Bob Ford Field
Bob Ford Field is a football stadium in Albany, New York that is owned and operated by the University at Albany, SUNY and hosts the school's football team, as well as their soccer program. The stadium, with an initial seating capacity of 8,500, opened on September 14, 2013, when Albany made its debut in Colonial Athletic Association football against Rhode Island.[2] It replaced University Field as the school's current stadium and is named after Bob Ford, who was head coach at Albany from 1970 until retiring at the end of the 2013 season.
Bob Ford Field | |
Full name | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium |
---|---|
Location | Albany, New York |
Owner | University at Albany, SUNY |
Operator | University at Albany, SUNY |
Capacity | 8,500 (expandable to 24,000) |
Surface | FieldTurf |
Construction | |
Broke ground | April 17, 2012[1] |
Opened | September 14, 2013[2] |
Construction cost | $24 million |
Architect | Heery International Inc.[1] |
Services engineer | Clough, Harbour & Associates[1] |
General contractor | Whiting-Turner Contracting Company[1] |
Tenants | |
Albany Great Danes football team Albany Great Danes men's soccer team |
Features
- 8,500-seats, including 629 chair-backs, bleachers, and a natural grass berm.
- Daktronics scoreboard with a 39’ by 22’ HD video display and point-source sound system behind the south end zone.
- Press level with four luxury suites, print media area, and booths for radio, television, coaches, and replay.
Attendance records
Attendance numbers were retrieved from UAlbany Athletics Official Box Scores
Rank | Attendance | Date | Game Result |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 9,052 | October 8, 2016 | No 16 Albany 30, No 6 Richmond 36 (3OT) |
2 | 8,500 | October 10, 2015 | Albany 7, Maine 39 |
3 | 8,500 | October 11, 2014 | Albany 28, No 20 Richmond 41 |
4 | 8,500 | October 19, 2013 | Albany 17, No 7 Towson 44 |
5 | 8,500 | September 14, 2013 | Albany 13, Rhode Island 19 (OT) |
6 | 8,040 | September 17, 2016 | No 25 Albany 45, Holy Cross 28 |
7 | 6,748 | August 30, 2014 | Albany 14, Holy Cross 13 |
8 | 6,412 | September 21, 2013 | Albany 17, Central Connecticut State 20 |
9 | 6,309 | September 24, 2016 | No 22 Albany 20, St Francis (PA) 9 |
10 | 6,227 | September 26, 2015 | Albany 17, Duquesne 14 |
Due to growing popularity and national recognition of lacrosse, the first-ever Albany Great Danes men's lacrosse game was held at Bob Ford Field on April 18, 2015. It was the first time since March 10, 2007 that a top-10 matchup was held in the Capital District, with #4 UAlbany defeating #10 Delaware 13–7. Since then, multiple top-25 in the nation games have been held there. The official seating capacity for lacrosse at Casey Stadium is 6,394.[3]
Most home lacrosse games are played next door at John Fallon Field (Max-Capacity 2,500)
Rank | Attendance | Date | Game Result | Name of Event |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6,472[4] | May 13, 2017 | 8 Seed Albany 15, UNC 12 | 1st Round - NCAA Tournament |
2 | 4,823 | April 18, 2015 | No 8 Albany 12, No 7 Yale 11 | Spring Stomp |
3 | 3,205 | April 22, 2017 | No 5 Albany 13, No 12 Yale 12 | Spring Stomp |
4 | 3,093 | April 12, 2017 | No 6 Albany 11, No 3 Maryland 12 | |
5 | 2,514 | April 25, 2015 | No 7 Albany 20, UMBC 9 | America East Regular Season Finale |
6 | 2,146 | May 2, 2015 | No 7 Albany 22, No 17 Stony Brook 9 | America East Championship |
7 | 2,137 | April 16, 2016 | No 6 Albany 12, Binghamton 8 | Spring Stomp |
8 | 2,108 | April 29, 2017 | No 7 Albany 16, Hartford 10 | America East Regular Season Finale |
References
- "University Breaks Ground for New Multi-Sports Complex, Launches $1 Million Challenge for Bob Ford Field". State University of New York at Albany. April 17, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- "UAlbany Football Announces Complete 2013 Schedule" (Press release). University at Albany Athletics. March 14, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
- https://dailygazette.com/article/2017/05/10/possible-ncaa-record-attendance-for-ua-game
- https://www.ncaa.com/news/lacrosse-men/article/2017-05-14/college-lacrosse-albany-knocks-defending-champs-unc-ncaa