Ottawa Fury part ways with head coach Nikola Popovic after playoff exit

Ottawa Fury FC has elected not to renew the contract of head coach Nikola Popovic.

The USL Championship club’s season ended Oct. 23 in a 5-4 penalty shootout playoff loss to the Charleston Battery in the Eastern Conference play-in round. The game finished tied 1-1.

“I have a lot of respect for Nikola as a person and as a professional,” Ottawa GM Julian de Guzman said in a statement Wednesday. “It was a very difficult decision to make, but we ultimately decided to go in a different direction.”

Popovic joined the club in 2018 after spending two campaigns with the Swope Park Rangers. His regular-season record as Fury FC head coach was 27-25-16.

Ottawa made the playoffs after finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 14-10-10 regular-season record.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2019.