Atlético Ottawa
Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at TD Place.[2] The team was founded in 2020 by Spanish club Atlético Madrid.
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| Full name | Atlético Ottawa | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Ottleti[1] | ||
| Founded | January 29, 2020 | ||
| Stadium | TD Place, Ottawa | ||
| Capacity | 4,500[lower-alpha 1] | ||
| Owner | Atlético Madrid | ||
| CEO | Fernando Lopez | ||
| President | Jeff Hunt | ||
| Coach | Carlos González | ||
| League | Canadian Premier League | ||
| 2021 | Canadian Premier League, 8th | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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| Active departments of Atlético Madrid | ||||||||||||
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History
From 2014 to 2019, Ottawa Fury FC competed in American-based soccer leagues, most recently the USL Championship.[3] The Fury dissolved after the 2019 season due to sanctioning issues associated with competing in the United States with the emergence of the domestic Canadian Premier League.[4] This left Ottawa without a professional soccer team heading into the 2020 season.
On January 29, 2020, it was announced that Ottawa had been awarded the Canadian Premier League's first expansion team to be owned by Spanish club Atlético Madrid with Ottawa businessman Jeff Hunt as a strategic partner.[5] The club debuted in the 2020 Canadian Premier League season under the name Atlético Ottawa.[6][7]
The club's identity, including name, crest, and colours, was unveiled on February 11, 2020.[7][8] The day was proclaimed "Atlético Ottawa Day" by Ottawa mayor Jim Watson.[9] Mista was announced as the first head coach and general manager of the club.[7] As of their inaugural season, Atlético Ottawa home and away games are broadcast on OneSoccer, and on TSN 1200 in radio format.
After playing the 2020 season and start of the 2021 season at neutral-site venues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlético Ottawa made their home debut on August 14, 2021. Over 12,000 spectators were in attendance as Ottawa defeated the HFX Wanderers 2–1.[10]
Stadium
Atlético Ottawa play at TD Place at Lansdowne Park in The Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa. The stadium is shared with the Ottawa Redblacks in Canadian football team and formerly hosted Ottawa Fury FC and hosted nine matches from the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[11]
Crest and colours
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlético Ottawa kits. |
The club's identity is based upon that of its parent club, Atlético Madrid. The crest features a blue silhouette of the Peace Tower on Ottawa's Parliament Hill. Underneath are red and white stripes, evoking Atlético Madrid's crest and Canada's flag. At the base of the crest is a maple leaf. The club's alternate logo is a canoe paddle crossed by two arrows, taken from the Coat of arms of Ottawa, with the monogram "AO".[12]
Like Atlético Madrid, the club's colours are red, white, and blue (branded by the club as "federal red", "blanc d'Ottawa", and "Rideau blue").[12]
Players and staff
Squad
- As of April 1, 2022[13]
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Sean Melvin | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada |
| 2 | DF | Drew Beckie | Canada |
| 3 | DF | Macdonald Niba |  Cameroon |
| 4 | DF | Diego Espejo (on loan from Atlético Madrid B) |  Spain |
| 6 | MF | Chris Mannella | Canada |
| 7 | MF | Keven Alemán | Canada |
| 8 | MF | Ben McKendry | Canada |
| 9 | FW | Brian Wright | Canada |
| 10 | MF | Ollie Bassett | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Northern Ireland |
| 11 | FW | Vladimir Moragrega (on loan from Atlético San Luis) |  Mexico |
| 13 | FW | Ballou Tabla | Canada |
| 15 | DF | Maxim Tissot | Canada |
| 16 | DF | Zach Verhoven | Canada |
| 17 | DF | Miguel Acosta | Spain |
| 19 | FW | Malcolm Shaw | Canada |
| 20 | MF | Abdoul Sissoko |  France |
| 21 | DF | José Cunha |  Portugal |
| 22 | MF | Zakaria Bahous | Canada |
| 29 | GK | Nathan Ingham | Canada |
| 45 | FW | Carl Haworth | Canada |
| 46 | DF | Zachary Roy | Canada |
Staff
| Executive | |
|---|---|
| CEO | Fernando Lopez |
| President | Jeff Hunt |
| Senior director, soccer operations / match director | Carrie McKay |
| Director, soccer operations | JD Ulanowski |
| Coaching staff | |
| Head coach | Carlos González |
| Assistant coach / physical preparation lead | David Galán |
| Assistant coach | Kwesi Loney |
| Goalkeepers coach | Borja Montero |
Head coaches
- As of April 29, 2022
| Coach | Nation | Tenure | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Mista | Spain |
February 11, 2020 – December 28, 2021[17] | 36 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 22.22 | |
| Carlos González | Spain |
February 24, 2022[16] – present | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 | |
Club captains
| Years | Name | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Ben Fisk | Canada |
| 2021 | Milovan Kapor | Canada |
| 2021 | Drew Beckie | Canada |
Records
Year-by-year
| Season | League | Playoffs | CC | Continental | Average attendance |
Top goalscorer(s) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | League | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Pos. | Name | Goals | ||||||
| 2020a | 1 | CPL | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 8 | 1.14 | 7th | DNQ | DNQ | Ineligible | N/A | Francisco Acuña Malcolm Shaw |
2 | |
| 2021 | CPL | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 26 | 0.93 | 8th | DNQ | Preliminary round | DNQ | 4,100 | Malcolm Shaw |
10 | ||
| 2022 | CPL | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 7 | 1.75 | 2nd | TBD | TBD | DNQ | 3,952 | Brian Wright |
2 | ||
1. Average attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league season, league playoffs, Canadian Championship, CONCACAF League, and other competitive continental matches.
