FC Buffalo

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see FC Buffalo (women).

FC Buffalo

Full name	FC Buffalo
Nickname(s)	Blitzers, Wolves, Buffalonians
Founded	2009;15 years ago (2009)
Stadium	All-High Stadium Buffalo, New York
Owner	Nick Mendola
Head Coach	Sean Hallas
League	USL League Two
2023	6th, Valley Division Playoffs: DNQ
Website	Club website
Home colors Away colors Third colors

FC Buffalo is an American soccer club based in Buffalo, New York, United States, with teams in men's and women's soccer.

Founded in 2009, the men's team plays in the USL League Two, a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Midwest Division. In 2021, club owner Nicholas Mendola announced the launch of a women's soccer team, which started play in United Women's Soccer in May and went on to win consecutive division titles.

The team plays its home games at All-High Stadium. The team's colors are blue, gold and white.

FC Buffalo participates in the Erie County Derby against Erie Commodores FC, a regional rivalry featuring two clubs in different states and different leagues who share counties of the same name. FC Buffalo also participated in the Western New York Derby against Rochester Lancers and the I-90 Derby against Syracuse FC.

History

Founding and inaugural season

FC Buffalo joined the NPSL as an expansion franchise in 2009 and took part in its first competitive season in 2010 with games held between the Demske Complex at Canisius University and Robert E. Rich All High Stadium. While not a continuation of either franchise, FC Buffalo follows in the footsteps of two other recent Buffalo-based teams that competed in the NPSL: Queen City FC and Buffalo City FC. The team is owned by a group of five Buffalonians: Joshua Batten, Scott Frauenhofer, Donny Kutzbach, Nick Mendola, and Ray Siminski. In the off-season following the 2022 season, supporters' group member Jonathan Baird joined the ownership group.

The club had a contest for fans to submit a nickname and after much debate and thousands of votes cast, "Blitzers" was chosen. The vote was aided by Buffalo native and CNN broadcaster Wolf Blitzer airing an interview with owners Nick Mendola and Scott Frauenhofer discussing the contest. The supporters' group is named "The Situation Room" after Blitzer's primetime news program on CNN.

ESPN correspondent Vincent Thomas commented: "Although the 'Blitzers' nickname has ended up being a pretty deft marketing move, it's more legit than a ploy. The term blitz comes from the German word for lightning, which is all over the team's logo and the city's municipal flag. And, of course, there's a mutual fondness between Blitzer and his hometown." ^[1]

The Blitzers finished their opening campaign with six wins, two draws and four losses. They were the only team to defeat the Keystone Conference champion FC Sonic.

Subsequent seasons

On Dec 8, 2010, the Blitzers announced they had parted ways with head coach Jim Hesch. Ten days later, they announced via their web site that they had inked Daniel Krzyzanowicz to coach the club into the future. Krzyzanowicz helmed a Medaille College program that has made the NCAA tournament five times and reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2010.

The 2011 season was up-and-down, with the Blitzers winning five, drawing one and losing six. During the season the Blitzers took on the Bedlington Terriers F.C. in a friendly match at All High Stadium in the inaugural Bedlington Cup. Due to the connection of Robert E. Rich Jr. to Buffalo, NY and Bedlington, England. The friendly was arranged and the Terriers traveled to Buffalo for the match. The Blitzers won 5–1 in front of a sell out crowd. ^[2] The match was filmed and later made into a BBC documentary called Mr Rich and The Terriers ^[3]

The team's mascot Wolf Blitzer was unveiled at the Winter Wolves fund raiser. 2012 Season tickets were sold at the event. The unique feature of the 2012 season ticket is that it consists of a special season ticket holder's scarf that will function as admission to the season's home matches. ^{[4] [5]}

FC Buffalo saw its first player drafted into Major League Soccer on January 17, 2012 when midfielder Krystian Witkowski was claimed in the second round of the supplemental draft by the Philadelphia Union. ^[6] The team then saw a player drafted into Major League Soccer for the second-consecutive year, as second-leading scorer Mike Reidy was selected 71st overall in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft by Sporting KC.

On November 20, 2012, FC Buffalo signed its third head coach, Brendan Murphy. The Buffalo native was a national champion as a player at St. Lawrence University. ^[7] He led the team to a playoff spot in his first season, where they lost 5-2 to rivals Erie.

MLS called again in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, when Liam Callahan went 24th overall to the Colorado Rapids and Russell Cicerone was selected by the Portland Timbers with the 76th pick. Weeks later, head coach Brendan Murphy was hired as goalkeeping coach by the Rochester Rhinos, and FC Buffalo hired University at Buffalo alum and Grand Island High School coach Frank Butcher as manager, tabbing former players John Grabowski and Casey Derkacz as assistants.

Butcher was the fastest coach to 10 wins in club history, and led the team to Germany for the 2019 preseason. The club played three matches including one against FC St. Pauli II, and also welcomed the Liga MX reserva side Monarcas Morelia and FC St. Pauli's first team for international friendlies.

