INTERVIEW: Nick Mendola, president/owner of FC Buffalo

I’ve known FC Buffalo owners Nick Mendola and Scott Frauenhofer for a decade and a half, watching their love for the game of soccer evolve into running their own National Premier Soccer League team. It only took the Wolves (the current, approved nickname after a few years going by the Blitzers in honor of Ken West grad Wolf Blitzer) two games to earn their first win and clean sheet, defeating the New Jersey Blaze in front of the home crowd at Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium 2-0. The next year…

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LETTERPRESS: FC Buffalo 5th Season Commemorative Schedule

FC Buffalo 5th Season Commemorative Schedule: Edition of 200 (hand-numbered) Handprinted on a Kelsey Excelsior 5×8 Table Letterpress As a way to commemorate FC Buffalo‘s 5th anniversary (and to give myself a project to practice using my letterpress), the idea to create a limited edition schedule was born. Initially designed as a more generic, geometric piece, team president Nick Mendola shared the ownership’s idea about somehow using a play on “Three Wolf Moon” as a way to transition fans from “Blitzers” to the more apt “Wolves”. The idea lent itself…

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DESIGN: Upper 90 magazine, Spring 2013 issue

Upper 90 magazine Spring 2013 • Volume 2, Issue 1 Cover: Més Que – More than a pub Also Inside: BEST XI for men & women Brendan Murphy – New FC Buffalo boss High School Champs Jozy Altidore – Education and evolution in the Netherlands With its second issue, Upper 90 came out in Spring 2013 possessing editorial from writer Ruud Pompert on Buffalo’s very own soccer bar as well as the tale of American Jozy Altidore finding success in Europe. Alongside these tomes came updates on local teams—FC Buffalo,…

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DESIGN: Upper 90 magazine

With the appeal of WNY’s professional soccer club FC Buffalo still rising—as well as the WNY Flash and a number of successful collegiate teams—it was only a matter of time before local entrepreneur and journalist Nick Mendola looked for a new outlet to increase exposure even more. Soccer has always been huge around the world and Buffalo, NY looks to follow suit with or without the rest of the country. From there came the idea for a quarterly magazine spanning youth leagues all the way to the pros and the…

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DESIGN: FC Buffalo – Our City, Our Sport, Our Club

The email said, “My idea is pretty simple and I know you can make it kick butt.” So I had to take the job. It was Nick Mendola and FC Buffalo looking to get a t-shirt made with the text, “Our City, Our Sport, Our Club”. The concept called for making the first ‘O’ a buffalo, the second a soccer ball, and the third FC Buffalo’s crest. After playing with a few fonts, I decided I wanted the design to be compressed letters to offset the more wide icons juxtaposed…

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ARTWORK: Buffalo, Consumerized – The 2011 Lord Bedlington Cup Triptych

Expanding upon my Buffalo, Consumerized series, I decided to commemorate the first Lord Bedlington Cup. But while looking for a shot that embodied the event, the idea to make the piece a triptych came up. By making a vertical piece, the top being the Bedlington Terriers FC, the bottom the FC Buffalo Blitzers, and the middle a combination of the two, all aspects of the evening could be represented. It would have been silly to place the trophy graphic on a photo of the winner lifting the same entity, so…

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PHOTOGRAPHY: The 2011 Lord Bedlington Cup – FC Buffalo/Bedlington Terriers FC

To commemorate Bob Rich’s generosity towards soccer at home and abroad, his Lord Bedlington Cup was formed. Pitting the FC Buffalo Blitzers against the UK’s own Bedlington Terriers FC, the international friendly became a means to promote the sport and the city of Buffalo in one fell swoop. With a stunning turnout of 3,821 fans from both sides of the Atlantic, the first Lord Bedlington Cup was a resounding success. The least of which was the fact that the trophy will stay in America as Buffalo blitzed Bedlington by the…

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PHOTOGRAPHY: FC Buffalo/FC Reading

With tonight’s win, the FC Buffalo side completed its inaugural season in the NPSL. Finishing third place in the Northeast, Keystone Conference, the Blitzers ended the year with an impressive 6-2-4 record, having been the only team to defeat first place FC Sonic. Personally, my own record was 3-0, each match a clean sheet for the team—so I know I did my part. The finale had a little of everything from great goal scoring (Rich Wilson earning the Golden Boot with his 6th goal of the season); a little 7v7…

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ARTWORK: Buffalo, Consumerized – FC Buffalo Part 2

Without any inclination to continue my Buffalo, Consumerized series, I found a photo from the FC Buffalo victory against FC Sonic that worked for me. I liked the diagonals contrasting against the previous entry’s horizontal lines, moving the logo and stars into the empty field at left, ready to be taken out by the soon to be struck ball. There isn’t really much more to say. The image once more deals with the lower bodies of the players, focusing on the feet and the real action of the game. By…

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PHOTOGRAPHY: FC Buffalo defeats FC Sonic 2-0

The FC Buffalo Blitzers played their rematch against FC Sonic on June 19, 2010. After losing 1-0 on June 11 due to a questionable call late, revenge was in the air and the Blitzers went for the jugular all game, never relenting after going up 1-0 early. Goal scorers were Andy Tiedt in the 16′ and Mike Unwin in the 80′. Goalkeeper Dan Panaro registered his second clean sheet victory of the season and was named man of the match. FC Sonic was undefeated and at the top of standings…

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ARTWORK: Buffalo, Consumerized – FC Buffalo

Continuing the Buffalo, Consumerized series, this entry is the first with a landscape orientation and also to include a logo that is actually in use. The previous four entries portrayed architectural institutions within the city (BECHS, Central Terminal, Richardson Towers, and North Park Theatre), this one expands upon the concept with the depiction of what hopes to be a static fixture in Buffalo’s sports world, FC Buffalo. Due to the horizontal nature of a sport played on a field laterally, going landscape was a no-brainer, (especially since almost all my…

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