Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from the league due to financial instability. On 3 October 2012, the club officially re-formed after it was granted a licence to participate in the

National Premier League Queensland The National Premier League Queensland, run by Football Queensland, is the top tier state-level football (soccer) competition in Queensland. The conference is a sub division of the National Premier Leagues. The inaugural season kicked off in Marc ...

. After rebranding themselves as "North Queensland United" in 2017, the club disbanded a second time at the end of the

2018 Football Queensland season The 2018 Football Queensland season was the sixth season since NPL Queensland commenced as the top tier of Queensland men's football. This season was also the initial season of the Football Queensland Premier League which occupied the second tier ...

. The club played their home fixtures at

Townsville Sports Reserve Townsville Sports Precinct is a multi-use stadium located in Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queenslan ...

History

Foundation

A bid known as ''Northern Thunder FC'' (or ''North Queensland Thunder FC'') was considered for admission for the 2008–09 season along with Gold Coast Galaxy. The bid was publicly well progressed, with the team's badge and colours (red, white and black) released. The training facilities were to be located at the North Queensland Institute of Sport and the home ground was to play at

Dairy Farmers Stadium The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as 1300SMILES Stadium through sponsorship, is a grass football stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It has been a predominantly rugby league ground as the home ground of the North Q ...

. The bid was tentatively accepted to join in the 2008–09 season expanding the league to ten teams. Needing to meet certain financial criteria to be granted entry into the league, the club's major financial backer pulled out of the franchise on 5 March 2008, effectively collapsing the bid.

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

determined on 11 March 2008 that neither Thunder or Galaxy would be granted entry "in the best interests of the league," given that a nine team format was generally unfavoured and delayed expansion of the league until the 2009–10 season. With expansion put off until the following season, by June 2008 the FFA had received ten bids for new A–League teams, two of which came from Townsville – one headed by

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

businesswoman Milissa Fischer and one by local businessman Don Matheson. Matheson's bid, which "rose from the ashes of the Northern Thunder bid", was granted a provisional licence by

on 24 July. On 28 August 2008 the franchise was accepted into the A–League by CEO

Ben Buckley Benjamin Buckley (born 29 June 1967) is an Australian businessman, former Australian Rules Footballer and current chairman of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. He is the former chief executive officer of Foo ...

with the only matter outstanding the finalisation of all legal requirements. On 6 November 2008, the franchise named was officially revealed as North Queensland Fury FC. Their inaugural kit was revealed in April 2009, featuring dark green sleeves/socks, and a white/light green front. It was announced on 10 December 2008, that the Fury had signed

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

–born businessman Dean Hassall as their

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. Also the club signed Scottish club,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

's strength and conditioning coach Alan McCall and was also joined by Football Operations Manager Nicholas Deluca.

Struggles and demise

On 7 June 2010, former

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

and one time Czech Republic national team coach

František Straka František "Franz" Straka (born 28 May 1958) is a Czech former football player and manager of Fotbal Třinec. Biography Playing career Straka played most notably for Sparta Prague. In 1988, he moved to Germany and spent the rest of his playi ...

was announced as the club's coach for the coming 2010–11 A-League season after agreeing to a one-year deal. The club finished last in the 2010/11 A-League season, winning only 4 of their 30 matches. The crowd average of 4,245 was the 4th lowest in the history of the A-League behind the Gold Coast United crowd average of the same season and the two seasons of the New Zealand Knights. A community ownership model was launched, aimed at finding 1.5 million dollars (per year, for three years), of capital investment being sought to cover half the expected losses for the next three seasons. Ben Buckley, in an open letter to Fury supporters, made it clear that the FFA would not fund continual losses. On 1 March 2011, the club officially had its A-League licence revoked due to financial reasons. The FFA reported that the Fury had received only $300,000 of the investment required for the next season, and despite increased sponsorship revenue the club would still lose $2 to $3 million. FFA released a statement confirming earlier reports that a decision had been taken not to continue with the franchise as the financial position of the club for season 2011–2012 considered too big of a financial risk for the FFA to undertake.

