Months after the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group announced the end of the Ottawa Fury FC, the beautiful game is set to return to the capital in 2020.
The Canadian Premier League has announced that Ottawa has been awarded the league’s first expansion team. Storied La Liga franchise Club Atlético de Madrid was the successful team behind the bid. Local businessman and Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group partner, Jeff Hunt, is on board as a strategic partner.
“We are delighted to be part of such an exciting project in an amazing country. We would like to bring our expertise to a very strong and structured league and will work together with the CPL and the rest of the clubs to contribute to the growth of Canadian soccer. We want Ottawa soccer fans to be able to feel proud of belonging to the Atlético de Madrid family so we can start sharing our values with them,” said Atlético de Madrid´s CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín.
Ottawa will join Langford (British Columbia), Foothills County (Alberta), Edmonton, Hamilton, Halifax, Winnipeg and Toronto in creating what the CPL calls a “truly coast-to-coast league”
“We are thrilled to welcome Ottawa as the Canadian Premier League’s 8th Club and Club Atlético de Madrid as our newest owners of the Ottawa club,” said Commissioner David Clanachan. “We are very excited to launch the club with one of the world’s most iconic and successful soccer brands and look forward to them taking to the pitch for the 2020 CPL season.”
The new CPL franchise will play at TD Place, the former home of the Fury. Hunt and the Club Atlético de Madrid’s ownership will join CPL Commissioner, David Clanachan, as a public event at TD Place on February 12.
For more information about the team and tickets visit canpl.ca/ottawa.
