Franklin Field
Encyclopedia
Franklin Field is the University of Pennsylvania
's stadium for football
, field hockey
, lacrosse
, sprint football
, and track and field
(and formerly for soccer and baseball
). It is also used by Penn students for recreation, and for intramural and club sports
, including touch football
and cricket
, and is the site of Penn's graduation exercises, weather permitting. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, at the eastern edge of Penn's campus, across the Schuylkill River
from Center City
. It is the home of the Penn Relays
and was formerly the home field of the Philadelphia Eagles
of the National Football League
.
Franklin Field was built for $100,000 and dedicated on April 20, 1895, for the first running of the Penn Relays
. Deemed by the NCAA
as the oldest stadium still operating for football, it was the site of the nation's first scoreboard in 1895.
Permanent Franklin Field construction did not begin until after the turn of the century. Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect Frank Miles Day & Brother
and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of $500,000. The field was 714 feet long and 443 feet wide. The site featured a ¼-mile track, a football field, and a baseball diamond. Beneath the stands were indoor tracks and indoor training facilities.
The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down. The lower tier was erected in 1922. The old wood stands were razed immediately following the Penn Relays and the new concrete lower tier and seating for 50,000 were built. The second tier was added in 1925, again by Day & Klauder
, when it became the second (and the largest) two-tiered stadium in the United States.
The first football radio broadcast originated from Franklin Field in 1922. It was carried by Philadelphia station WIP. This claim is pre-empted by an earlier live radio broadcast emanating from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 8, 1921, a full year before Franklin Field's claim to fame. Harold W. Arlin announced the live broadcast of the Pitt-West Virginia football game on October 8, 1921, on radio station KDKA. The first commercial football television broadcast in 1939 also came from Franklin Field.
In the university's football heyday — when Penn led the nation in attendance — the 65,000-seat stadium was expanded each fall with temporary stands to seat 78,000. Today, Franklin Field, named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin
, seats 52,593.
Franklin Field switched from grass to AstroTurf in 1969. It was the first National Football League stadium to use artificial turf. The stadium's fifth AstroTurf surface was installed in 1993. The current Sprinturf field replaced the AstroTurf in 2004. Franklin Field was considered a candidate to host games for the 1994 World Cup
. FIFA
required that host stadiums have natural grass. Had Philadelphia been selected and Franklin Field used, the stadium would have had to return to a grass surface, or perhaps use a temporary grass field as was done at two World Cup sites — Giants Stadium
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
, and the Pontiac Silverdome
in Pontiac, Michigan
.
, the largest track-and-field meet in the U.S., for over 100 years.
The first Penn Relays was held in 1895. Frank B. Ellis, chairman of Penn's track committee, was looking for an event to mark the dedication of the school's then new stadium, Franklin Field. Two years earlier, during his senior year at Penn, Penn and Princeton
competed in a one-mile relay race in which four runners from each school each ran a quarter of a mile. That race had been an outgrowth of intramural relay races held at Penn. Ellis and others arranged a series of relay races to take place on Saturday afternoon, April 20, 1895. 64 competitors from eight colleges, six prep schools and two high schools took part. Eight two-team races were run with Harvard beating Penn in the mile-relay feature in 3:34.4.
The Relays were featured in the April 29, 1961, premiere of ABC
's Wide World of Sports
.
-USA
Track and Field dual meet was held at Franklin Field on July 18 and 19, 1959. Stars who competed included Parry O'Brien
, Ray Norton
, Al Cantello
, Hayes Jones
, Tamara Press
, Vasili Kuznetsov, Dyrol Burleson
, Greg Bell
, a young Wilma Rudolph
, and future long-jump great Igor Ter-Ovanesyan
.
Franklin Field hosted the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
in June 1961, the first time the championship was held on the East Coast
. Seven records were set, and the University of Southern California
won its 21st team Track & Field championship.
Following the Montreal
1976 Summer Olympics
and in honor of the United States Bicentennial
, Franklin Field hosted The Bicentennial Meet of Champions track and field event on August 4, 1976. Montreal Olympians at the meet included Hasely Crawford
, Don Quarrie
, Michael Shine
and Edwin Moses
. The meet was also a chance for top runners including Houston McTear
who had not been able to compete in Montreal to race against medal winners. 13,722 attended the event and saw Dwight Stones
set a record for the high-jump and John Walker win the mile.
