History
The stadium opened on October 14, 1924. It was dedicated to 3527 students, graduates, and workers who served in World War I, which ended six years earlier. The stadium sat on approximately 11 acres (45,000 m²).
During that span the team won six national championships including three consecutive (1934–1936). The championship years were 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, and 1960. The official capacity of the stadium during the 1970s was listed as 56,652. The stadium seated approximately 66,000 people with additional temporary bleachers, although many of the seats were far away from the field. The stadium's attendance record was 66,284, set in 1966 against Purdue on November 18.
Memorial Stadium also served as the university's track and field venue, and was an occasional back-up venue for professional football and soccer. In 1969, the NFL's Minnesota Vikings played a regular season game against the Green Bay Packers at Memorial Stadium, due to a conflict with a Minnesota Twins playoff game at Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings also played a 1971 pre-season game at Memorial. The Minnesota Kicks of the NASL played one game at Memorial Stadium, which was also their last. They played a 1981 playoff game there on September 6 against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and lost 3-0. The game was moved due to a schedule conflict with the Minnesota Twins at Met Stadium.
Memorial Stadium served as the anchor for Stadium Village, a small commercial area at the southeast portion of the Twin Cities campus.
Read more about this topic: Memorial Stadium (University Of Minnesota)
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