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Atlético Ottawa
Full nameAtlético Ottawa
Nickname(s)Ottleti [1]
FoundedJanuary 29, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-01-29)
Stadium TD Place, Ottawa
Capacity24,000
Owner Atlético Madrid
CEOFernando Lopez
President Jeff Hunt
Coach Carlos González
League Canadian Premier League
2023Regular season, 6th
Playoffs, did not qualify
Website Club website
Current season

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.

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.

Moments after kick-off at Atlético Ottawa's first home game on August 14, 2021

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 TSN1200 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]

Following a 3–1 victory over Cavalry FC on September 24, 2022, Atlético Ottawa qualified for the Canadian Premier League playoffs for the first time. [11] On October 8, 2022, Atlético Ottawa clinched the 2022 CPL regular season championship. [12]

Stadium

Atlético Ottawa play at TD Place at Lansdowne Park in the Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa. The stadium is shared with the Ottawa Redblacks Canadian football team and formerly hosted Ottawa Fury FC and hosted nine matches from the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. [13]

Crest and colours

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". [14]

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"). [14]

Club culture

Supporters

Atlético Ottawa's two main supporters groups are the Capital City Supporters Group (CCSG) and the Bytown Boys. The two groups are located in Section W of TD Place during home games and have gained a reputation for being a leading example for supporters culture in the Canadian Premier League. [15]

Some notable introductions to the gameday atmosphere from the supporters include Wally, an inflatable dinosaur that has become an adoptive mascot of the supporters section, the "Olliewood" sign on the eastern hill of TD Place, in honour of 2022 CPL Player of the Year Ollie Bassett, and wide variety of characters strewn about the supporters section in non-traditional matchday garb. [15]

The support for the club has continued to grow and manifested in a record crowd of 14,992 for the 2022 Canadian Premier League Final against Forge FC. This marked the largest paid attendance for any Atlético Ottawa match to date. [16]

Honours

Players and staff

Squad

As of March 22, 2024 [18]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
10 MF Northern Ireland  NIR Ollie Bassett
15 DF Canada  CAN Maxim Tissot
18 FW Canada  CAN Samuel Salter
21 MF Spain  ESP Alberto Zapater
23 DF Canada  CAN Tyr Walker
29 GK Canada  CAN Nathan Ingham
30 MF Brazil  BRA Gabriel Antinoro
34 MF Canada  CAN Manny Aparicio
91 DF France  FRA Aboubakary Sacko
99 FW Switzerland  SUI Rubén del Campo
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Canada  CAN Matteo de Brienne
FW Portugal  POR Kévin dos Santos
DF Guyana  GUY Jonathan Grant
DF Trinidad and Tobago  TRI Luke Singh (on loan from Toronto FC)
MF Mali  MLI Aboubacar Sissoko
FW Canada  CAN Ballou Tabla
DF Ecuador  ECU Liberman Torres (on loan from Villarreal)
MF Canada  CAN Kris Twardek
GK Algeria  ALG Rayane Yesli

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
11 MF Canada  CAN Noah Verhoeven (at Valour FC for 2024 season)

Staff

As of April 12, 2023 [19] [20] [21] [22]
Executive
CEO Spain Fernando Lopez
President Canada Jeff Hunt
Senior director, soccer operations / match director Canada Carrie McKay
Director, soccer operations Canada JD Ulanowski
Coaching staff
Head coach Spain Carlos González
Assistant coach / physical preparation lead Spain David Galán
Assistant coach Canada Kwesi Loney
Goalkeeping coach Spain Borja Montero
Team manager Canada Drew Beckie

Head coaches

As of October 7, 2023
Coach Nation Tenure Record
G W D L Win %
Mista  Spain February 11, 2020 – December 28, 2021 [23] 36 8 10 18 022.22
Carlos González  Spain February 24, 2022 [21] – present 60 25 16 19 041.67

Club captains

Years Name Nation
2020 Ben Fisk   Canada
2021 Milovan Kapor   Canada
2021–2022 Drew Beckie   Canada
2023 Carl Haworth [24]   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 Mexico Francisco Acuña
Canada Malcolm Shaw
2
2021 CPL 28 6 8 14 30 47 −17 26 0.93 8th DNQ PR DNQ 3,618 Canada Malcolm Shaw 10
2022 CPL 28 13 10 5 36 29 7 49 1.78 1st RU PR DNQ 4,069 Northern Ireland Ollie Bassett 8
2023 CPL 28 10 6 12 38 34 4 36 1.29 6th DNQ QF N/A 4,959 Northern Ireland Ollie Bassett 12

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 [25]

Most appearances

As of October 7, 2023
# Name Nation Career at club Games played
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Miguel Acosta   Spain 2021–2023 81 4 0 85
2 Malcolm Shaw   Trinidad and Tobago 2020– 80 3 0 83
3 Zach Verhoven   Canada 2021–2023 62 3 0 65
4 Ben McKendry   Canada 2020–2022 59 1 0 60
Ollie Bassett   Northern Ireland 2022– 57 3 0 60
6 Brian Wright   Canada 2021–2022 51 2 0 53
7 Nathan Ingham   Canada 2022– 50 2 0 52
8 Diego Espejo   Spain 2022–2023 46 3 0 49
9 Maxim Tissot   Canada 2022– 45 2 0 47
10 Drew Beckie   Canada 2021–2022 44 2 0 46

