Franklin Field - Other Sports

Other Sports

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 longtime 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, 1-0; Eric Eichmann scored the lone goal in the game's 12th minute.

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.

April 14, 2012 marked the debut of Franklin Field as the home stadium for the Philadelphia Spinners of the AUDL. An estimated 1700 were in attendance as the Spinners defeated the Buffalo Hunters 26-14.