An Abridged History of Buffalo Athletics: Football in Buffalo, NY

History of Soccer in Buffalo

When a Buffolonian thinks of soccer they might recall: the BUFFALO BLIZZARD!

The Buffalo Blizzard, without a doubt, had the most appropriate name for the city!

Year Founded - 1992

Website: There is no website remaining for the Buffalo Blizzard or the league they played in called the National Professional Soccer League.

Hometown Venues Played In

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium or "The Aud" (1992 - 1996) *HSBC in background

HSBC Arena (1996 - 2001)

Ownership	Seymour Horace Knox III & Northrup Rand Knox or the "Knox Brothers" and Robert and Melinda Rich or the "Rich's" (1992 - 1996) John Bellanti (1996-2001)
Head Coach	Trevor Dawkins (1992-1994) Peter Skouras (1994) * Jim May (1994 -1996, 1996-1997) # Gary Hindley (1996) * Argentine Carlos Salguero (1997 - 1998) George Fernandez (1998 - 2000) * Paul Kitson (2000 - 2001) *fired during season. #finished the 94' - 95' and 96' - 97' seasons after coaches were fired, only entire season was 95' - 96'.
General Manager	Jim May (1992 - 1998) Mike Ferguson (1998-2001)
Championships and Awards	Norther Division Champions 1996-1997 and 1997-1998.

Rudy Pikuzinsk (in Cleveland Crush Uniform) - The Buffalo Blizzard's all-time leading scorer (scored 317 times over 8 seasons). *Brother Randy is the Blizzard's all-time games played leader (352).

Blizzard in action!

The Blizzads Story

The Buffalo Blizzard had a chance to join Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1992, but decided to join the less distinguished National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) instead. Unfortunately for the Blizzard, the NPSL disolved over the summer in 2001. Although ownership of the Blizzard changed once, and had 8 different coaches in their 9 years of existence the organization managed a record over .500 (won 188, lost 176) and won two division titles.

NPSL Logo

MLS Logo

- If you are interested in learning more about local soccer, we suggest checking out the following resources -

Western New York Flash (part of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league <http://www.womensprosoccer.com/wny>

A web page dedicated to the basic history of the Buffalo Bills. The resource lacks bias and is quite retributable. Authored by Frank Fleming, the Sports Encyclopedia also contains links to every other NHL team, alongside every NBA, NFL, or MLB team.

Empire USA (United Soccer Academy)<http://www.empireusa-buf.org/>

The Buffalo - Empire United Soccer Academy is a member of the United States Soccer Development Academy. Their goal is to provide opportunities for top tier adolescents in the area to fine tune their skills. The curriculm is intended for children ages 9-19.

Skype (Buffalo Blizzard Mascot)<http://www.thegoosesroost.com/2009/06/the-most-insignificant-mascot-in-buffalo-history-spyke/>

Some fan information on Skype, the Blizzard's mascot. Certainly a future forward name.

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