The University of Pennsylvania hosted the two-day 1980 Liberty Bell Track and Field Classic
, an alternate to the 1980 Summer Olympics
for 26 countries participating in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics which were held in Moscow. The Liberty Bell Classic began on July 16, 1980. It was the largest international track meet held in the U.S. since the 1932 Summer Olympics
in terms of the number of foreign competitors. Franklin Field hosted the track and field events where 20,111 spectators saw the final evening of competitions. In several events, the times were better than those in Moscow, such as American Renaldo Nehemiah
's time of 13.31 in the 110m hurdles ahead of East German gold medal winner Thomas Munkelt
's time of 13.39.
The track in Franklin Field has a rarely used configuration where the 400 metre circumference is achieved in lane 5, rather than in lane one. Thus there are two curbs on the track, inside of lane one and also inside of lane 5. In order to accommodate the full fields of the Penn Relays and other meets, special adaptations are made with a movable curb on the backstretch to stagger the runners to arrive at a common break point in lane 5, rather than the conventional lane one. Single lap races in the inner lanes, run portions of an extra straightaway. Multiple lap races spend the majority of the race in lane 5 to run the proper distances.
played at Franklin Field for Penn in 1897 and 1898. On October 26, 1907, Jim Thorpe
and the Carlisle Indian school
trounced a powerful University of Pennsylvania team, 26-6, before an overflow crowd of 20,000 at Franklin Field. Red Grange
set an NCAA record at Franklin Field when he rushed for 331 yards in the University of Illinois
' 24-2 victory over Penn on October 31, 1925, before 67,877 spectators.
On Saturday, November 16, 2002, ESPN
broadcast College GameDay from Franklin Field prior to the game between Penn and Harvard
. Both teams entered the game undefeated and the winner would capture the Ivy League
championship. It was College GameDay's first broadcast from a Division I-AA college. Penn won the match-up 44-9.
The Penn Quakers football team played their 800th game ever at the stadium on October 4, 2008, against Dartmouth.
played at Franklin Field from 1958
through 1970
. They moved to the stadium for the 1958 season after leaving Connie Mack Stadium. Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000. According to then-Eagles president Frank L. McNamee, the Eagles did not pay rent for use of Franklin Field because Penn was a not-for-profit organization. Instead, the Eagles donated between $75,000 and $100,000 per-year to pay for maintenance and other expenses. The university collected all concessions and parking revenue.
On October 11, 1959, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell
died after suffering a heart-attack
at Franklin Field during the last two-minutes of the game between the Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers
.
The Eagles hosted the 1960 NFL Championship Game here, defeating the Green Bay Packers
, 17-13, in Packers' coach Vince Lombardi
's only career playoff loss. Attendance for the championship was 67,325.
Two infamous incidents in Eagles history occurred at the stadium.
, a Christmas show was planned for halftime. The Eagles had entered the game 2-11. Fans hated Eagles quarterback Norm Snead
, owner Jerry Wolman
and coach Joe Kuharich
. Many fans came to the game wearing "Joe Must Go" buttons. The man meant to play Santa was unable to make it to Franklin Field due to the weather. In lieu of the original halftime show, a 19-year-old fan named Frank Olivo who had been wearing a Santa Claus
costume, was invited onto the field to toss candy-canes with the cheerleaders. Frustrated by the team, the ugly wet weather, and his unconvincing beard, fans booed Olivo and threw snowballs at him. This incident is often referred to by sportscasters in denigrating Philadelphia sports fans as so mean they booed Santa Claus. The Eagles lost the game 24 to 17. Olivo continued to attend Eagles games and even dressed as Santa Claus at the Eagles' December 27, 2009, game against the Denver Broncos
at Lincoln Financial Field
.
was apparently drunk during a nationally televised broadcast of the Eagles-New York Giants
Monday Night Football
game. After throwing up on color commentator
Don Meredith
's cowboy boots shortly before halftime, Cosell left the stadium and took a taxi back to New York City
. Meredith and play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson
made little mention of his departure during the second half. Later, denying drunkenness, Cosell claimed that he had been dizzy from running laps around Franklin Field's track before the game with track star Tommie Smith
.
The Army-Navy football game was played 18 times at Franklin Field between 1899 and 1935 before moving to the larger Municipal Stadium
in South Philadelphia in 1936. Penn alumnus and Olympic-medalist George Orton
(who had worked with Frank Ellis in managing the Penn Relays) is credited with helping to bring the game to Philadelphia in 1899.
Temple University played its home football games at Temple Stadium
until the late 1970s. Temple Stadium had opened in 1928 and sat up to 34,000 for football. Over the years, Temple had played home games at Franklin Field when crowds were expected to exceed Temple Stadium's capacity. Temple moved its home games to Veterans Stadium
in the late 1970s but the Phillies
had priority for the field for Saturdays during baseball season, which ends the last week in September. When Temple home games conflicted with Phillies home games, Temple would play at Franklin Field. This continued through the 2002 season, Temple's final year at the Vet before the Owls moved to Lincoln Financial Field
as tenants of the Eagles
. One of the last Temple football games at Franklin Field was a 44-21 loss to the number-one-ranked Miami Hurricanes
on September 14, 2002; Miami's Willis McGahee
rushed for 134 yards and four touchdowns in front of 33,169 fans.
