Coffey Field
Jack Coffey Field is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in The Bronx, New York. It is home to the Fordham Rams football, Fordham Rams men's soccer, Fordham Rams women's soccer and Fordham Rams baseball teams. The facility opened for baseball in 1930. It was named after former Fordham baseball coach and longtime athletic director, Jack Coffey, in 1954, four years before his 1958 retirement.[1]
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| Location | 441 East Fordham Road Bronx, NY 10458 |
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| Owner | Fordham University |
| Operator | Fordham University |
| Capacity | 7,000 |
| Surface | Fieldturf |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1930 |
| Renovated | 1990, 2004, 2014 |
| Architect | Jack L. Gordon Architects |
| Tenants | |
| Fordham Rams baseball (1930–present) Fordham Rams football (1970–present) Fordham Rams men's soccer (2005–present) Fordham Rams women's soccer (2005–present) | |
Starting in 1964, students began using the left field and center field area for their club football team. The team was sponsored by the students themselves and it was these same students who rented temporary wooden stands, to be set around the gridiron, for the 1964 and 1965 seasons. The university stepped in to build permanent wooden stands behind the left field home run wall which served as a grandstand for football. A press box and scoreboard were added in 1967 and the university reinstated varsity football for the 1970 season. In 1990, and with Fordham football moving up to the I-AA ranks (now known as FCS), those wooden stands were torn down and replaced with aluminum bleachers . Bathrooms and concessions were added beneath the new set of bleachers while an elevator was added to the new press box. Also beneath the bleachers, a 3,200 square foot weight room which was added in 1996.
FieldTurf replaced the grass field in 2005 while, behind home plate, other renovations during 2004 and 2005 included lights, new dugouts, as well as a new grandstand and press box for the baseball section of the facility. This section now goes by Houlihan Park, as the recognized home of the Fordham Rams baseball team.[2]
In 2014 Jack Coffey Field underwent further renovations including the addition of a full-color DakTronics video scoreboard beyond the Southern Boulevard endzone as well as chair back seating between the 40 yard lines. FieldTurf surface was also replaced with FieldTurfTM.
Aside from college baseball, football and soccer, professional soccer also came to Jack Coffey Field in 2016 as it hosted the Fourth Round U.S. Open Cup match between the New York Cosmos and NYCFC.[3]
Popular culture
Coffey Field was featured in the film Second Act where Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) trained his baseball team.
References
- http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ab1d19fc
- Fordham facilities Archived 2009-10-09 at WebCite at fordhamsports.com, URL accessed October 21, 2009. 10/09/09
- http://www.nydailynews.com/cosmos-beat-nycfc-kings-new-york-soccer-article-1.2675693