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.

For the former stadium in Philadelphia, see Veterans Stadium.
Veterans Stadium
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 8,448. 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

Soccer

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 are now 3-1-0 at Veterans Stadium after their 2-1 Open Cup loss to Harrisburg City Islanders on June 30, 2009 .

Notable matches
Date Teams Match Type Attendance Notes
August 12, 1973United States  1-0  PolandInternational Friendly10,000[5]
July 13, 1988United States  0-2  PolandInternational Friendly10,213[6]
June 17, 1989United States  2-1  GuatemalaInternational Friendly10,516[7]
August 30, 1991United States  0-1  NorwayInternational Friendly
August 16, 1992United States  2-4  NorwayInternational Friendly
July 30, 1995United States  9-0  Chinese TaipeiUS Cup
May 26, 1996United States  2-1  ScotlandInternational Friendly8,526[8]
May 31, 1997United States  4-0  CanadaUSA Cup
June 26, 2001Connecticut Wolves 3–2 Tampa Bay Mutiny2001 U.S. Open Cup Second Round4,362[9]
September 4, 2007New England Revolution 1–0 Carolina Railhawks2007 U.S. Open Cup Semifinal4,203[10]
July 1, 2008New England Revolution 3–0 Richmond Kickers2008 U.S. Open Cup Third Round3,950[11]
June 30, 2009New England Revolution 1–2 Harrisburg City Islanders2009 U.S. Open Cup Third Round3,100[12]
May 29, 2010Turkey  2-0  Northern IrelandInternational Friendly4,000[13]

References
  1. :: City of New Britain ::
  2. :: Carolina RailHawks FC ::
  3. :: New England Revolution ::
  4. :: Crystal Palace F.C. USA ::
  5. "11v11.com USA v Poland 1973".
  6. "11v11.com USA v Poland 1988".
  7. "11v11.com USA v Guatemala 1989".
  8. "11v11.com USA v Scotland 1996".
  9. "2001 U.S. Open Cup Second Round".
  10. "2007 U.S. Open Cup Semifinal".
  11. "2008 U.S. Open Cup Third Round".
  12. "2009 U.S. Open Cup Third Round".
  13. "11v11.com Turkey v N. Ireland 2010".

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