Northern Fury FC

Northern Fury
Full name Northern Fury Football Club
Nickname(s) The Fury
Founded 2008
Ground Townsville Sports Reserve
Ground Capacity 4,000 (seated)
6,500 (total)
CEO Consortium of Local Figures
Director Rabieh Krayem
Coach Ian Ferguson
League NPL Queensland
2014 11th
Website Club home page

Northern Fury Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League 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.[1] Northern Fury play their home fixtures at Townsville Sports Reserve.

History

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 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 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.[2][3]

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 businesswoman Milissa Fischer and one by local businessman Don Matheson.[4][5] Matheson's bid, which "rose from the ashes of the Northern Thunder bid",[6] was granted a provisional licence by Football Federation Australia on 24 July.[7][8] On 27 August 2008 the franchise was accepted into the A–League by CEO Ben Buckley with the only matter outstanding the finalisation of all legal requirements.[9]

On 6 November 2008, the franchise named was officially revealed as North Queensland Fury FC.[10] Their inaugural kit was revealed in April 2009, featuring dark green sleeves/socks, and a white/light green front.[11]

It was announced on 10 December 2008, that the Fury had signed Rockhampton–born businessman Dean Hassall as their CEO.[12] Also the club signed Scottish club, Celtic's strength and conditioning coach Alan McCall[13] and was also joined by Football Operations Manager Nicholas Deluca.

North Queensland in the 2009/2010 season won the 'Queensland Nickel Cup', which was a tri-tournament played throughout the regular A League season between the Queensland clubs of Brisbane Roar, (and his 2 teams) North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United.

Season two

On 7 June 2010, former Sparta Prague and one time Czech Republic national team coach František Straka was announced as the club's coach for the coming 2010–11 A-League season after agreeing to a one-year deal.[14]

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.

Demise

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.[15]

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.[16]

New Northern Fury team

On 3 October 2012 the club was officially re-formed after it was announced that the club would participate in the 2013 NPL Queensland Conference.[17] The club will keep the old North Queensland Fury logo.[18] On 12 November 2012 the club announced former player Gareth Edds would take up the head coach role as well as field his position at the club.[19]

Rivalries

Northern Fury has a rivalry with fellow North Queensland NPL team Far North Queensland FC, with both teams contesting the Frank Farina Cup.[20][21][22]

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.

Home
2009–2011
Home
2013–
Away
2009–2011
Away
2013–

The North Queensland Fury played at Dairy Farmers Stadium in the A-League, but now competing in the National Premier League (NPL) they play at the Townsville Sports Reserve.

Affiliated clubs

Players

First team squad

Correct as of 30 April 2015.[23] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Australia GK Joe Simons
2 Australia DF Caleb Hobson
3 Australia MF Corey Waples
4 Australia DF Ari Isman
5 Australia DF Jarrod Lee
6 Australia MF Jacob Crowley (captain)
7 Australia MF Jake Perry
8 Australia MF Jonathon Bagley
9 New Zealand FW Michael Eisenhut
10 Australia MF Sam Herlihy
No. Position Player
11 England MF Joe Thornton
12 Australia DF George Dalton
13 Australia MF Ben Stanley
15 Australia DF Tristan Russell
16 Australia DF Jacob Richards
17 Australia FW Sean Karambasis
18 Australia MF Brendan George
19 Australia MF Hamish Cassady
20 Australia GK Dan Wilesmith

All-time Australian Domestic League win/loss (including finals)

Last updated 29 September 2013

Club Pld W D L GF GA GD
Adelaide United6114819−11
Brisbane City200229−7
Brisbane Roar603349−5
Brisbane Strikers210123−1
Central Coast Mariners6024512−7
Central Queensland Energy2110835
FNQ Heat5023616−10
Gold Coast United6303713−6
Melbourne Heart300326−4
Melbourne Victory612338−5
Moreton Bay Jets201125−3
Newcastle Jets6105512−7
Olympic FC2101981
Palm Beach Sharks2110431
Perth Glory63301073
QAS2200918
Redlands United2110422
Sunshine Coast Fire200114−3
Sydney FC631289−1
Wellington Phoenix6033511−6
Western Pride FC2200505
Total 79 21 20 38 105 151 -46

