By Ottawa Fury
The USL Hall of Fame Class of 2012 will be inducted at the USL Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, December 14, 2012 with Ottawa Fury Owner and CEO John Pugh being inducted into the USL Women’s Hall of Fame Builders Category.
Pugh is one of ten men and women who have proven to be highly influential in North American soccer and have been chosen for induction into the USL Men’s, Women’s and MISL Hall of Fame wings in 2012.
These individuals are being recognized for helping to make USL and the MISL a success through the years because of their tremendous efforts and personal sacrifices made on behalf of the sport of soccer in North America.
Builder – John Pugh, Ottawa Fury
In July 2002, Pugh acquired the Ottawa Fury Soccer Club and transformed a single W-League franchise into a club that boasts W-League, PDL, Super Y-League and academy teams along with several grassroots programs.
Since Pugh took over the Fury, the W-League team has captured nine consecutive division titles, five conference championships and has made seven Final Four appearances with four trips to the Championship Game. The club captured its first championship at home in 2012.
Internationally, more than 50 Fury players have been capped by their respective countries.
In 2010, the Fury U17 Girls captured the Super Y-League North American Championship, highlighting the success of the Club’s Youth Academy which has seen more than 85 players earn NCAA scholarships.
Pugh is currently a member of the USL W-League Executive Committee, the OSA Technical Committee and was a member of the Site Organizing Committee for the Ottawa portion of the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup.
In addition to his role with the Ottawa Fury, Pugh is also a partner in the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) and the President of the expansion Ottawa NASL franchise slated to begin play in the 2014 season upon the completion of a major stadium reconstruction project at Lansdowne Park.
With a new state-of-the-art stadium in place Ottawa will also serve as one of the host cities for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.