by Nick Mendola, founder and co-owner, FC Buffalo
**FC Buffalo season tickets on sale at all-new fcbuffalostore.com**
“It’s oh, so quiet (shhh, shhh). It’s oh, so still (shhh, shhh). You’re all alone (shhh, shhh). And so peaceful until…. (horns enter)… You fall in love,”
Bjork, “It’s Oh So Quiet”
The horns entered for me in January 2010, maybe four months after we founded FC Buffalo and still five months before we began our first season in the National Premier League season. Our first coach was conducting a tryout at Sportsplex in North Tonawanda, and some of the most exciting players we watched in local college soccer that fall were competing against each other in bids to make the team that would represent Buffalo in our first game that Spring. There were six goals, dozens of tackles, and many more day dreams.
I was in love.
Over the following 16 summers — for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health — I watched as that love transformed not just our owners, staff, and players but other soccer lovers in Buffalo. And it did more than that, it awakened people who didn’t even know the game into full-blooded soccer lovers. Buffalo is a sports city, and it had been a soccer city for fans of the Blazers, Stallions, and Blizzard. To say that FC Buffalo has taken a place in that landscape means the world to us — a humbling responsibility.
Many of you have noted a different kind of quiet since the end of our 2025 USL League Two and USL W League seasons, and it certainly wasn’t the boring variety. I’ve spoken to many respected club leaders across our country and doing what we do is as fraught as it’s ever been, especially for clubs who don’t charge players to put on their uniform for the summer. I’ve been happy to quell any concerns along the way as the club remains active and is looking forward to our 2026 seasons, but soccer life has changed as we near the second quarter of this American century.
Futureproofing FC Buffalo
All of that brings us to the last few months and a little coined phrase which has been driving the club: futureproofing FC Buffalo. We’ve examined just about every possible fork in our road, and are comfortable we’ve identified the one that secures us as a club. At the moment we’re taking the steps to make that path as unassailable as possible.
We are a group which has always tried to ask ourselves, “What’s next?” in a proactive and ambitious manner. As our time has unfolded to a day where looking back means seeing a real history, with alums doing everything from managing European clubs to having kids together — Congrats, Bauti and Kelsey! And Uncle Jordan! — and we want to safeguard the legacy of scores of staffers, hundreds of players, and thousands of fans.
Think of futureproofing the same way you think of weatherproofing. Things look and feel solid but obstacles are coming your way and this club has to be bigger than short-term ego and long-term stubbornness. When your club espouses a credo of “for our city,” you better live by it in a meaningful way. The sport matters a lot. The club matters a lot. The people you built this with and for matter more. To quote Ellis, sheriff Ed Tom Bell’s uncle, in “No Country For Old Men”:
“You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.”
It’s now been a half-dozen years since our club met with the developer who had acquired the rights to build a USL Championship team in Buffalo and felt good about what it meant for us. It’s been four years since we made a corresponding leap to USL League Two, and two since FCB alum Peter Marlette Jr. moved back to town and took up the mantle of taking the USL Championship project to the next level with his Buffalo Pro Soccer project. Buffalo Pro Soccer has since acquired our youth academy and continues to make exciting headlines toward a soccer-specific stadium in Buffalo. Our conversations with him have been and remain meaningful. Consider this paragraph more of a FAQ section and feel free to share it (ha).
There are so many pillars in the Buffalo soccer community. Our long-sought dream of a pro club is visible. The supporters culture is loud and vibrant. The adult soccer scene remains impressive through the BDSL. Our youth soccer scene is imperious on the girls’ side and making strides amongst the boys. And Buffalo’s soccer history has only gotten stronger. All of it deserves amplification, and our futureproofing plan touches on as many of these things as possible. We’re especially amped to bring back as many people as we can from our 2025 campaigns.
Specifics are coming as soon as possible — believe me, there’s nothing more I want than clarity for all of you — but until then might I humbly ask that you help us along by purchasing a shirt, scarf, jersey, and/or season ticket pass from our store ahead of the 2026 season? Access to all men’s and women’s USL games for over 50% off the door price? Yes, please.
I’m very aware that resources have been generationally tight for almost everyone, and that mental bandwidth is as stretched as ever. Your support of our club and faith in what’s next has joined our players’ blood, sweat, and tears in building a story worth telling over and over again. It’s really easy to say you’re going to do something, or to not play a part in something collaborative because it’s not about you. Instead, we’ve done the dang thing. And we’ll continue to do so. Thanks for reading and for being a part of our club.
For our city,