a: Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the season was held exclusively in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, without fans formatted as a double round robin season with a single match final[18]
Most appearances
- As of April 29, 2022
| # | Name | Nation | Career at club | Games Played | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPL | Cup | Int'l | Total | ||||
| 1 | Malcolm Shaw | Canada |
2020– | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 |
| 2 | Ben McKendry | Canada |
2020– | 36 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| 3 | Miguel Acosta | Spain |
2021– | 31 | 1 | 0 | 32 |
| 4 | Zach Verhoven | Canada |
2021– | 28 | 1 | 0 | 29 |
| 5 | Milovan Kapor | Canada |
2020–2021 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 28 |
| Brian Wright | Canada |
2021– | 27 | 1 | 0 | 28 | |
| 7 | Rafael Núñez |  Dominican Republic |
2021 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Dylon Powley | Canada |
2021 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 | |
| 9 | Chris Mannella | Canada |
2021– | 21 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 10 | Drew Beckie | Canada |
2021– | 19 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Viti Martínez | Spain |
2020–2021 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 20 | |
| Alberto Soto | Spain |
2021 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 20 | |
| Note: Bold indicates active player | |||||||
Most goals
- As of April 29, 2022
| # | Name | Nation | Career at club | Goals scored | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPL | Cup | Int'l | Total | ||||
| 1 | Malcolm Shaw | Canada |
2020– | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Brian Wright | Canada |
2021– | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Viti Martínez | Spain |
2020–2021 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Ryan Telfer |  Trinidad and Tobago |
2021 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 5 | Miguel Acosta | Spain |
2021– | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Francisco Acuña | Mexico |
2020 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Antoine Coupland | Canada |
2020–2021 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Alberto Soto | Spain |
2021 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Note: Bold indicates active player
Notes
- TD Place Stadium capacity is limited to 4,500 for Atlético Ottawa matches but is expandable to 24,000.
References
- Bedakian, Armen (February 11, 2020). "'Main challenge is time': Atlético Ottawa firing on all cylinders ahead of 2020 kick-off". Canadian Premier League.
- "Canadian Premier League awards 1st Expansion Team to Ottawa". Canadian Premier League. January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- Vlasveld, Mike (January 29, 2020). "Ottawa getting pro soccer back, this time in Canadian Premier League". OttawaMatters. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- Mazur, Alexandra (November 8, 2019). "Ottawa Fury FC forced to suspend operations over league 'politics,' says president". Global News. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- "CPL awards expansion team to Ottawa for 2020 season". Sportsnet. Canadian Press. January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- "Pro soccer returning to Ottawa this spring". CBC News. Ottawa. January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- Woods, Michael (February 11, 2020). "Ottawa's new soccer team is called Atletico Ottawa". CTV News. Ottawa. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
The city’s newest sports franchise is called Atletico Ottawa, it was announced Tuesday ... The club also announced its first head coach and general manager: Mista,
- Molinaro, John (February 11, 2020). "CPL officially unveils Atlético Ottawa, as pro soccer returns to nation's capital". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- Watson, Jim (February 11, 2020). "Pleased to proclaim 'Atletico Ottawa Day' ahead of a big announcement at noon! @CPLsoccer @atletienglish @TD_Place". Twitter. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- The Canadian Press (August 14, 2021). "Atlético Ottawa defeats HFX Wanderers with late goal in 1st-ever home game". CBC Sports. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- "Ottawa". FIFA. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- "Emblem Inspiration". Atlético Ottawa. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
- "Roster". Atlético Ottawa. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
- "Atlético Ottawa CEO Fernando Lopez pens open letter to club's fans". September 27, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
- "ATLÉTICO OTTAWA: OWNERSHIP PROFILE". Atlético Ottawa. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- "Atlético Ottawa names Carlos González as new Head Coach". Atlético Ottawa. February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. - Mista". Atlético Ottawa. December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
External links
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