History
The stadium hosted its first game on September 25, 1965, with UMass beating American International College, 41-0. The stadium was officially dedicated on October 16, 1965, when UMass defeated Rhode Island 30-7 in a homecoming contest. The most recent sellout at the stadium was on December 2, 2006 with UMass defeating New Hampshire, 24-17. The stadium is also the site of UMass Amherst graduation ceremonies, and hosted the 1987 NCAA women’s soccer championship. On April 10, 2009, an Amherst resident fell from the stadium in what police believe was a suicide.
However, the football team has left McGuirk Stadium after the 2011 season. For several years, UMass had considered making a move to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). McGuirk Stadium's current capacity is only modestly above the NCAA's requirement of 15,000 average attendance for FBS membership. This would require that UMass expand McGuirk Stadium's seating capacity, build a new facility, or move to a larger stadium in the region.
Read more about this topic: Warren Mc Guirk Alumni Stadium
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“They are a sort of post-house,where the Fates
Change horses, making history change its tune,
Then spur away o’er empires and o’er states,
Leaving at last not much besides chronology,
Excepting the post-obits of theology.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“No matter how vital experience might be while you lived it, no sooner was it ended and dead than it became as lifeless as the piles of dry dust in a school history book.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)