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FC Buffalo is looking forward to playing the 2025 USL League Two and USL W League seasons in a venue which has ably hosted some of our playoff games and provides an opportunity to give our fans and opposition their best game day experiences yet during one of the most exciting times in the history of our sport in our city.
We’ve elected to host all of our home matches at Buffalo State University’s Coyer Field this Spring and Summer, the same venue where the club trains to prepare for games.
Our relationship with Coyer Field has also opened up a tremendous arrangement with Chartwell’s Catering to provide terrific concessions options for our fans that will be conducted in conjunction with their executive chef. We’ve also reached an agreement with Banshee Irish Pub at 257 Franklin Street in downtown Buffalo that will allow fans access to a bus to and from Coyer Field on select game days (Schedule and details coming soon). It’s also superior for transportation, less than soccer field’s distance off the Scajaquada Expressway. And there are further perks in the works.
We’re looking ahead to brighter days, but we will note the only cloud in this particular sky — we will not be playing at All-High Stadium less than one year after agreeing a return for 2024 that included a clear runway for many seasons to come at the hallowed ground.
There are fans who will have questions about this, and below our owner Nicholas Mendola hopes that a transparent explanation will show why the outstanding situation we’ve created for 2025 is a result of a confounding winter of discontent.
FC Buffalo co-owner Nick Mendola statement on All-High
The facts are this — We’ve had fantastic experiences playing at Robert Rich Sr. All-High Stadium and are grateful for everyone at Buffalo Public Schools who put in the work to keep us there. It is historic and revered not only by us and our fans but by opposing teams as well. It was a big part of our bid to host the women’s national championship last season, and the way the venue roared on game day has always more than made up for the work we had to do to secure the venue, provide concessions, and create the best match day possible.
However, we’ve hit a wall.
Last Spring, we were ecstatic and grateful to negotiate a return to All-High after two seasons away due to changes within Buffalo Public Schools administration. Part of this negotiation was a clear pathway to use of All-High for future seasons, and came with an increased price tag accompanied by other heightened and mandated measures. Simply securing the venue for match day meant an outlay of approximately 12% of our budget for the entire year. Making these financial concessions was a simple but not easy decision because it meant a more straight-forward path to playing at what had become the club’s spiritual and physical home.
This winter we were informed of changes in turf usage at other BPS facilities that would limit our All-High usage for the early part of our season. We altered our plans and secured a field we’ve always adored at Coyer Field on the campus of Buff State, and then pursued giving our fans and players a handful of dates at All-High, if only one for each team. Given an interactive calendar by the schools, we applied for open dates and were then informed that “outside groups” in Buffalo would no longer be granted access to All-High “due to extreme opposition from members of the Board and a resulting resolution restricting use of our athletic fields.”
There are many, many people at Buffalo Public Schools have gone above and beyond for FC Buffalo and our fans in North Buffalo and beyond. Anthony Zachery and his crew who run game days on site are among the very best people in Western New York. Aubrey Lloyd and his crew in athletics have been incredible partners who worked with us to deliver additional, free soccer opportunities to Buffalo Public Schools students, including last summer’s free three-day camp. Jeanne Archilla in the plant services offices was a prompt communicator who had been patient with the club when times were not ideal. Over the years many people have guided us as we worked through the BPS machinery, including but not limited to Dr. Will Keresztes, David Hills, BPS soccer coaches like Dom Massaro and Jason Milne, a number of former board members including Jay McCarthy and Larry Quinn, and even former City of Buffalo mayor Byron Brown.
All of the tumult that came with maintaining All-High as a home was made worthwhile by the joy we felt in the building, hearing the roar of the crowd and bringing fans into the city limits to experience North Buffalo. In 2013 we had to attend multiple board meetings and calls to stay at All-High. In 2021 we played to a limited capacity crowd, and in both 2022 and 2023 late or no decisions forced our club to moves outside All-High that cost the club’s budget. Finally, last season we paid a record 12% of our budget simply to secure the venue and security.
Emotional pull is a funny thing. Staying at All-High mattered because of memories. The songs sung on walks either from Mes Que or the parking lots into the stadium, getting ready for match days from the press box and watching as The Situation Room and others piled into the adjacent lot, kicking the ball around, firing up grills, and setting the proverbial table for the blue-and-gold show inside the walls we were decorating with sponsor signs and other amenities. The truth of the matter, however, is that in many ways Buffalo State provides a better location, better amenities, less work, and less cost to the club. I am 100% confident that we’re going to have a massive time there this summer, watching the most talented teams we’ve assembled in ages, eating delicious food, and singing odes to our sport and our city.
Anyone with questions. please email me directly: nick@fcbuffalo.org
