Stadiums that have removed athletic track

[Chimaera]

Originally Posted by Walbanger

Old Soldier Field

Why did original Soldier Field have such an elongated shape? Like a bigger and wider version of Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens.

On the last pic you can see that the extremities of the side stands were not demolished after the stadium was "closed" (the new stand was built inside the stadium). Were they still used in some way?

[Bobby3]

They actually held stock car races there before they renovated it, believe it or not.

[Alemanniafan]

Originally Posted by Walbanger

Is that oval pitch with these interesting lines and goalposts what they use for Australian football?

[Bobby3]

Yea, that's an Australian rules pitch.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by Chimaera

Why did original Soldier Field have such an elongated shape? Like a bigger and wider version of Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens.

On the last pic you can see that the extremities of the side stands were not demolished after the stadium was "closed" (the new stand was built inside the stadium). Were they still used in some way?

I'll have to research it more but it wasn't built with any single purpose that I know of. I believe it was just meant to be a sort of all purpose municipal sporting venue.
After the Chicago Bears moved to there in the 1970's the section on the north end was closed. The stands to the north of the enclosed were left but between it was just a parking lot for the Chicago Bears and the park district agency which had its building just to the north of the stadium.


from wiki
Early configuration
In its earliest configuration Soldier Field was capable of seating nearly 74,000 spectators, and was in the shape of a U. Additional seating could be added along the interior field, upper promenades and on the large, open field and terrace beyond the north endzone, bringing the seating capacity to over 100,000. The largest crowd for any event at Soldier Field was 260,000 on September 23, 1954, for the Catholic Church's Marian Year Tribute.............

Mainly thought of as the long-time home of the NFL's Chicago Bears, the 100,000-seat stadium on the shores of Lake Michigan hosted the Jack Dempsey–Gene Tunney championship fight in 1927, track and field competitions and several major college football games, including Army–Navy and Notre Dame–USC.

The stadium was the site of numerous races. A 1/4 mile board track was built,[6] and the first two midget car races at the track in 1939 were won by Sam Hanks.[7] The track was also used for motorcycle races. The board track was removed and it was changed to a half-mile dirt oval track. In 1956, NASCAR swung through for its only race at Soldier Field. Twenty-five cars started the 200-lapper, with Fireball Roberts averaging 61.037 mph to win $850. The racetrack was torn out in 1970. Soldier Field even hosted a Tractor pull in 1985, which was so loud that it echoed off the tall Downtown buildings.........

[hngcm]

Why did the Bears decide to stay in Wrigley despite Soldier Field being right there?

[Jim856796]

The Dynamo Stadium in Moscow should have had their track removed as part of a major restructuration project, but the stadium is still in its original appearance as of 2009.

[MRichR]

Originally Posted by hngcm

Why did the Bears decide to stay in Wrigley despite Soldier Field being right there?

For many years, Chicago had two NFL franchises. One on the North Side, the Bears, and one on the South Side, the Cardinals (now in Arizona). When Halas moved the franchise to Chicago from Decatur in 1921, Soldier Field wasn't built yet. The next year the Cardinals moved to Chicago and took up residence on the south side at Comiskey. By the time Soldier Field was built a few years later, both teams had their establised turf on their respective sides of town. Add to that the fact that the Bears became the "Bears" to link it to the baseball team that played at Wrigley, it didn't make much sense to move downtown. Ironically, there's been more history made in Wrigley Field by it's former home football team than it's home baseball team. The Bears are the only team to win a championship while playing in Wrigley Field (the Cubs last championship being 6 years before Wrigley was built).

[Wezza]

Originally Posted by Alemanniafan

Is that oval pitch with these interesting lines and goalposts what they use for Australian football?

Yep, you even get a point for missing the goal in that game.

[Torch]

They do it in 2 stadiums right know:

- Gottfried Daimler Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany
- Weserstadion in Bremen, Germany

[Jim856796]

I think the Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand should remove their athletics track. Temporary-looking stands are built to the south side of the stadium and I was thinking about redeveloping that stadium into a football-only one.

[nthbeach]

The track is gone, athletics is now on an adjoining field i believe.

[No1_Saint]

The MCG for the Commonwealth Games 2006

image hosted on flickr


The MCG during the 2006 AFL Grand Final.

image hosted on flickr

[Zeno2]

an interesting Spanish stadium that has been transformed into a pure football stadium is La Coruna's Riazor. During the WCup 1982 it still had an athletics track. Parts of the old track are still visible in the current stadium.

[alikerem]

Istanbul Inonu stadium (Besiktas FC)

Before 2005:
athletic department before being removed






After 2005:
athletic department to be removed after the capacity has been increased
image hosted on flickr







1950 the maket of stadium:

[Jim856796]

Weren't there any plans to transform the Inonu Stadium into a pure football stadium in the future?

[alikerem]

this plans for new inonu stadium for only football:

[DennisRodman97]

american stadiums suck compare to the european ones

[en1044]

Originally Posted by DennisRodman97

american stadiums suck compare to the european ones

What are you talking about? The American stadiums in this thread have been college stadiums or the most part, so of course they arent great. But they arent really supposed to be.

[steveedster]

City Of Manchester Stadium...

Before...



After...