Record crowd in Ottawa
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 5:12 pm
http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/11/08/ott ... nal-soccer
ere were plenty of skeptics when professional soccer first touched down in Ottawa.
Did people care enough about the sport here? Was a second division, North American Soccer League franchise enough to satiate the snobbish "MLS or nothing" attitude of some? Would the team be taken seriously by an ownership group with a new CFL team to run?
Turns out the answer was yes on all fronts and there was no clearer sign than the 9,346 that showed up to watch Ottawa Fury FC host Minnesota United FC in the NASL Championship semi-final, the first post-season game for the club and the first playoff game of any kind to be played at the rebuilt Lansdowne.
The North side was open for this one, which isn't the case during the regular season when Fury was regularly pulling in crowds of around 6,000.
ere were plenty of skeptics when professional soccer first touched down in Ottawa.
Did people care enough about the sport here? Was a second division, North American Soccer League franchise enough to satiate the snobbish "MLS or nothing" attitude of some? Would the team be taken seriously by an ownership group with a new CFL team to run?
Turns out the answer was yes on all fronts and there was no clearer sign than the 9,346 that showed up to watch Ottawa Fury FC host Minnesota United FC in the NASL Championship semi-final, the first post-season game for the club and the first playoff game of any kind to be played at the rebuilt Lansdowne.
The North side was open for this one, which isn't the case during the regular season when Fury was regularly pulling in crowds of around 6,000.
