Kezar Stadium

Kezar Stadium is a stadium located in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL. In addition to being the host of amateur and recreation sports leagues it is also the current home of numerous San Francisco high school football games (including the City Championship, known popularly as the "Turkey Bowl") and the San Francisco Dragons of the MLL.

History

In 1922 the San Francisco Park Commission accepted a $100,000 gift from the estate of Mary Kezar. The gift was intended to build a memorial in honor of Kezar's mother and uncles who were pioneers in the area. After the City and County of San Francisco appropriated an addtional $200,000 the stadium was built in a year. Dedication ceremonies were held on May 2, 1925 and featured a two-mile footrace between Willie Ratola and Paavo Nurmi of Finland, who was one of the greatest runners of its day.

The stadium had many uses in the 1930's. In addition to track and field competitions, Kezar Stadium also hosted motorcycle racing, auto racing, rugby, lacrosse, soccer, donkey baseball, boxing and football. The stadium was also the home field of several local schools such as Santa Clara University, University of San Francisco, St. Mary's College of California and the now defunct San Francsico Polytechnic High School. In 1926 the Stadium also became the home of the East-West Shrine Game.

In the 1928 city championship game bewteen San Francisco Polytechnic and Lowell High School a crowd of over 50,000 people saw the matchup between the bitter cross-town rivals. That game still holds attendance records for a high school football game in Northern California.

Kezar Stadium was also the home to two different professional football teams. The San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders both began their existence at the stadium. The Raiders played in San Francisco venues until a suitable facility was built in Oakland. The 49ers moved to a more modern and accessible stadium at Candlestick Park in 1971 after losing the 1970 NFC Championship Game to the Dallas Cowboys, 17-10, on January 3, 1971 in their final game at Kezar.

Several scenes from the film "Dirty Harry" were filmed there later in 1971.

With the loss of professional football in the 1970's the stadium became an outdoor concert venue with many well known acts of its time performing there. Its proximity to the Haight-Ashbury District probably helped with the stadium's transformation to concert venue. Noted musicans who performed at Kezar included Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Tower of Power, Joan Baez, The Grateful Dead, Carlos Santana, and Neil Young.

After suffering extensive damage in the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 it was rebuilt with a much smaller seating capacity. The upgrades included an eight lane, all weather track and a large grass athletic field suitable for soccer, football and lacrosse. With the 2006 West Coast expansion of Major League Lacrosse, Kezar Stadium once again became a home to a professional team, the San Francisco Dragons.

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Kezar Stadium

History

External links