The club elevated Butcher into an administrative position in 2021, hiring Ryan "Ozzy" Osborne as first team men's coach. Osborne won the Great Lakes Conference with Cleveland SC.

On May 9, 2022, the team announced that they would play their home games for the 2022 season at Dobson Field on the campus of D'Youville University while All-High Stadium is renovated. ^[8] After the renovations at All High were completed, Buffalo Public Schools initially declined to have the team play its matches there for the 2023 season, which forced an emergency field location at Williamsville South High School for the team's challenging first season in the USL Second Division. Then in April of 2024, the club were welcomed back to All High ahead of the upcoming season.

Kit

The team take inspiration for their colors, royal blue and yellow gold, from the classic Buffalo Sabres uniforms. The badge features a crest with a soccer ball inside a circle of electric flashes under the team name and founding year. The logo is reminiscent of the municipal flag of Buffalo, NY. In 2015, the team returned to a Nike manufactured shirt and introduced three sets of uniforms. One all blue, one all yellow, and one all white. The kits can be mixed and matched on game day to create multiple unique and colorful looks.

The front jersey sponsor is Rich Products, a multinational food production corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Rich's also owns and sponsors the local Triple-A International League baseball team, the Buffalo Bisons. Més Que, Buffalo's premier downtown soccer bar, and Batavia Downs Gaming & Casino are the two other shirt sponsors.

Kit manufacturers

• 2010–2011: Nike
• 2012–2014: Admiral
• 2015–2016: Nike
• 2016–2021: Adidas
• 2022–2023: Corner Kits
• 2023-present: PUMA

Shirt sponsors

• 2010: Papa Jake's Saloon
• 2011–2016: Rich Products
• 2017: Lif Dental
• 2018: Soho Buffalo / Frankie Primo's +39
• 2019–2021: Hofbrauhaus Buffalo
• 2023: Community Beerworks
• 2023–present: The Martin Group

Players and staff

Current roster

As of 16 May 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   USA Bryce Tramuta 3 DF   CAN Kobe Grant 4 DF   GER Fabian Overkamp 5 DF   USA Riley Wagner 6 MF   USA Brennan McDermott 7 DF   USA Ashton Jell 8 MF   NED Timo Jansen 9 FW   ESP Ander Castillo 10 MF   CAN Nico Stoddart 11 MF   ENG Mohammed Sanyang 13 GK   USA Jack Petrie 14 MF   ENG Ollie Lovell 16 MF   USA Diego Rivera 17 MF   BRA Matheus Spina 18 MF   USA Max Kwitchoff 20 MF   ESP Aitor Jorde 22 FW   ENG Calum Newson

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF   USA Landon Hungerford 25 DF   USA AJ Zarcone 33 FW   AUT Felix Kogler 99 GK   CZE Andreas Kokoska - DF   USA Jacob Leone - MF   POR Antonio Pratas - MF   USA Luke Reidell - MF   USA Gaven Egan - DF   USA Elliott Weber - GK   USA Jack Root - MF   USA Aney Djadou - MF   USA Sam LaMendola - MF   ESP Alfonso Madrigal - FW   GER Fridolin Gefrorer - MF   GER Michel Hoelscher

Current^{[ when? ]} Standings

Rust Belt Conference

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cleveland SC (C)	12	8	3	1	33	14	+19	25	Midwest Region Quarterfinals
2	Pittsburgh Hotspurs	12	8	4	0	24	15	+9	24
3	FC Buffalo	12	5	6	1	15	20	−5	16
4	Erie Commodores	12	3	7	2	13	23	−10	11
5	Akron City FC	12	2	6	4	10	23	−13	10

Source: NPSL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head; 3) goal differential in head-to-head results; 4) wins; 5) total goal differential; 6) fewest losses; 7) coin toss. If three or more teams are tied on points, a mini-table involving only the tied teams is used, and teams are ranked in the mini-table on points. If two teams are tied on points in the mini-table, the two-team rules for classification apply. If three or more teams are tied on points in the mini-table, they are ranked based on 1) wins in conference competition; 2) total goal differential in conference competition; 3) fewest losses in conference competition; 4) coin toss.
(C) Champions

2021 NISA Independent Cup — Great Lakes

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Detroit City FC (C)	3	3	0	0	17	2	+15	9
2	FC Buffalo	3	2	0	1	11	3	+8	6
3	Cleveland SC	3	0	1	2	3	13	−10	1
4	Livonia City FC	3	0	1	2	2	15	−13	1

Source: nisaofficial.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) goals for; 4) head-to-head
(C) Champions

