Early History
In 1895, the organizer of UC's first football team, Arch Carson, introduced a plan to build a stadium complete with wooden bleachers on the site upon which Nippert Stadium currently stands. The plans became a reality in 1901 while Carson was serving as UC's physical education director. The first game played on the site originally called Varsity Field in Burnett Woods was on November 2, 1901 vs the Ohio University Bobcats. Cincinnati was defeated 16-0 in that contest. They rebounded a week later and defeated Hannover on Varsity field November 9, 1901 by a score of 10-0. Although Cincinnati has played home contests in other Cincinnati parks since then, this site has been the primary home of Cincinnati Football since that time. The playing surface at Nippert Stadium is called Carson Field in honor of Arch Carson.
In 1915, construction was completed on the first sections of a brick and concrete structure to replace the wooden stands and continued for several seasons as funds were raised. During the final game of the 1923 season with intrastate rival Miami University, UC player James Gamble Nippert sustained a spike wound injury. He died a month later of blood poisoning, reportedly due to having been infected by droppings left after a pre-game chicken race. Nippert's grandfather, James N. Gamble of Procter & Gamble, donated the required funds to complete the stadium.
In 1924, the completed structure was dedicated as James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium with a capacity of 12,000.
Read more about this topic: Nippert Stadium
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