's Frankford Yellow Jackets
hosted the Dayton Triangles
on September 24, 1927, at Franklin Field. The Yellow Jackets usually played their home games in the Frankford
section of Philadelphia. The Triangles won 6-3.
On August 23, 1958, the first Canadian Football League
game played on American soil between two Canadian teams was played at Franklin Field, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders
, 13-7.
Franklin Field hosted a United States Football League
divisional semi-final game on June 30, 1984, between the host Philadelphia Stars and the visiting New Jersey Generals
. The Stars were forced to play the game at Franklin Field because the Philadelphia Phillies
had a game scheduled at Veterans Stadium
that weekend. The Stars defeated the Generals 28-7 behind two touchdowns from RB Kelvin Bryant
. A crowd of 19,038 took in the game on a warm, overcast afternoon. The game was broadcast nationally on ABC Sports.
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Franklin Field served as Penn's baseball field early in its history, as records show that the varsity played here from 1895 until at least 1924.
Franklin Field was the long-time home of Philadelphia's City Title high school football championship game. The game was held at the stadium in 1938, 1940, 1941, and from 1943 through 1972, before it moved to Veterans Stadium
. On Thanksgiving Day
, 1941, 40,000 fans watched West Philadelphia
tie West Philadelphia Catholic
0-0. In 1945, 54,000 fans saw Southern
beat West Catholic
18-13. The 1946 game, played before 60,000, ended in a riot when Northeast
fans stormed the field in the final minute of the school's 33-26 victory over West Catholic
, prompting West Catholic fans to do the same.
The NASL
Philadelphia Atoms
had played at Veterans Stadium
from 1973-1975. They moved to Franklin Field in 1976 which had better sight lines for soccer. Attendance was 8,400 for the home opener on May 2, 1976. They drew a season high of 25,000 for the July 17 match against the New York Cosmos
which featured soccer great Pele
. The team averaged 6,449 at Franklin Field for their 11 home matches in 1976. The Philadelphia Fury
hosted a play-off game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on August 23, 1979, at Franklin Field when the Fury's home field, Veterans Stadium, was being used by the Phillies.
Franklin Field was one of fifteen United States stadia (along with John F. Kennedy Stadium
, also in Philadelphia) inspected by a five-member FIFA
committee in April 1988 in the evaluation of the United States as a possible host of the 1994 FIFA World Cup
. On August 25, 1989, a crowd of 43,356 at Franklin Field saw the US national soccer team
defeat Dnepr
of the Soviet Top League
by 1-0. Eric Eichmann
scored the lone goal in the 12th minute of the game.
On November 30, 2004, Franklin Field was home to the first rugby league
match between the United States
and Australia
. The United States led the World Cup
-holders Australia for much of the game, but eventually lost 36-24.
The stadium hosted the Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
in 1973 and 1992 and the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
in May 2007.
in which he accepted the 1936
Democratic Party
's nomination for a second term as president. It is estimated that a crowd of 100,000 sat through intermittent rain at Franklin Field to hear FDR's speech.
Drum Corps International
held its annual Drum and Bugle Corps World Championships
at the stadium in 1975 and 1976.
In 1997, Franklin Field hosted Irish band U2
during the first leg of their Pop Mart Tour on June 8. This was the stadium's first concert since the 1970s.
The 2000 M. Night Shyamalan
-directed movie Unbreakable prominently features Franklin Field as one of the main locations in the film. The film's main character, played by Bruce Willis
, plays a security guard at the stadium. In the 2006
movie Invincible
, Franklin Field served as a stand-in for the demolished Veterans Stadium, images of which were digitally superimposed on some of the football action sequences.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
's stadium for football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, sprint football
Sprint football
Sprint football, formerly called lightweight football, is a varsity sport played by United States colleges and universities, under rules similar to American football. The sport is currently governed by the Collegiate Sprint Football League....
, and track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
(and formerly for soccer and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
). It is also used by Penn students for recreation, and for intramural and club sports
College athletics
College athletics refers primarily to sports and athletic competition organized and funded by institutions of tertiary education . In the United States, college athletics is a two-tiered system. The first tier includes the sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sport governing bodies...
