The Philadelphia Fury was an American soccer team based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, that last competed in the

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

(NISA). The club formerly competed in the American Soccer League and is currently owned by Martin E. Judge and Matt Driver. The team continues to sport the colors of the original NASL team.

Kit, crest, and colors

Like the team name, the current iteration of the club uses both the original colors and crest of the original

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

team.

History

The original Philadelphia Fury was an expansion franchise in the original

and played for three seasons in

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for foo ...

starting in 1978. Among the club's investors were rock musicians

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

, Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon. They were the NASL's second attempt in Philadelphia, the first being the

Philadelphia Atoms The Philadelphia Atoms were an American soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973–75) and Franklin Field (1976). The club's colors wer ...

(1973–76). Although never posting a winning season, they did make the playoffs in two of their three seasons. Attendance declined with each season and in 1980, the club was sold and moved to Montreal, becoming the Montreal Manic. After the team ceased operations, the Fury name remained dormant until 2011 when the teams

Intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

rights were purchased by Matt Driver, a former player and coach. The team began play in 2012 as an amateur team in the regional adult league the United States Club Soccer's National Adult League. However, soon after the re-founding of the team it joined the American Soccer League, a league created and ran by Driver. The team played its games in Southern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In 2016, it was reported that the Fury were attempting to join the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in a partnership with Driver, investors from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

, and Spanish club

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

. This deal would have also seen the ASL become a development league for the NASL. However, in 2018 the NASL went on hiatus after not receiving division II sanctioning and losing many of its teams to the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

and the NPSL. In 2019 it was reported that the Fury and Driver were again attempted to join a professional soccer league, this time it was the new

. It was further reported that the team would play their inaugural season at the historic

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for American football, foo ...

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

. In June 2019, it was reported that the primary benefactors of the team would be Martin Judge and the Judge Group with Judge serving as the Chairman of the Board and Driver serving as the team's CEO and Sporting Director. It was announced that the Fury would take part in the inaugural NISA season. The regular season is split into two halves, fall and spring, with playoffs at the end. The fall season, named "NISA Showcase", will feature 8 teams, with the East and West champions earning berths into the 2020 playoffs. While more teams are expected to compete in the Spring half in the season, the Fury will take part in both the second half "full" season and the fall "NISA Showcase." On September 18, 2019, it was announced that the Fury's lead investor had pulled out of the project, and the team would pull out of the NISA Showcase in order to reorganize for the Spring Season, though the team has since been inactive.

Year-by-year

References

External links

* {{Philadelphia Sports Association football clubs established in 2014 F Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania Phoenix clubs (association football) 2014 establishments in Pennsylvania National Independent Soccer Association teams American Soccer League (2014–2017) teams

Kit, crest, and colors

History

Year-by-year

See also

References

External links