Re-establishment and further demise

On 3 October 2012, the club was officially re-established after it was announced that the club would participate in the 2013 NPL Queensland Conference,http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2012/10/03/365141_sport.html with

North Queensland Football North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

forming the new board. The club made an announcement that they would keep the old North Queensland Fury logo. On 12 November 2012 the club announced former player

Gareth Edds Gareth James Edds (born 3 February 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder. He was last employed as the head coach at Northern Fury in 2013. Club career Edds started his career in 1999 with E ...

would take up the head coach role as well as field his position at the club. On 13 September 2017, the club announced that it would be dropping the Northern Fury name and colours in favour of the name "North Queensland United" and the region's traditional football colours of blue, red and gold. At the end of the

, NQ United disbanded again.

Rivalries

Northern Fury had a rivalry with fellow North Queensland NPL team Far North Queensland FC (now called Cairns FC), with both teams contesting the

Frank Farina Frank Farina OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belgium, France, Italy and England, and was a major player for the Australian ...

Cup.

Colours and badge

North Queensland's colours were light and dark green and white. These were chosen to represent the lush green vegetation of the northern parts of Queensland. The badge was revealed in 2008 soon after the bid was granted entry to A-League. The light green was often referred to in the local media as "tropical green" but was particularly unpopular with many fans of the club. File:North Queensland Fury.svg, 2008–2011
North Queensland Fury File:Northern Fury FC Logo (2013–).png, 2013–2017
Northern Fury File:Northern Queensland United logo.png, 2018
Northern Queensland United The North Queensland Fury played at Dairy Farmers Stadium in the A-League and the

in the NPL Queensland.

Players who earned International caps whilst at North Queensland

Shane Stefanutto Shane Stefanutto (born 12 January 1980) is an Australian former professional footballer who is the Technical Director of Brisbane Roar. He previously played for Brisbane Strikers, Lillestrøm, Lyn, North Queensland Fury, Brisbane Roar, Olympic ...

* David Williams *

Jeremy Brockie Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward. He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...

Eugene Sseppuya Andrew Eugene Sseppuya (born 1 April 1983) is a Ugandan football striker. Sseppuya is a former international for the Uganda national team. Biography Sseppuya played college soccer at Alabama A&M from 2001 to 2004, during which time he played ...

Managers

Competition timeline

Honours

Minor Trophies/Honours

* Queensland Nickel Cup ** 2009/10 (NQ Fury vs Gold Coast United: NQ Fury W2/D0/L1) * Chief Minister's Cup : – 2009 (3–2 vs Adelaide United – Played In Darwin/NT 02/07/09)

All time league records

*Record victory: 8–0 vs SWQ Thunder (H), 16 March 2014 *Record defeat: 1–8 vs

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

(A), 21 January 2011 *Highest league crowd: 8,897 vs

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

, 8 August 2009 *Lowest league crowd: 600 vs

Olympic FC Olympic Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was founded in 1967 and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Queensland, with home matches played at Goodwin Park. The club has grow ...

, 27 July 2013* *Winning streak: 3 games (29 June 2013 – 13 July 2013) *Undefeated streak: 6 games (9 June 2013 – 13 July 2013) *Losing streak: 14 games (22 August 2015 – 4 June 2016) *Winless streak: 23 games (22 August 2015 – present) *Goals in a game: 4 –

(H), 27 July 2013 & Braedyn Crowley vs SWQ Thunder (H), 16 March 2014 *Goals in a season: 17 – Braedyn Crowley,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

*Most assists in a season: 13 – Reyze Kelly,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Note: From 2013 onwards, the Fury played at stadiums where the capacity can only reach approximately 3,000.

Appearances

Goals

References

External links

Northern Fury FC official website

Official photographs of the North Queensland Fury FC 2010 Awards night
{{Townsville Sports Teams Former A-League Men teams Association football clubs established in 2008 Association football clubs disestablished in 2018 Sport in Townsville National Premier Leagues clubs Soccer clubs in Queensland 2008 establishments in Australia 2018 disestablishments in Australia Defunct soccer clubs in Australia