, including touch football
Touch football (American)
Touch football is a variant of American football in which the basic rules are similar to those of the mainstream game , but instead of tackling players to the ground, the person carrying the ball need only be touched by a member of the opposite team to end a down...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, and is the site of Penn's graduation exercises, weather permitting. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, at the eastern edge of Penn's campus, across the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
from Center City
Center City, Philadelphia
Center City, or Downtown Philadelphia includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2005, its population of over 88,000 made it the third most populous downtown in the United States, after New York City's and Chicago's...
. It is the home of the Penn Relays
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and was formerly the home field of the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
History
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. Deemed by the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
as the oldest stadium still operating for football, it was the site of the nation's first scoreboard in 1895.
Permanent Franklin Field construction did not begin until after the turn of the century. Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect Frank Miles Day & Brother
Frank Miles Day
Frank Miles Day was a Philadelphia-based architect who specialized in residences and academic buildings. In 1883, he graduated from the Towne School of the University of Pennsylvania, and traveled to Europe. In England, he apprenticed under two architects, and won the 1885 prize from the...
and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of $500,000. The field was 714 feet long and 443 feet wide. The site featured a ¼-mile track, a football field, and a baseball diamond. Beneath the stands were indoor tracks and indoor training facilities.
The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down. The lower tier was erected in 1922. The old wood stands were razed immediately following the Penn Relays and the new concrete lower tier and seating for 50,000 were built. The second tier was added in 1925, again by Day & Klauder
Charles Klauder
Charles Zeller Klauder was an American architect best known for his work on university buildings and campus designs, especially his Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, the first educational skyscraper.-Biography:...
, when it became the second (and the largest) two-tiered stadium in the United States.
The first football radio broadcast originated from Franklin Field in 1922. It was carried by Philadelphia station WIP. This claim is pre-empted by an earlier live radio broadcast emanating from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 8, 1921, a full year before Franklin Field's claim to fame. Harold W. Arlin announced the live broadcast of the Pitt-West Virginia football game on October 8, 1921, on radio station KDKA. The first commercial football television broadcast in 1939 also came from Franklin Field.
In the university's football heyday — when Penn led the nation in attendance — the 65,000-seat stadium was expanded each fall with temporary stands to seat 78,000. Today, Franklin Field, named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, seats 52,593.
Franklin Field switched from grass to AstroTurf in 1969. It was the first National Football League stadium to use artificial turf. The stadium's fifth AstroTurf surface was installed in 1993. The current Sprinturf field replaced the AstroTurf in 2004. Franklin Field was considered a candidate to host games for the 1994 World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
. FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
required that host stadiums have natural grass. Had Philadelphia been selected and Franklin Field used, the stadium would have had to return to a grass surface, or perhaps use a temporary grass field as was done at two World Cup sites — Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
, and the Pontiac Silverdome
Pontiac Silverdome
The Silverdome is a domed stadium located in the city of Pontiac, Michigan, USA, which sits on . It was the largest stadium in the National Football League until FedEx Field in suburban Washington, D.C...
in Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
.
Track and field
Penn Relays
Franklin Field has hosted the annual Penn Relays CarnivalPenn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, the largest track-and-field meet in the U.S., for over 100 years.
The first Penn Relays was held in 1895. Frank B. Ellis, chairman of Penn's track committee, was looking for an event to mark the dedication of the school's then new stadium, Franklin Field. Two years earlier, during his senior year at Penn, Penn and Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
competed in a one-mile relay race in which four runners from each school each ran a quarter of a mile. That race had been an outgrowth of intramural relay races held at Penn. Ellis and others arranged a series of relay races to take place on Saturday afternoon, April 20, 1895. 64 competitors from eight colleges, six prep schools and two high schools took part. Eight two-team races were run with Harvard beating Penn in the mile-relay feature in 3:34.4.
The Relays were featured in the April 29, 1961, premiere of ABC
ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports division has been merged with ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The...
's Wide World of Sports
Wide World of Sports (US TV series)
ABC's Wide World of Sports is a sports anthology series on American television that ran from 1961 to 1998 and was originally hosted by Jim McKay. The title continued to be used for general sports programs until 2006...
.
Other meets
The 2nd USSRSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Track and Field dual meet was held at Franklin Field on July 18 and 19, 1959. Stars who competed included Parry O'Brien
Parry O'Brien
William Parry O'Brien, Jr. was an American shot put champion. Born in Santa Monica, California, he competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals and one silver medal . In his last Olympic competition he placed fourth. For this, he is inducted in the U.S...
, Ray Norton
Ray Norton
Otis Ray Norton is a former American sprinter. In college he ran for San José State University, where he was coached by Lloyd Winter. He later won two gold medals at the 1959 Pan American Games. In that same year he tied Leamon King's record at the 100 meters at 10.1 seconds.In 1960 he set or...
