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Born in England, John Pugh studied and played varsity soccer at the University of Wales. After obtaining a first class degree in Computer Technology, he played semi-pro soccer and taught computer science in Durham and Sheffield, before accepting a position with Ottawa's Carleton University. He later co-founded and served as President of The Object People Inc., and in 2002 Mr. Pugh rekindled his passion for soccer, purchasing and serving as CEO of the Ottawa Fury Soccer Club. Under his leadership, the Fury has become one of Canada's top player development organizations and Fury teams are perennially top-contenders at all levels, including the USL's Premier Development League (PDL) and it's women's equivalent, the USL W-League. When the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group was awarded a North American Soccer League (NASL) expansion franchise in June 2011, Pugh was named President of the NASL’s newest franchise.
In this interview, John and RedNation discuss Ottawa’s preparations for their expansion into the NASL and the importance of a strong business foundation for on the pitch success.
RedNation Online: What is the status of Frank Clair Stadium and the upgrades that are planned for Ottawa’s move to the NASL?
John Pugh: There was a court case and a group called the Friends of Lansdowne, who had taken the city to court and which was delaying the project. They had lost their initial case, but then they appealed to the Ontario Superior Court – and on Monday we received a unanimous verdict from the three judges that validated the original decision. That was a good day in terms of our getting the stadium project on track and getting on the field in 2013. It will be a full revitalization of Lansdowne Park and the forty acres on which it sits and not just the stadium. So there will be a retail area, an urban park and, of course, a revitalized stadium. It’s quite a large project.
RNO: NASL Commissioner David Downs has been quoted as saying that you would be welcome to join the league in 2013 or 2014. Is there any chance you will be able to play in 2013?
John Pugh: In terms of playing in the stadium that we want to play in, yes, it will be 2014. And we really do believe that we want to start off in the right way in a stadium that is befitting second division NASL soccer.
RNO: For anyone that has been to Ottawa, Lansdowne seems to be in a great central location. How important is that from a business standpoint?
John Pugh: I think it is important from a business standpoint. Yes, you are right, Lansdowne is very centrally located. The Senators have been a great success here, but one knock they have sometimes had is that they are on the outside of the city and getting to and from games can be more difficult than one would like. It is good that Lansdowne is downtown. It is a traditional home of CFL football and a place where for close to a hundred years people have gone to watch sporting events. It is a natural place for us to be.
RNO: Will the NASL team still be called the Ottawa Fury?
John Pugh: That we do not know. It is very likely that what will happen is that we will follow the lead of the San Antonio Scorpions and have a naming competition, both for the football team and also the soccer team.
RNO: It may be a little bit early to ask this question, but do you have a general idea as to what the philosophy of the team will be in terms of its vision?
John Pugh: In terms of the vision, first off we want to come out of the gate with a competitive team. I guess every new club starts with that in mind. We are aiming for a blend of experienced players and exciting younger players, who will have the potential to break through at even higher levels of the game by getting experience at the professional level. We’ll also be looking to develop our own home grown players via our own player development system, which is already partly in place and which through the Fury has done quite well over the years. We hope to support not only Ottawa’s team, but also the Canadian National Team programs.
RNO: A natural comparison obviously comes in the form of FC Edmonton given that they are Canadian and are already in the league. Edmonton has an emphasis on player development and is going mostly with young players that they can develop and possibly sell to European clubs in the future. Are you looking at some of the things Edmonton have been doing in terms of how you might manage your team? Are you looking the other NASL teams as well in terms of ways that they have been successful?
John Pugh: Yes, we are. There are some good examples to follow. We are particularly looking at San Antonio, since they are the last club that entered the league. There was no history of soccer in San Antonio and they have made a great start. They had 13,000 for their opening game. Like us, they too are building a new stadium. They have come out of the gate very well and we have been very impressed with how they dealt with the same type of thing that we are going through, where we want to play in particular location, but we have to wait a year or two before we get on the field. They dealt with that very well in terms of building fan interest and interest in the community – they had a name the team competition and dealt with the team colours and a logo. It’s just been a tremendous job in terms of activating that community to the coming of a soccer team. And, thus far, it has paid off both on and very much off the field. So we are looking at examples like that.
We are somewhat fortunate in that we have a PDL team and a W League team here and a strong youth development program that has already produced players that are playing in Europe and even playing in the NASL. So on that side of things we have a bit of a head start and one of the objectives of our Sports and Entertainment Group is to very much build on the fact that we will have a hockey team, a football team and a soccer team. We want to build on the synergies of that to do a lot of cross-marketing and so on. Yes, we have a lot of work to do, but we are really looking forward to the opportunity to put a team on the field here in Ottawa.
RNO: For any professional sports franchise, the quality of the ownership group is so important. You have mentioned a little bit about the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group. What do you think are main strengths of that group? Is it just the fact that it not just an ownership for a soccer team and that there are multiple properties?
