Mark's Stadium
| Full name | Mark's Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location |
North Tiverton, Rhode Island United States |
| Coordinates | 41°40′14.16″N 71°10′48.22″W / 41.6706000°N 71.1800611°WCoordinates: 41°40′14.16″N 71°10′48.22″W / 41.6706000°N 71.1800611°W |
| Owner | Sam Mark |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Opened | 1922 |
| Closed | 19xx |
| Tenants | |
|
Fall River Marksmen (1922-1931) Fall River F.C. (1931-19xx) Ponta Delgada S.C. (19xx-19xx) |
|
Mark's Stadium is a former soccer stadium located in North Tiverton, Rhode Island. During the 1920s and early 1930s it was the home of Fall River Marksmen, one of the era’s most successful soccer teams. It is one of the earliest examples of a soccer-specific stadium in the United States. After the demise of the Marksmen, the stadium was used as a home ground by other local teams, most notably Fall River F.C. and Ponta Delgada S.C..
In 1922 Sam Mark took over Fall River United of the American Soccer League and renamed them Fall River Marksmen. Mark was willing to invest in the club and one of his first moves was to build the team its own stadium. He located it in North Tiverton, Rhode Island, just over the Massachusetts border from Fall River. This enabled the Marksmen to circumvent the Massachusetts Blue Laws and play on a Sunday. Although used primarily for soccer, Mark’s also operated a semi-professional baseball team and the stadium’s design was decidedly baseball-friendly. This included an L-shaped stand which was placed behind one of the corner-flags. The stadium also incorporated a small dirt track for auto racing up until the early 1950s which somewhat reduced the size of the soccer pitch.
The 1925 National Challenge Cup final and the first Lewis Cup final were both held at the stadium. Although a crowd of only 1,000 turned up to see Shawsheen Indians defeat Canadian Club of Chicago 3-0 in the Challenge Cup on April 19, a capacity crowd of 15,000 saw Boston Wonder Workers defeat Fall River Marksmen 2-1 in the Lewis Cup. In subsequent seasons the stadium regularly hosted prestige friendlies between the Marksmen and visiting teams such as Rangers, an Italian League XI and Kilmarnock.
...
Wikipedia