, Al Cantello
Al Cantello
Al Cantello is a retired American javelin thrower as a member of the United States Marine Corps. He is currently the coach of the men's distance running program at the United States Naval Academy where he has been since 1963....
, Hayes Jones
Hayes Jones
Hayes Wendell Jones is a former American athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1964 Summer Olympics.Born in Pontiac, Michigan, Hayes Jones was quite short for a hurdler , but his outstanding speed, great start, and nearly perfect technique won him many championship titles.Jones burst onto the...
, Tamara Press
Tamara Press
Tamara Natanovna Press is a former Soviet shot putter and discus thrower in the 1960s.-Career:Press is Jewish. She competed for VSS Trud...
, Vasili Kuznetsov, Dyrol Burleson
Dyrol Burleson
Dyrol Jay Burleson is a retired middle-distance runner from the United States, who grew up in Cottage Grove, Oregon, United States.He now spends most of his time caring for his goats, llamas, and single alpaca....
, Greg Bell
Greg Bell (athlete)
Greg Bell is a former track and field athlete who won the Gold Medal in the Long Jump at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia....
, a young Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Rudolph
Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an American athlete. Rudolph was considered the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and competed in two Olympic Games, in 1956 and in 1960....
, and future long-jump great Igor Ter-Ovanesyan
Igor Ter-Ovanesyan
Igor Aramovich Ter-Ovanesyan is a Ukrainian athlete of Armenian ethnicity, and Olympic medalist in the long jump for the USSR.Ter-Ovanesyan trained at Burevestnik, first in Kiev, later in Lviv and then in Moscow. He participated in the Olympic Games five times and twice won a bronze medal...
.
Franklin Field hosted the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It has three divisions: Division I, II, and III. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their institution and...
in June 1961, the first time the championship was held on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
. Seven records were set, and the University of Southern California
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...
won its 21st team Track & Field championship.
Following the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
1976 Summer Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
and in honor of the United States Bicentennial
United States Bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...
, Franklin Field hosted The Bicentennial Meet of Champions track and field event on August 4, 1976. Montreal Olympians at the meet included Hasely Crawford
Hasely Crawford
Hasely Joachim Crawford is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976, he became the first Olympic champion of his country. A stadium was renamed in his honour in 2001.-Early Years:...
, Don Quarrie
Don Quarrie
Donald O'Riley Quarrie C.D is a former Jamaican athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s....
, Michael Shine
Michael Shine
Michael Shine is a former United States Olympic athlete. At the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, he earned the silver medal in the 400 m Men's Hurdles, behind Edwin Moses, who set the World Record and effectively opened a new chapter in the event in that race.He was notable for using a 15...
and Edwin Moses
Edwin Moses
Edwin Corley Moses is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals and set the world record in his event four times...
. The meet was also a chance for top runners including Houston McTear
Houston McTear
Houston McTear , is a former American sprinter, who emerged from desperate poverty in the Florida Panhandle to become an international track star in the mid-1970s. McTear rated in the top 10 in the 100 meters for the United States from 1975–1980, but he was stronger at shorter distances, including...
who had not been able to compete in Montreal to race against medal winners. 13,722 attended the event and saw Dwight Stones
Dwight Stones
Dwight Edwin Stones is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championships. In 1984, Stones became the first athlete to both compete and announce at...
set a record for the high-jump and John Walker win the mile.
The University of Pennsylvania hosted the two-day 1980 Liberty Bell Track and Field Classic
Olympic Boycott Games
The Liberty Bell Classic was an event held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1980 by 29 of the boycotting countries of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics as an alternative to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow...
, an alternate to the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
for 26 countries participating in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics which were held in Moscow. The Liberty Bell Classic began on July 16, 1980. It was the largest international track meet held in the U.S. since the 1932 Summer Olympics
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...
in terms of the number of foreign competitors. Franklin Field hosted the track and field events where 20,111 spectators saw the final evening of competitions. In several events, the times were better than those in Moscow, such as American Renaldo Nehemiah
Renaldo Nehemiah
Renaldo Nehemiah is an American athlete who dominated the 110 m hurdle event from 1978 until 1981. He was the world record holder and the first man to run the high hurdles in under 13 seconds...
's time of 13.31 in the 110m hurdles ahead of East German gold medal winner Thomas Munkelt
Thomas Munkelt
east jordans hamThomas Munkelt was an East German athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1980 Summer Olympics....
's time of 13.39.