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	W-L-D	Playoffs	Open Cup
2010	4	NPSL	3rd, Keystone	6–4–2	did not qualify	did not enter
2011	4	NPSL	5th, Keystone	5–6–1	did not qualify	Lost qual. playoff
2012	4	NPSL	5th, Midwest-Great Lakes	1–7–4	did not qualify	did not enter
2013	4	NPSL	2nd, Midwest-Great Lakes	8–5–0	Conference Semi-Finals	did not qualify
2014	4	NPSL	4th, Midwest-Great Lakes East	5–8–1	did not qualify	did not qualify
2015	4	NPSL	5th, Midwest-Great Lakes East	6–2–4	did not qualify	did not qualify
2016	4	NPSL	3rd, Midwest-Great Lakes East	5–3–2	did not qualify	did not qualify
2017	4	NPSL	5th, Midwest-East	5–4–3	did not qualify	did not qualify
2018	4	NPSL	4th, Midwest-East	6–4–2	did not qualify	did not enter
2019	4	NPSL	4th, Midwest-East	4–4–2	did not qualify	did not enter
2021	4	NPSL	3rd, Midwest-Rust Belt	4–4–2	did not qualify	did not enter
2022	4	NPSL	3rd, Midwest-Rust Belt	5-6-2	did not qualify	did not enter
2023	4	USL2	6th, Valley	1-7-3	did not qualify	did not qualify'
Total				61-64-28	0–1

Tournaments

Year	Tournament	League	Regular Season	W-L-D
2020	2020 NISA Independent Cup	NISA	3rd	0-0-2
2021	2021 NISA Independent Cup	NISA	2nd	2-1-0

Managerial history

Coach	Years	League W-L-D	Playoffs
Jim Hesch	2010	6–4–2	DNQ
Dan Krzyzanowicz	2011–2012	6–13–5	DNQ
Brendan Murphy	2013–2016	24–18–7	0–1
Frank Butcher	2017–2021	19–16–9	DNQ
Ryan "Ozzy" Osborne	2022	1-2-1	DNQ
Dan Panaro	2022	4-4-0	DNQ
Casey Derkacz	2023	1-7-3	DNQ
Sean Hallas	2024-	1-0-0	DNQ
Total			62–62–26

Honors

• Erie County Derby Champions: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021

International friendly

• Lord Bedlington Cup
  • Winners (1): 2011

In inaugural competition, defeated Bedlington Terriers F.C. of England's Northern League, 5 – 1 ^[9]

Rivalries

• Supporters of FC Buffalo, Detroit City and AFC Cleveland formed the Rust Belt Derby modeled after the Cascadia Cup. The winner of the Derby is based on the head-to-head record of the Midwestern Conference clubs during regular season NPSL matches. ^[10] Cleveland won the inaugural Rust Belt Derby on June 23, 2012 following a 1–1 draw with Detroit. ^[11]
• FC Buffalo claim as their top rival Erie and the sides compete in the EC (Erie County) Derby. To Date FC Buffalo have five wins, eight losses and three ties against Erie and is unbeaten in its last six. ^[12]

Stadium

• Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium; Buffalo, New York (2010–2013, 2015–2021, 2022-present)
• Dobson Field; Buffalo, New York (2022)
• Canisius College; Buffalo, New York (2014)
• Hamburg High School; Hamburg, New York (2015 – 1 match)

Fans

• FC Buffalo's supporters group is known as "The Situation Room"; named after Wolf Blitzer's CNN news program. Their goal is to create an atmosphere that is the loudest and most inclusive of any fan base in the City of Buffalo.

Affiliated teams

• Bedlington Terriers F.C.
• Buffalo Bisons
• Jamestown Jammers

References

1. "Buffalo soccer team to be named after Wolf Blitzer". ESPN.
2. http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article472847.ece%7CFC ^{[ permanent dead link ]} Buffalo tops Bedlington in a friendly soccer match
3. "Mr Rich and the Terriers". BBC One. BBC. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
4. http://home.buffalo.com/sports/gallery/fc-buffalos-winters-wolves-at-town-ballroom/%7CFC ^{[ permanent dead link ]} Buffalo’s Winter’s Wolves at Town Ballroom
5. http://www.fcbuffalo.org/uncategorized/2012-scarves-hit-streets-weekend/%7C2012 ^{[ permanent dead link ]} Season Ticket Scarf NOW Available For Online Order
6. Di Veronica, Jeff (January 17, 2012). "Aquinas' Krystian Witkowski drafted by Philly-MLS". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
7. "MURPHY NAMED HEAD COACH AT FC BUFFALO". National Premier Soccer League. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
8. "FC Buffalo + CBW + Dobson Field = Winning Combo". fcbuffalo.org. May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
9. http://www.jaredmobarak.com/2011/06/29/photography-bedlington-cup/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
10. "The Rust Belt Derby by Daniel Casey - SoccerNewsday.com". Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
11. "The Rust Belt Derby". Soccer News Day. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
12. "Seven Minutes from Heaven". FC Buffalo. June 23, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.

External links

• Official website
• FC Buffalo Twitter
• FC Buffalo 360 You Tube page
• The Situation Room Official Supporters Site
• Buffalo soccer team to be named after local hero