John Pugh: I’m very honoured to be a part of this group. It is a very distinguished group of citizens who have made Ottawa their home for the long term and who have been very successful in business or, in the case of Jeff Hunt, running the Ottawa 67’s. And this is but one way of those people giving back to the community. It is often referred to here in Ottawa as the Dream Team. That was the case when there were four members and I became the fifth a little later. I hope we are still the Dream Team. These are really great people who have quality reputations and who want to bring back Canadian football, introduce soccer and develop the Ottawa 67’s.
RNO: Interestingly, the Canadian Soccer Association is located right in your backyard in Ottawa. Do you see any particular synergies and advantages in the fact that they have their office just down the street?
John Pugh: It certainly gives us an opportunity to have lunch together now and then that probably wouldn’t exist otherwise. Yes, I think it is a little bit of an advantage, but the CSA does represent soccer across Canada and that is their job. I have to say that they have been very supportive to our group in terms of moving ahead with the NASL franchise. We are also intimately involved in the proposal that would have Ottawa as one of the host cities for the Women’s World Cup in 2015.
RNO: The Women’s World Cup being held in Canada is obviously a very exciting thing. Do you aspire to have other non-NASL soccer events such as Men’s and Women’s national team friendlies and even those European clubs that are now touring North America every summer?
John Pugh: Absolutely. I think that model has worked very well in the MLS cities. Liverpool is coming to Toronto this summer and, yes, that is one of the things that we would like to do – to bring some top class European and perhaps South American opposition to Ottawa to give the fans a real treat.
RNO: Rivalries are important in all professional sports. Does Edmonton stand out as a natural rival? You are also only a couple of hours from Montreal and not too far from Toronto in terms of your eventual participation in the Canadian Championship tournament. What are you thinking about in terms of trying to build up some connections and rivalries with the other Canadian professional teams?
John Pugh: I think that in other sports – such as football and hockey – there are very natural rivalries between the Canadian cities. So, yes, we are absolutely looking to being able to participate in the Amway Canadian Championship. I think our fans will really be excited to see the Canadian MLS teams come here and play against their local team. We are close by, so we would be happy to welcome a lot of Montreal and TFC fans to those games. We do see that as something that is very significant and strategic and important to us.
RNO: Both Edmonton and Toronto have Dutch Head Coaches, Montreal has an American Head Coach and Vancouver has a transplanted Scot in Martin Rennie. What are you looking for in terms of your Head Coach and Technical staff and have you given that stuff much thought at this early point?
John Pugh: There are other things we have been focused on, but we do plan to get a head start on those things well before 2014. But we haven’t given any significant thought to that quite yet. I think it will be important to have a coach that is familiar with the North American game, regardless of what their background is. We’ll be getting some really good advice on that in the near future and will be beginning to think of a target list. We did have a few people on a preliminary list, but they must have been good ones, because they have gone elsewhere already.
RNO: NASL Commissioner David Downs seems very excited about the Ottawa franchise. How is your relationship with him and what are your thoughts on David as a commissioner?
John Pugh: I think he is a tremendous asset. I don’t know how much you know about his background, but it was as a very large player in the soccer television marketplace. More significantly, he was also heading up the United States bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. So he is very well known and respected in the game. I guess the fact that the U.S. did not get those World Cups has been the NASL’s gain and I think he has proved to be a great asset to the North American Soccer League.
In terms of the Canadian angle, David is very supportive of Canadian teams and I think the reason for that is pretty obvious. The Canadian second division teams of old – including Montreal and Vancouver – have moved up and become MLS teams and Canada has always been a great market for the second division. Montreal was typically getting between ten and thirteen thousand when they were playing last year in the NASL and Vancouver had been doing very well out on the West Coast. I think they see it as a strong market and understand that there is a real interest for soccer in Canada. Hopefully Ottawa can follow in the footsteps of Montreal, Vancouver and, to a certain extent, Toronto – as there was the Lynx team in Toronto.
RNO: As you have mentioned, like Montreal and Vancouver, Ottawa is not exactly starting from scratch and already has a history and significant people like yourself in place in key positions. Furthermore, I get the impression that soccer is a passion for you as much as it is business initiative and I’m sure that is the case with most of the people that you already have in place. How important is it to have that passion and to have some history to build on as you make the move up to another level?
John Pugh: I think is absolutely imperative that that exists. We are lucky in Canada that we have people like Joey Saputo in Montreal and Bobby Lenarduzzi in Vancouver, who have demonstrated that passion over decades. It is fantastic that they have reaped the benefits of that passion, hard work and dedication over a long period in time and we now see them with MLS teams. So that is indeed very important. The second thing that I would say is very important is to have the right people backing the team and the right staff on the business side of things. And that’s why we are excited to be working with these three sports franchises in very much the same way as MLSE has done in Toronto, but hopefully with some great results on the field as well.
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