The track in Franklin Field has a rarely used configuration where the 400 metre circumference is achieved in lane 5, rather than in lane one. Thus there are two curbs on the track, inside of lane one and also inside of lane 5. In order to accommodate the full fields of the Penn Relays and other meets, special adaptations are made with a movable curb on the backstretch to stagger the runners to arrive at a common break point in lane 5, rather than the conventional lane one. Single lap races in the inner lanes, run portions of an extra straightaway. Multiple lap races spend the majority of the race in lane 5 to run the proper distances.
Penn Quakers
Penn football played on Franklin Field for the first time in 1895. The University of Pennsylvania was one of the top football schools in the first years of college football. Many consider Penn to have been the national champion in college football in 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1904. Other sources identify Penn as national champions in 1895, 1897, 1904 and 1908. John H. OutlandJohn H. Outland
-External links:...
played at Franklin Field for Penn in 1897 and 1898. On October 26, 1907, Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
and the Carlisle Indian school
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Carlisle Indian Industrial School was an Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1879 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania by Captain Richard Henry Pratt, the school was the first off-reservation boarding school, and it became a model for Indian boarding schools in other locations...
trounced a powerful University of Pennsylvania team, 26-6, before an overflow crowd of 20,000 at Franklin Field. Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
set an NCAA record at Franklin Field when he rushed for 331 yards in the University of Illinois
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...
' 24-2 victory over Penn on October 31, 1925, before 67,877 spectators.
On Saturday, November 16, 2002, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
broadcast College GameDay from Franklin Field prior to the game between Penn and Harvard
Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson are the athletic teams of Harvard University. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2006, there were 41 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country...
. Both teams entered the game undefeated and the winner would capture the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
championship. It was College GameDay's first broadcast from a Division I-AA college. Penn won the match-up 44-9.
The Penn Quakers football team played their 800th game ever at the stadium on October 4, 2008, against Dartmouth.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
played at Franklin Field from 1958
1958 NFL season
The 1958 NFL season was the 39th regular season of the National Football League.The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants, 23–17, in the first sudden-death overtime in an NFL Championship Game...
through 1970
1970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...
. They moved to the stadium for the 1958 season after leaving Connie Mack Stadium. Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000. According to then-Eagles president Frank L. McNamee, the Eagles did not pay rent for use of Franklin Field because Penn was a not-for-profit organization. Instead, the Eagles donated between $75,000 and $100,000 per-year to pay for maintenance and other expenses. The university collected all concessions and parking revenue.
On October 11, 1959, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
died after suffering a heart-attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at Franklin Field during the last two-minutes of the game between the Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
.
The Eagles hosted the 1960 NFL Championship Game here, defeating the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
, 17-13, in Packers' coach Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
's only career playoff loss. Attendance for the championship was 67,325.
Two infamous incidents in Eagles history occurred at the stadium.
Santa Claus booed
During the December 15, 1968, game against the Minnesota VikingsMinnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, a Christmas show was planned for halftime. The Eagles had entered the game 2-11. Fans hated Eagles quarterback Norm Snead
Norm Snead
Norman Bailey Snead is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers. He played college football for Wake Forest University and was drafted in the first round of...
, owner Jerry Wolman
Jerry Wolman
Jerry Wolman is a former Washington, D.C. developer and the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles football team of the National Football League. Wolman bought the Eagles franchise in 1963 from the "Happy Hundred," a group of investors that owned the team from 1949–1963, for a sale price of...
and coach Joe Kuharich
Joe Kuharich
Joseph Lawrence Kuharich was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of San Francisco from 1948 to 1951 and at the University of Notre Dame from 1959 to 1962, compiling a career college football record of 43–37...
. Many fans came to the game wearing "Joe Must Go" buttons. The man meant to play Santa was unable to make it to Franklin Field due to the weather. In lieu of the original halftime show, a 19-year-old fan named Frank Olivo who had been wearing a Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
costume, was invited onto the field to toss candy-canes with the cheerleaders. Frustrated by the team, the ugly wet weather, and his unconvincing beard, fans booed Olivo and threw snowballs at him. This incident is often referred to by sportscasters in denigrating Philadelphia sports fans as so mean they booed Santa Claus. The Eagles lost the game 24 to 17. Olivo continued to attend Eagles games and even dressed as Santa Claus at the Eagles' December 27, 2009, game against the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
at Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field is the home stadium of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. It has a seating capacity of 68,532 . It is located in South Philadelphia on Pattison Avenue between 11th and 10th streets, also aside I-95 as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
.
Howard Cosell taken ill
On November 23, 1970, announcer Howard CosellHoward Cosell
Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...
was apparently drunk during a nationally televised broadcast of the Eagles-New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
game. After throwing up on color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
Don Meredith
Don Meredith
Joseph Don "Dandy Don" Meredith was an American football quarterback, sports commentator and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League . He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his last three years as a player...
