Philadelphia Fury

The Philadelphia Fury are an American soccer team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that last competed in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The club formerly competed in the American Soccer League and is currently owned by Martin E. Judge and Matt Driver.[1] The team continues to sport the colors of the original NASL team.

Philadelphia Fury
Nickname(s)Fury
Founded2011
GroundFranklin Field
Capacity52,958
Sporting Director/CEOMatt Driver
ChairmanMartin E. Judge
Head coachCris Vaccaro
LeagueNational Independent Soccer Association
WebsiteClub website

Kit, crest, and colors

Like the team name, the current iteration of the club uses both the original colors and crest of the original North American Soccer League team.

Background

The original Philadelphia Fury was an expansion franchise in the original North American Soccer League and played for three seasons in Veterans Stadium starting in 1978. Among the club's investors were rock musicians Mick Jagger, Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon.[2] They were the NASL's second attempt in Philadelphia, the first being the Philadelphia Atoms (1973–76). Although never posting a winning season, they did make the playoffs in two of their three seasons. Attendance declined with each season and in 1980, the club was sold and moved to Montreal, becoming the Montreal Manic.

After the team ceased operations, the Fury name remained dormant until 2011 when the teams Intellectual property rights were purchased by Matt Driver, a former player and coach.[3][4] The team began play in 2012 as an amateur team in the regional adult league the United States Club Soccer’s National Adult League.[4] However, soon after the re-founding of the team it joined the American Soccer League, a league created and ran by Driver.[3] The team played its games in Southern New Jersey.[5]

In 2016, it was reported that the Fury were attempting to join the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in a partnership with Driver, investors from the United Arab Emirates, and Spanish club SD Eibar.[6] This deal would have also seen the ASL become a development league for the NASL.[6] However, in 2018 the NASL went on hiatus after not receiving division II sanctioning and losing many of its teams to the USL Championship and the NPSL.[7][8]

In 2019 it was reported that the Fury and Driver were again attempted to join a professional soccer league, this time it was the new National Independent Soccer Association.[9] It was further reported that the team would play their inaugural season at the historic Franklin Field in West Philadelphia.[10] In June 2019, it was reported that the primary benefactors of the team would be Martin Judge and the Judge Group with Judge serving as the Chairman of the Board and Driver serving as the team's CEO and Sporting Director.[11][12]

It was announced that the Fury would take part in the inaugural NISA season. The regular season is split into two halves, fall and spring, with playoffs at the end. The fall season, named "NISA Showcase", will feature 8 teams, with the East and West champions earning berths into the 2020 playoffs.[13] While more teams are expected to compete in the Spring half in the season, the Fury will take part in both the second half "full" season and the fall "NISA Showcase."[13] On September 18, 2019, it was announced that the Fury's lead investor had pulled out of the project, and the team would pull out of the NISA Showcase in order to reorganize for the Spring Season.[14]

Players and staff

Last NISA roster
As of August 20, 2019[15]
No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Arshia Aghababazadeh  Iran
2 Defender Malcolm Stewart  Jamaica
4 Midfielder Tyler Fabian  United States
5 Defender Ramzi Toure Idrissou  Norway
6 Midfielder Ian McGrath  United States
7 Forward Cameron Vickers  United States
8 Midfielder Cristhian Hernández  Mexico
9 Forward Thomas Suchecki  United States
10 Midfielder Connor Hurff  United States
11 Forward Sidney Rivera  Puerto Rico
12 Defender Kyle Nuel  United States
13 Forward Luke Adams  England
14 Midfielder Christian Schneider  United States
15 Defender Isaac Currie  England
16 Defender Emmanuel Agboolah  United States
18 Forward Khori Bennett  Jamaica
19 Defender Cameron Schneider  United States
22 Defender Danny Turgeon  United States
23 Defender Patrick Sullivan  United States
24 Defender Andrew Catalana  United States
26 Goalkeeper Guillermo Guerrero  United States
— Goalkeeper Aidan Hogan  United States

Year-by-year
YearDivisionLeagueRecordPositionPlayoffsUS Open Cup
2019–203NISA0-0-6[lower-alpha 1]4th - East CoastDid not qualifyN/A

See also

References
  1. "Philadelphia Fury joins the ASL". Philadelphia Fury. February 22, 2014.
  2. "St. Petersburg Times – Google News Archive Search".
  3. Laday, Jason (August 30, 2014). "Philadelphia Fury to play home opener in Washington Township, as part of new professional soccer league". nj.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  4. "Philadelphia Fury Pro Soccer Team in Philadelphia - Powered By Soccer Max Websites!". furyasl.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  5. "Exit the Fury: History of the Philadelphia Fury, Part Three". The Philly Soccer Page. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  6. Tannenwald, Jonathan. "Philadelphia Fury seek NASL move with potential partners in Spain, Dubai and Las Vegas". https://www.inquirer.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019. External link in |website= (help)
  7. "North American Soccer League Announces Cancellation Of 2018 Season". www.nasl.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  8. Prince-Wright, Joe (February 27, 2018). "NASL cancels 2018 season; teams move on". ProSoccerTalk. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  9. Kivlehan, Chris (October 18, 2018). "Philadelphia Set To Join NISA For 2019-20 Season". Midfield Press. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  10. Ralph, Matthew (February 21, 2019). "Franklin Field a soccer venue again?". Brotherly Game. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  11. Kivlehan, Chris (May 31, 2019). "I'm hearing that @PhillyFuryASL will be backed by local Philadelphia entrepreneur Marty Judge of the Judge Group, who will serve as Chairman, as the club moves into pro soccer with @NISALeague". @kivlehan. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  12. SportzStudio. "Philadelphia Fury". philadelphiafury.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  13. "NISA Announces Fall \'19 Schedule". nisaofficial.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  14. Tannenwald, Jonathan. "Philadelphia Fury soccer team withdraws from NISA until spring of 2020 after investor pulls out". https://www.inquirer.com. Retrieved October 2, 2019. External link in |website= (help)
  15. "First Team". Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  1. Team only played one game, loss versus Miami FC, before withdrawing from NISA and forfeiting the rest of its matches
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