Veterans Stadium (New Britain, Connecticut)

Veterans Stadium (full name Veterans Memorial Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in New Britain, Connecticut. Opened in 1982, it is dedicated to the soldiers of the city who died in various U.S. wars, particularly Vietnam. The stadium now Houses CT United FC of the American Soccer League.

Veterans Stadium
Map
LocationWillow Brook Park
New Britain, Connecticut
OwnerNew Britain, Connecticut
OperatorNew Britain, Connecticut
Capacity8,448[1]
SurfaceGrass
Opened1982
Tenants
New Britain Golden Hurricanes (1982-Present)
Connecticut Wolves (USL) (1993-2002)
U.S. Open Cup (2001, 2007-2009)
SoccerPlus Connecticut (WPSL) (2006-2008)
CT United FC (ASL) (2015-2017)
Connecticut Crushers (NWFA)

The stadium is used mostly by New Britain High School, and some other area schools, for football and soccer games. It also hosts the Connecticut Crushers of the National Women's Football Association. The stadium was also home to the Connecticut Wolves team of the United Soccer Leagues before that team folded in 2002.

The stadium is an 8-lane oval track around a regulation-size football field. The track was dedicated to coach Irving S. Black in April 1992. Seating is all in metal bleachers, with 7 sections of 27 rows each on either side of the field. The estimated capacity is 12,448. In the summer of 2012, the middle seating on both sides was changed to better match the colors of New Britain High School, which are maroon and gold.

Seating colors of Veterans Stadium, Sept. 2012

The stadium is owned by the City of New Britain, and is part of Willow Brook Park. Also located in the complex are two baseball fields, New Britain Stadium and Beehive Field.

Sports

edit

Soccer

edit

In the 1970s and 1980s, it hosted four United States men's national soccer team matches. It most famously hosted the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals game between the Carolina Railhawks and the New England Revolution on September 4, 2007, in which New England won 2–1 to advance to the finals,[2] where they eventually defeated FC Dallas for the Dewar Cup. New England would return to Veterans Stadium on July 1, 2008, to defeat the Richmond Kickers 3–0 in the 3rd round of the 2008 U.S. Open Cup.[3] New England would return again on July 8, 2008, to play Crystal Palace Baltimore in the quarterfinal round. After 90 minutes of play and a half-hour of overtime, with the score 1-1, New England midfielder Mauricio Castro scored the Rev's 5th penalty kick out of five, winning the game on penalty kick on a score of 5–3.[4] The New England Revolution were 3-1-0 at Veterans Stadium after their 2-1 Open Cup loss to Harrisburg City Islanders on June 30, 2009.[citation needed]

The WPS Boston Breakers played a home match in Veterans Stadium against the Atlanta Beat in 2010.[5]

Notable matches

edit
Date Teams Match Type Attendance Notes
August 12, 1973 United States   1-0   Poland International Friendly 10,000 [6]
July 13, 1988 United States   0-2   Poland International Friendly 10,213 [7]
June 17, 1989 United States   2-1   Guatemala 1990 FIFA World Cup Qualification 10,516 [8]
August 30, 1991 United States   0-1   Norway International Friendly 5,563 [9]
August 16, 1992 United States   2-4   Norway International Friendly 1,547 [10]
August 6, 1994 China   3-2   Germany International Friendly -
July 30, 1995 United States   9-0   Chinese Taipei 1995 US Cup 3,782 [11]
May 15, 1996 China   5-0   Canada 1996 US Cup - [12]
May 26, 1996 United States   2-1   Scotland International Friendly 8,526 [13]
May 31, 1997 United States   4-0   Canada 1997 US Cup 6,562 [14]
June 26, 2001 Connecticut Wolves 3–2 Tampa Bay Mutiny 2001 U.S. Open Cup
Second Round
4,362 [15]
September 4, 2007 New England Revolution 1–0 Carolina Railhawks 2007 U.S. Open Cup
Semifinal
4,203 [16]
July 1, 2008 New England Revolution 3–0 Richmond Kickers 2008 U.S. Open Cup
Third Round
3,950 [17]
June 30, 2009 New England Revolution 1–2 Harrisburg City Islanders 2009 U.S. Open Cup
Third Round
3,100 [18]
May 29, 2010 Turkey   2-0   Northern Ireland International Friendly 4,000 [19]
August 21, 2010 Boston Breakers 2–3 Atlanta Beat Women's Professional Soccer 4,071 [5]

References

edit
  1. ^ :: City of New Britain ::
  2. ^ :: Carolina RailHawks FC ::
  3. ^ :: New England Revolution ::
  4. ^ :: Crystal Palace F.C. USA ::
  5. ^ a b "Beat Back in Win Column". oursportscentral.com. Atlanta Beat. August 21, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "11v11.com USA v Poland 1973".
  7. ^ "11v11.com USA v Poland 1988".
  8. ^ "11v11.com USA v Guatemala 1989".
  9. ^ "ussoccerhistory.org USWNT Results: 1990-1994". 5 March 2019.
  10. ^ "ussoccerhistory.org USWNT Results: 1990-1994". 5 March 2019.
  11. ^ "ussoccerhistory.org USWNT Results: 1995-1999". 12 March 2019.
  12. ^ "rsssf.org 2nd US Cup 1996 (Women's Tournament)".
  13. ^ "11v11.com USA v Scotland 1996".
  14. ^ "ussoccerhistory.org USWNT Results: 1995-1999". 12 March 2019.
  15. ^ "2001 U.S. Open Cup Second Round".
  16. ^ "2007 U.S. Open Cup Semifinal".
  17. ^ "2008 U.S. Open Cup Third Round".
  18. ^ "2009 U.S. Open Cup Third Round".
  19. ^ "11v11.com Turkey v N. Ireland 2010".

41°38′54″N 72°46′22″W / 41.648434°N 72.772667°W / 41.648434; -72.772667