's cowboy boots shortly before halftime, Cosell left the stadium and took a taxi back to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Meredith and play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson is an American sportscaster, known for his long career with ABC Sports , his coverage of college football , his style of folksy, down-to-earth commentary, and his distinctive voice, with its deep cadence, and operatic tone considered "like Edward R...
made little mention of his departure during the second half. Later, denying drunkenness, Cosell claimed that he had been dizzy from running laps around Franklin Field's track before the game with track star Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith is an African American former track & field athlete and wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith won the 200-meter dash finals in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20 second barrier was broken...
.
Other college football
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that stood from 1925 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was situated on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location that is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
in South Philadelphia in 1936. Penn alumnus and Olympic-medalist George Orton
George Orton
George Washington Orton was a Canadian middle-distance runner. In 1900, he became the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal.-Biography:...
(who had worked with Frank Ellis in managing the Penn Relays) is credited with helping to bring the game to Philadelphia in 1899.
Temple University played its home football games at Temple Stadium
Temple Stadium
Temple Stadium was a stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1928 and hosted the Temple University Owls football team until they moved to Veterans Stadium in 1978....
until the late 1970s. Temple Stadium had opened in 1928 and sat up to 34,000 for football. Over the years, Temple had played home games at Franklin Field when crowds were expected to exceed Temple Stadium's capacity. Temple moved its home games to Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
in the late 1970s but the Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
had priority for the field for Saturdays during baseball season, which ends the last week in September. When Temple home games conflicted with Phillies home games, Temple would play at Franklin Field. This continued through the 2002 season, Temple's final year at the Vet before the Owls moved to Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field is the home stadium of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. It has a seating capacity of 68,532 . It is located in South Philadelphia on Pattison Avenue between 11th and 10th streets, also aside I-95 as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
as tenants of the Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. One of the last Temple football games at Franklin Field was a 44-21 loss to the number-one-ranked Miami Hurricanes
2002 Miami Hurricanes football team
The 2002 Miami Hurricanes football team sought to defend the school's 1-A national championship. They were coached by second year head coach Larry Coker, and competed in the Big East Conference- Pre Season :...
on September 14, 2002; Miami's Willis McGahee
Willis McGahee
Willis Andrew McGahee III is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
rushed for 134 yards and four touchdowns in front of 33,169 fans.
Other professional football
The NFLNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Frankford Yellow Jackets
Frankford Yellow Jackets
The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926...
hosted the Dayton Triangles
Dayton Triangles
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park, which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north...
on September 24, 1927, at Franklin Field. The Yellow Jackets usually played their home games in the Frankford
Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Frankford is a large and important neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia situated about six miles northeast of Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by the original course of Frankford Creek, now roughly Adams to Aramingo...
section of Philadelphia. The Triangles won 6-3.
On August 23, 1958, the first Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
game played on American soil between two Canadian teams was played at Franklin Field, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...
, 13-7.
Franklin Field hosted a United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
divisional semi-final game on June 30, 1984, between the host Philadelphia Stars and the visiting New Jersey Generals
New Jersey Generals
The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983-85, winning 31 regular-season games and losing 25 while going 0-2 in postseason competition...
. The Stars were forced to play the game at Franklin Field because the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
had a game scheduled at Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
that weekend. The Stars defeated the Generals 28-7 behind two touchdowns from RB Kelvin Bryant
Kelvin Bryant
Kelvin LeRoy Bryant is a former American football running back in the National Football League and the United States Football League.-College career:...
. A crowd of 19,038 took in the game on a warm, overcast afternoon. The game was broadcast nationally on ABC Sports.
Other sports
Franklin Field was the long-time home of Philadelphia's City Title high school football championship game. The game was held at the stadium in 1938, 1940, 1941, and from 1943 through 1972, before it moved to Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
. On Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
, 1941, 40,000 fans watched West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia High School
West Philadelphia High School is a secondary school located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.The school was completed on November 1, 1912. and occupies an entire city block between 47th and 48th streets, between Walnut Street and Locust Street...
tie West Philadelphia Catholic
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys open it doors in 1916 and was located on 49th between Chestnut and Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
0-0. In 1945, 54,000 fans saw Southern
South Philadelphia High School
South Philadelphia High School also known as Southern High is a public secondary high school located in the south section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, just north of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex residential neighborhood, Marconi...
beat West Catholic
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys open it doors in 1916 and was located on 49th between Chestnut and Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
18-13. The 1946 game, played before 60,000, ended in a riot when Northeast
Northeast High School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Northeast High School is a high school located at 1601 Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States....
fans stormed the field in the final minute of the school's 33-26 victory over West Catholic
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys
West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys open it doors in 1916 and was located on 49th between Chestnut and Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, prompting West Catholic fans to do the same.
