There’s a long history of soccer in Western New York that extends well past the Blizzard and Stallions, beyond the Rhinos and Flash. It goes back to first-and-second generation soccer families growing to love their new home during Sunday park games, watching their neighbors play under banners like Polonia and Germania. Over the years, the game spread to kids and parents playing in clubs across the counties and cities, some earning scholarships and pro contracts while all made a lifetime of team memories.
FC Buffalo brings all of those generations together under one banner.
FC Buffalo formed in 2009 to begin play for the 2010 National Premier Soccer League season, but caught some lightning in a bottle team even before a ball was kicked when supporters got behind the nickname “Blitzers” during the club’s nickname the team contest. Two of our owners were soon on CNN talking with noted Buffalo-raised broadcaster Wolf Blitzer.
The team fared well in Year One, boasting two NPSL All-Stars in goalkeeper Dan Panaro (Kenmore) and Daniel Stevens (Syracuse). And we were off, lowering our heads through the storms and keeping our eyes on the horizon.
The men’s team’s lived an unforgettable moment with the 2011 Lord Bedlington Cup, set up by Rich Products in Buffalo. The Bedlington Terriers of England’s Northern League flew across the pond to face the Blitzers in front of a crowd of more than 3,700 at Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium. In a regionally-televised event, FC Buffalo trumped the Terriers, 5-1. The BBC eventually released a documentary on the team’s visit. The team also has a notable loss on its record, losing on the road to the Brooklyn Italians in a qualifying match for the 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup by a score of 1-0.
A series of stars shone in blue and gold along the way, with several FCB players and coaches using their stage to move onto the professional ranks here and abroad.
And the club also stayed on the national radar, again catching some time with Wolf Blitzer — whose name now graces our mascot — when the journalist himself stopped by supporters’ bar Mes Que to meet with the owners and pick up some gear, as featured on his “CNN Roots” series.
In 2019, the club remarkably celebrated its 10th year of play by welcoming two internationally known clubs to Buffalo: the first team of iconic German club FC St. Pauli and the reserva side of Liga MX mainstay Monarcas Morelia. Sandwiched between those two matches was a trip to Germany to play three friendlies and celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Buffalo and Dortmund.
What followed was an invitation to fill a void left by the departure of a professional women’s team, as an advisory board drawn from Buffalo’s deep women’s soccer community helped us launch a United Women’s Soccer team under the leadership of women’s director Liz Mantel and head coach Nikki Bartholomew in 2021. What followed was four-consecutive division tiles and two berths in the National Championship Weekend, as players Carissima Cutrona, Kelsey Araujo, Marcy Barberic, and Emily Kelly soon found their ways onto professional squads abroad.
While we could bore you with stories about how our ownership group’s genesis comes from high school teammates in the Northtowns of Buffalo, bar buddies who talked soccer from West Seneca East to St. Joe’s and new grooms kicking the ball around in the backyards of the Southtowns. But it doesn’t matter where we come from as much as where we’re going. We’ve received help from a great supporters group, The Situation Room, a terrific bunch of WNY soccer fans and terrific business partners like Rich Products, Batavia Downs Gaming and Hotel, Big Ditch Brewing Company, the Martin Group, Dave & Adam’s, and many more.
Soccer is the world’s beautiful game and it shines in Buffalo. We’ve seen the fervor and we’re building it here. Grab your proverbial hammer and head to the stadium.
For our city
