Thank You: Year Four

A little over a week has passed since our fourth season as a National Premier Soccer League club ended at the hands and feet of our rivals. The sting has eased just enough for us to reflect on what an incredible season we as owners of this club just witnessed.

Thank you to our coaches and players… Under first-year head coach Brendan Murphy, the club set on-field bests in wins (8), clean sheets (5) and goals allowed-per-game despite playing in what we believe to be the best conference in the NPSL. We celebrated with our fans after an emotional home victory over our rival Erie Admirals, who are now in the league’s Last Four. Yes, the regular season’s third-place team in our division is two wins away from a national title. That’s not only motivating but inspiring. Our players and staff awoke before 6 a.m. for training countless times at The Park School and cozied up in vans for long drives just to put up W’s for their city. We’re close to where we need to be and our guys got us here.

Thank you to our fans… We saw incredible progress off-the-field. Thanks to you, we absolutely throttled our previous marks for attendance. Nearly 800 supporters turned out on average for each game, culminating in 1004 fans in our home finale against Detroit City FC. That crowd was the largest for a regular season match in our history and second in all matches to the 3800+ who came out for the Lord Bedlington Cup win in 2011. Our crowd, led vocally by The Situation Room, is one of the most respected in the league. The chants, the music, the colors… everything you provide to our team is at our core. Together we’re aiming for bigger things for Buffalo soccer and we’re getting there.

Thank you to our partners… It’s cliche to say things like “you’ll never know how much your support means to us,” but the difference is our partners know how much their financial and promotional support does for our club and what our club and supporters do for them. That’s why they are here. If there’s one more thing we can ask of our fans, it’s that they vocally and financially support the folks who support FC Buffalo. Click on the Community tab above to find their businesses or hit up this Twitter list and follow away! In the meantime, if your business wants to be a part of the rise of Buffalo soccer, email wolf@fcbuffalo.org. Also, a huge thanks to the many workers and management from Buffalo Public Schools who make Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium the jewel of the league.

Thank you to our soccer community… The aches that come from staring deep into a long offseason full of numbers and grinding work are made better by knowing you’re behind us and that we’re all behind this city of ours. Whether we’re talking a broad base following like the American Outlaws: Buffalo Chapter or the area’s only soccer pub in Mes Que, we’ve taken this whole “Buffalo Soccer Underground” thing and made it as inclusive as possible. On the women’s side, the support from our new WPSL friends, Empire Revs, as well as the high-profile of the NWSL’s WNY Flash have made playoff teams in Buffalo the new norm. We hosted donations for Buffalo Soccer Club last year and West Side International this year. We had so many youth clubs out for games and halftime games. The soccer community moves forward and us with it.

We’re closer every day, hungrier every day… and it’s fueled by our beloved city, loyal fans and the immense talent available to our coaching staff. We set records in 2013… and we plan on breaking them all in 2014.

For our city,

The ownership of FC Buffalo

P.S. What kind of a business would we be if we didn’t remind you that your purchases in our online store are hugely beneficial to us?