The NASL
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
Philadelphia Atoms
Philadelphia Atoms
The Philadelphia Atoms were a soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League . They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium and Franklin Field ....
had played at Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
from 1973-1975. They moved to Franklin Field in 1976 which had better sight lines for soccer. Attendance was 8,400 for the home opener on May 2, 1976. They drew a season high of 25,000 for the July 17 match against the New York Cosmos
New York Cosmos
The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...
which featured soccer great Pele
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
. The team averaged 6,449 at Franklin Field for their 11 home matches in 1976. The Philadelphia Fury
Philadelphia Fury
The Philadelphia Fury was a soccer team based in Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1980. Among the club's investors were rock musicians Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon. The team played at Veterans Stadium....
hosted a play-off game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on August 23, 1979, at Franklin Field when the Fury's home field, Veterans Stadium, was being used by the Phillies.
Franklin Field was one of fifteen United States stadia (along with John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium
John F. Kennedy Stadium was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that stood from 1925 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was situated on the east side of the far southern end of Broad Street at a location that is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
, also in Philadelphia) inspected by a five-member FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
committee in April 1988 in the evaluation of the United States as a possible host of the 1994 FIFA World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...
. On August 25, 1989, a crowd of 43,356 at Franklin Field saw the US national soccer team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
defeat Dnepr
FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Football Club Dnipro is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Dnipropetrovsk.-BRIT:The club's franchise traces its history all the way back when the first team that was formed in 1918 by the Petrovsky factory and was called as BRIT . The team participated in the regional competition...
of the Soviet Top League
Soviet Top League
The Soviet Top League since 1970 was officially known as the Supreme League serving as the top division of Soviet Union football since 1936.It was one of the best football leagues in Europe ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons...
by 1-0. Eric Eichmann
Eric Eichmann
Eric Eichmann is a retired American soccer player. He played professionally in Germany and the United States and later served as an assistant coach with the Miami Fusion of Major League Soccer. He also earned twenty-nine caps and scored four goals, for the United States national...
scored the lone goal in the 12th minute of the game.
On November 30, 2004, Franklin Field was home to the first rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
match between the United States
United States national rugby league team
-2008 & 2013 Rugby League World Cup Qualifying:In October 2006, The Tomahawks were to participate in a four team Atlantic qualifying pool for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, but South Africa and the West Indies withdrew. As a result, The Atlantic qualifying pool was reduced to a single game...
and Australia
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
. The United States led the World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
-holders Australia for much of the game, but eventually lost 36-24.
The stadium hosted the Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
The annual NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the top men's field lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III....
in 1973 and 1992 and the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship
The annual NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the top women's lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III....
in May 2007.
Other events
The stadium was the site of the speech by President Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in which he accepted the 1936
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
's nomination for a second term as president. It is estimated that a crowd of 100,000 sat through intermittent rain at Franklin Field to hear FDR's speech.
Drum Corps International
Drum Corps International
Drum Corps International , formed in 1972, is the non-profit governing body operating the North American drum and bugle corps circuit for junior corps, whose members are between the ages of 14 and 21. It is the counterpart of Drum Corps Associates which governs senior or all-age drum corps...
held its annual Drum and Bugle Corps World Championships
DCI Division I World Champions
At the end of the summer season, Drum Corps International World Class corps compete to earn the title of DCI World Class Champion . The championships consist of 3 rounds—Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals—held on the first or second Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of August...
at the stadium in 1975 and 1976.
In 1997, Franklin Field hosted Irish band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
during the first leg of their Pop Mart Tour on June 8. This was the stadium's first concert since the 1970s.
The 2000 M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
-directed movie Unbreakable prominently features Franklin Field as one of the main locations in the film. The film's main character, played by Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, plays a security guard at the stadium. In the 2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
movie Invincible
Invincible (2006 film)
Invincible is a 2006 family film directed by Ericson Core set in 1976. It is based on the true story of Vince Papale, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976–78. Mark Wahlberg portrays Papale and Greg Kinnear plays Papale's coach, Dick Vermeil...
, Franklin Field served as a stand-in for the demolished Veterans Stadium, images of which were digitally superimposed on some of the football action sequences.
External links
- Penn Athletics: Franklin Field
- Ivy League Sports: Franklin Field
- Stadiums of Pro Football: Franklin Field
- Turner Construction Company: Franklin Field, University of Pennsylvania
- Architectural photos of Franklin Field
- ESPN.com: Photo gallery "Oldest stadiums – Monuments to the past"
- Hagley Digital Archives: Aerial photographs of Franklin Field in 1920s and 1930s