Note: Bold indicates active player

Most goals

As of September 18, 2023
# Name Nation Career at club Goals scored
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Ollie Bassett   Northern Ireland 2022– 19 1 0 20
2 Malcolm Shaw   Trinidad and Tobago 2020– 17 2 0 19
3 Brian Wright   Canada 2021–2022 13 1 0 14
4 Ballou Tabla   Canada 2022, 2024– 7 0 0 7
Zach Verhoven   Canada 2021–2023 7 0 0 7
Sam Salter   Canada 2023– 7 0 0 7
7 Maxim Tissot   Canada 2022– 5 1 0 6
8 Miguel Acosta   Spain 2021–2023 4 0 0 4
9 Viti Martínez   Spain 2020–2021 2 1 0 3
Ryan Telfer   Trinidad and Tobago 2021 3 0 0 3
Carl Haworth   Canada 2022– 3 0 0 3

Note: Bold indicates active player

Most assists

As of September 2, 2023
# Name Nation Career at club Assists
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Zach Verhoven   Canada 2021–2023 9 0 0 9
Carl Haworth   Canada 2022 8 1 0 9
3 Miguel Acosta   Spain 2021–2023 6 0 0 6
Ollie Bassett   Northern Ireland 2022– 6 0 0 6
5 Ballou Tabla   Canada 2022, 2024– 4 0 0 4
Malcolm Shaw   Trinidad and Tobago 2020– 4 0 0 4
Jean-Aniel Assi   Canada 2023 3 1 0 4
8 Ben McKendry   Canada 2020–2022 3 0 0 3
Brian Wright   Canada 2021–2022 3 0 0 3
Gianni dos Santos   Cape Verde 2023 2 1 0 3

Note: Bold indicates active player

Note: 5 others tied at 2

References

  1. ^ Bedakian, Armen (February 11, 2020). "'Main challenge is time': Atlético Ottawa firing on all cylinders ahead of 2020 kick-off". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "Canadian Premier League awards 1st Expansion Team to Ottawa". Canadian Premier League. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  3. ^ Vlasveld, Mike (January 29, 2020). "Ottawa getting pro soccer back, this time in Canadian Premier League". OttawaMatters. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  4. ^ Mazur, Alexandra (November 8, 2019). "Ottawa Fury FC forced to suspend operations over league 'politics', says president". Global News. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. ^ "CPL awards expansion team to Ottawa for 2020 season". Sportsnet. Canadian Press. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  6. ^ "Pro soccer returning to Ottawa this spring". CBC News. Ottawa. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Woods, Michael (February 11, 2020). "Ottawa's new soccer team is called Atletico Ottawa". CTV News. Ottawa. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. 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,
  8. ^ Molinaro, John (February 11, 2020). "CPL officially unveils Atlético Ottawa, as pro soccer returns to nation's capital". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Watson, Jim (February 11, 2020). "Pleased to proclaim 'Atletico Ottawa Day' ahead of a big announcement at noon! @CPLsoccer @atletienglish @TD_Place". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  10. ^ The Canadian Press (August 14, 2021). "Atlético Ottawa defeats HFX Wanderers with late goal in 1st-ever home game". CBC Sports. Archived from the original on June 19, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  11. ^ CanPL.ca (September 24, 2021). "HIGHLIGHTS: Atlético Ottawa clinch playoff spot for first time in club history with win over Cavalry". CanPL.ca. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  12. ^ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (October 8, 2022). "Atlético Ottawa win 2022 CPL regular season title". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  13. ^ "Ottawa". FIFA. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Emblem Inspiration". Atlético Ottawa. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Gangué-Ruzic, Alexandre. "BIG READ: How supporters helped turn Atletico Ottawa's MASSIVE dreams into reality in 2022". onesoccer.ca. OneSoccer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  16. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (December 5, 2022). "'I'm not going anywhere': Atlético Ottawa captain Drew Beckie announces retirement". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "Atlético Ottawa win 2022 CPL regular season title". CanPL.ca. October 8, 2022. Archived from the original on November 4, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  18. ^ "Roster". Atlético Ottawa. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  19. ^ "Atlético Ottawa CEO Fernando Lopez pens open letter to club's fans". September 27, 2020. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  20. ^ "ATLÉTICO OTTAWA: OWNERSHIP PROFILE". Atlético Ottawa. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Atlético Ottawa names Carlos González as new Head Coach". Atlético Ottawa. February 24, 2022. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  22. ^ "Atlético Ottawa announce Drew Beckie as Team Manager". Atlético Ottawa. December 22, 2022. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  23. ^ "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. - Mista". Atlético Ottawa. December 28, 2021. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  24. ^ "Carl Haworth named Atlético Ottawa club captain with new captain group announced". Atlético Ottawa. April 15, 2023. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  25. ^ "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.

External links