win a 5th consecutive Northern Division title. With Jodie Taylor returning to the fold the Club found additional offensive support from newcomers Shay Powell (11 goals), Sarah Sample (6), Adrienne Ruhe-Lischke (6) and Jennifer Hence (5 goals) along with consistently strong defensive play from Danielle Johnson and Ashly Kennedy. The team edged the Chicago Gaels in the Conference Semi-Final, but had their hopes of reaching the Championship Final-Four dashed in a 4-3 extra-time loss to FC Indiana, the league’s first professional team.

The 2009 Season begins May 30th and 31st for the Fury as they visit London and Hamilton respectively before returning home on Saturday, June 6th to face their division rivals, the Toronto Lady Lynx, at the Algonquin Soccer Complex at 3p.m.