SAN FRANCISCO - Kezar Stadium (59,942 | 1925 - 1989)

23273 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by sdbob, Mar 27, 2021

will101

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2014

3

Kezar Stadium cost $300,000 to build, equivalent to a bit over $4 million today, according to Wikipedia. It was opened at the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park on May 2, 1925. They held a big party, with the highlight a two mile race between legendary Finnish runners Paavo Nurmi and Ville Ritola. The stadium was primarily used as the home field for the football teams of St. Mary's College, the University of San Francisco and San Francisco Polytechnic High School. Along the way it hosted soccer, cricket, baseball, horse racing, auto racing, morotcycle racing, rugby, lacrosse, boxing and concerts.

The stadium is notable as the original home for both the Niners (1946) and Raiders (1960). The Raiders were kicked out after four games, but the Niners played here for 25 years, until 1970. With the three original schools having given up football earlier, the Niners had been the last major tenant. The stadium was demolished over the summer of 1989, ironically a few months before the Loma Prieta earthquake would have probably done the job.

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will101

Discussion Starter · #2 · Apr 8, 2014

2

This is a field level shot of a game between the Niners and Colts in the late 50s. That's Y.A. Tittle under center. In the background you can see the infamous bent press box, the "spite fence", and some members of the San Francisco Athletic Club watching the game for free regardless.

This is a shot of the east scoreboard. The entire stadium (except for the press box) had narrow wooden bench seats, requiring fans to watch their elbows, and making the capacity something of a concept.

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Cal_Escapee

· #3 · Apr 8, 2014

Kezar maybe doesn't belong in a forum for "demolished" stadia since a bit of it still remains in use. It looks like this today:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kezar_Stadium

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will101

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 8, 2014

Nope, there's nothing left of the original structure. Even the arch in the distance is just a replica of the original. They actually rotated the axis of the stadium a few degrees counterclockwise when they built the new structure, so it wouldn't run so close to Frederick Street.

WesTexas

· #5 · Apr 9, 2014

wow, its a shame this was demolished. I would have liked to see a modernized update of this stadium, simular to Lambough.

mamangvilla

· #6 · Apr 10, 2014

^^^^
Lookin at the location, it would have been impossible to have it grow like Lambough.

will101

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 10, 2014

WesTexas said:
wow, its a shame this was demolished. I would have liked to see a modernized update of this stadium, simular to Lambough.

Several problems with that. The place literally had/has zero parking (the one game that I saw there, we parked over a mile away). That wall next to the press box had a major street right behind it, because they totally screwed up the surveying during construction. There was a track between the field and the stands. And the land there is basically just sand dunes, so it would have cost a fortune to make it earthquake resistant.

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adeaide

· #8 · Apr 12, 2014

2

today

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duma187

· #9 · Jul 21, 2016

http://www.sfdeltas.com/

OUR STADIUM: KEZAR

IN GOLDEN GATE PARK

Our home stadium is the history-rich Kezar Stadium at the entrance of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It was the original home of the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders when they were in their startup stages. There is a lot of soccer history at Kezar as well. The one and only Pelé even played at Kezar. Our only use of Kezar will be for our home games, so it will continue to be a historical treasure shared with all residents of San Francisco. Our priority is to be respectful of its history. All improvements we make will honor Kezar’s storied past and be mindful of those who currently enjoy the stadium. Kezar’s approximately 10,000-person capacity won’t be enough for all Deltas fans, but it will serve as a great initial home until we build our permanent stadium. Be memorialized at our permanent home stadium by reserving your tickets.

mensolú

· #10 · Jul 22, 2016

Several crucial scenes from "Dirty Harry" (1971), the classic Clint Eastwood movie, were filmed at Kezar Stadium.

will101

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jul 29, 2016

duma187 said:
http://www.sfdeltas.com/

OUR STADIUM: KEZAR

IN GOLDEN GATE PARK

Our home stadium is the history-rich Kezar Stadium at the entrance of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It was the original home of the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders when they were in their startup stages. There is a lot of soccer history at Kezar as well. The one and only Pelé even played at Kezar. Our only use of Kezar will be for our home games, so it will continue to be a historical treasure shared with all residents of San Francisco. Our priority is to be respectful of its history. All improvements we make will honor Kezar’s storied past and be mindful of those who currently enjoy the stadium. Kezar’s approximately 10,000-person capacity won’t be enough for all Deltas fans, but it will serve as a great initial home until we build our permanent stadium. Be memorialized at our permanent home stadium by reserving your tickets.

So where is the permanent home going to be? I'm assuming that it won't be in SF.

will101

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 10, 2016

The Niners held a free-to-the-public practice at Kezar today, attended by about 5,000 souls, two of whom required treatment for overheating. Pic tweeted by Kate Scott of KNBR.

I hope that this isn't an omen. The last time they did this was in 2004, when Dennis Erickson trotted out "the best team I've ever coached". Erickson showed off his genius when that team finished two overtime victories short of an 0-20 season.

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bd popeye

· #13 · Sep 22, 2018

3

The date of the photo is uncertain, but it’s obviously from the era when pro and college football were both using the old-style “H”-shaped goalposts. It’s also not clear whether the game in progress is a pro or college game, although the wider-set hashmarks would seem to indicate the latter.

aerial view 1955 UCSF

Date unknown

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bd popeye

· #14 · Sep 22, 2018

Somewhat Corny

but enjoyable!

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buckeyejim

· #15 · Sep 27, 2018

bd popeye said:
The date of the photo is uncertain, but it’s obviously from the era when pro and college football were both using the old-style “H”-shaped goalposts. It’s also not clear whether the game in progress is a pro or college game, although the wider-set hashmarks would seem to indicate the latter.

The fact that the NFL "H" shaped goalposts are actually in place suggests that it has to be an NFL game. Back then the NFL hash marks were wide as well. If it were a college football game the goalposts on the goal line would have been taken down so as not to be "in the way" on a collegiate field.

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will101

Discussion Starter · #16 · Oct 13, 2018

Aha! I knew that I'd seen that pic before. I read this book in my much younger days. The local library had a copy. Anyway, the book is obviously about the Niners and came out in 1960, so the pic is of an earlier Niner game. Unfortunately I cannot peg the actual game.

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will101

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jan 4, 2019

48 years ago today, the final NFL game played here was the 1970 NFC Championship, won by the Cowboys 17-10 in front of 59,364. From the length of the shadows, I'm guessing this was somewhat late in the game. Tweeted by Kevin Gallagher, who gives a photo credit to Neil Leifer.

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sdbob

· #18 · Mar 27, 2021

will101 said:
48 years ago today, the final NFL game played here was the 1970 NFC Championship, won by the Cowboys 17-10 in front of 59,364. From the length of the shadows, I'm guessing this was somewhat late in the game. Tweeted by Kevin Gallagher, who gives a photo credit to Neil Leifer.

The first NFC Championship game

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