Memorial Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
| Location | Arlington, Texas |
|---|---|
| Owner | University of Texas at Arlington |
| Operator | University of Texas at Arlington Athletic Department |
| Capacity | 10,022 |
| Record attendance | 10,500 |
| Surface | Natural Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1951 |
| Renovated | East stands, 1962 |
| Expanded | 1962 |
| Demolished | 1973 |
| Construction cost | $60 thousand |
| Tenants | |
| Texas-Arlington Mavericks football, Arlington Independent School District football | |
Memorial Stadium was a 10,022 seat stadium on the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington that served as the home site for the numerous teams that would become UT Arlington Mavericks as well as the Arlington Independent School District.
The steel and wood stadium opened for the 1951 football season and cost $60,000 to construct. Original capacity was 5,500. The stadium was oriented north-south from end zone to end zone with a playing field, west-side stands and a press box. In 1962, Memorial Stadium was expanded, reaching its final capacity of 10,022 with the addition of east-side stands. The stadium was located immediately west of the present Maverick Activities Center on what is now a field of flat recreational space and east of the nearby creek.
The Arlington State College Rebels won the national junior college championship in 1956 and 1957. The school would rise to four-year status in 1959. UTA would play as an NCAA College Division Independent for a half decade before founding the Southland Conference and playing its first conference game as a University in 1964. The stadium would host the 1966 SLC co-champions and the 1967 outright champions, the first SLC team to post a perfect conference record. The 1967 team would finish the regular season ranked third in the UPI poll and beat North Dakota State, who was ranked second in that poll, 13-0 in the 1967 Pecan Bowl.
One of the more memorable games came in the 1968 season. In what was the equivalent of the Southland Conference championship game, UTA hosted the Arkansas State Indians with a 15-game home winning streak and Southland Conference championship on the line. UTA was sporting a 2-0 SLC mark while Arkansas State was 3-0 in the five-team league. A win for Arkansas State would give them the title outright, while a UTA victory would guarantee a share. UTA led 21-14 when Arkansas State scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion to go up 22-21 with three minutes remaining. UTA would fumble a punt with under two minutes to seal the game.
UTA teams played at Memorial Stadium until the conclusion of the 1969 season while Arlington high school teams played games there until the completion of the 1973 high school football season.
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