JRL La Islandera |
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Front view of the stadium
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Full name | Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium |
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Address | Route 2, intersection with Route 5 |
Location | Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
Coordinates | 18°23′36″N 66°09′03″W / 18.393425°N 66.15085°WCoordinates: 18°23′36″N 66°09′03″W / 18.393425°N 66.15085°W |
Owner | Municipio de Bayamón |
Operator | Municipio de Bayamón |
Capacity | 22,000 |
Record attendance | 12,993 – Puerto Rico Islanders vs. LA Galaxy (August 4, 2010) |
Field size | 105 × 68 m |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1972 |
Built | 1973 |
Opened | 1974 |
Renovated | 2003, 2012 |
Construction cost | Unknown |
Architect | Thomas Marvel |
Tenants | |
Puerto Rico national football team (1974–present) Vaqueros de Bayamón (LBPRC) (1974–2003) Cangrejeros de Santurce (LBPRC) (late 80s) Puerto Rico Islanders (NASL) (2004–2012) Sevilla Bayamón (PRSL) (2008) Bayamón (PRSL) (2009–present) Puerto Rico FC (NASL) (2016–present) |
Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel) is a soccer-specific stadium located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. It is best known as the former home of the Puerto Rico Islanders of the North American Soccer League and current home of the Puerto Rico FC of the North American Soccer League. The stadium can seat up to 22,000 people. It and has easy access the metro station known as "Deportivo Station."
Created in 1973 as a baseball stadium with a capacity of 12,500, it was home to the Vaqueros de Bayamón up until 2003 when the team became defunct.
In 2003 with the Vaqueros folding, the stadium seemed doomed to be relegated to a youth stadium or to demolition, but late that same year the stadium was reborn and was to be home for another professional club. However, this time it would be as an association football stadium. It had been chosen by the Puerto Rico Islanders as their new home. Its "L" shaped stands were not suited for the sport and it originally had an awkward feel to it since the stand behind the goal angles away from the pitch. This has led most of the fans to prefer to sit in the part of the stands that run parallel to the pitch.
Over the period that it has hosted the sport of soccer it has created an atmosphere that is unique to the stadium and the Islanders.
It has played host to the resurgence of association football in Puerto Rico and has been given the nickname "La Meca" because it has been a key player in the sport's rise to popularity in the island. It is also called "JRL" by fans as an abbreviation of its official name. Another name that has been used for the stadium is "La Islandera" since it was the home of the Islanders.
It was home to Bayamon FC, a professional football team in the Puerto Rico Soccer League now playing in the Bayamon Soccer Complex, And Sevilla Bayamon FC, now called Sevilla-FC Juncos, they moved to Juncos.