Players who earned International caps whilst at North Queensland

Managers

Last updated 27 August 2014

Name From To
Scotland Ian Ferguson Jul 2009 Jun 2010
Czech Republic František Straka Jul 2010 Mar 2011
Australia Gareth Edds Nov 2012 Aug 2013
Scotland Ian Ferguson Oct 2013 Present

Technical Staff

Last updated 2 February 2016[24][25]

Position Name
Director of Coaching Scotland Ian Ferguson
Assistant Coach Australia Paul Daly
Assistant Coach Australia Azra Rantucci
Technical Director Australia Bill Mitchell
Goalkeeping coach Australia Ken Mitchell
Head of Women's Football Australia Catherine Roncato

Competition timeline

Competition2009–102010–112011–122012–1320132014
A-League 7th 11th Did Not Participate
NPL Queensland Did Not Participate 7th 11th
FFA Cup Competition Not Held DNQ

Honours

Minor Trophies/Honours

 – 2009 (3–2 V's Adelaide United – Played In Darwin/NT 02/07/09)

All time league records

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

Goals

Appearances
Rank Player Goals
1 Australia Alex Read 11
2 Australia Gareth Edds 10
3 England Robbie Fowler 9
4 Australia David Williams 8
5 Curaçao Dyron Daal 7
Australia Jake Navarro 7
7 New Zealand Michael Eisenhut 6
8 Australia Chris Grossman 5
Australia Reyze Kelly 5
10 Australia Chris Payne 4
England Mark Hughes 4

Bold denotes players still playing at the club.
Last updated on 29 September 2013.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Butterworth, Liam. "Fury earns spot in Australian Premier League". Townsville Bulletin. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "No A–League Expansion This Season". FourFourTwo. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  3. ↑ "Hyundai A–League expansion delayed". A–League. 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  4. ↑ "Interest aplenty for new A–League clubs". The Age. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  5. ↑ "FFA to consider 10 new bids for expanded A–League". ABC News. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  6. ↑ "North Qld FC confident of success". The World Game. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  7. ↑ "North Queensland FC awarded exclusive negotiating status". Football Federation Australia. 2008-07-24. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  8. ↑ "Townsville given provisional A–League licence". Townsville Bulletin. 2008-07-25. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  9. ↑ "Expansion Gets Go Ahead". A–league.com. 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  10. ↑ "North Queensland Fury at Launch". au.fourfourtwo.com. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  11. ↑ http://mattwintersfootballblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/north–queensland–fury–kit–revealed.html
  12. ↑ "Fury announces new CEO". www.northqueenslandfc.com.au. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  13. ↑ "Townsville A–League team turns up heat with extra coach". Townsville Bulletin. 2009-01-08. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  14. ↑ Ormond, Aidan. "Fury's Czech Mate". FourFourTwo Australia. FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Clearing air over the Fury". Townsville Bulletin. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  16. ↑ , "Fury Kicked Out Of The A-League", Fox Sports
  17. ↑ http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2012/10/03/365141_sport.html
  18. ↑ http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4021/a-league/2012/10/12/3441311/north-queensland-fury-eye-return-through-australian-premier
  19. ↑ http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2012/11/10/369793_sport.html
  20. ↑ O'Neil, Rohan. "Farina Cup on offer in North Queensland NPL derby". Townsville Bulletin. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  21. ↑ "Derby match heats up for Frank Farina Cup". Northernfury.com.au. Northern Fury. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  22. ↑ "6-pointer at stake for Frank Farina Cup". Northernfury.com.au. Northern Fury FC. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  23. ↑ http://www.northernfury.com.au/
  24. ↑ "Fury Coaches". northernfury.com.au. Northern Fury FC. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  25. ↑ "NPL Team". Northernfury.com.au. Northern Fury FC. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

External links

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