Stevens Stadium is a 7,000-seat

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

on the west coast of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located on the campus of

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

in Santa Clara,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The stadium is the current home of the Santa Clara Broncos soccer teams and was the former home of the now-defunct

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

as well as the baseball team. The baseball team moved to their new home at Stephen Schott Stadium in 2005. The former home of the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the stadium's capacity was increased in the winter of 2007 from a capacity of 6,800 to 10,300. It was named "Buck Shaw Stadium" up until a renovation was done in 2015.

History

Multi sport

Buck Shaw Stadium opened its gates for the first time on September 22, 1962 when it hosted a football game between

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

and Santa Clara. Named for Lawrence T. "Buck" Shaw, a former football coach of the SCU Broncos, the playing surface still retains his name to the present day, being named "Buck Shaw Field". The stadium was used for football games until 1992 and baseball games until 2005. In summer of 1981 the stadium was the main venue for the

1981 World Games The 1981 World Games were the first World Games, an international multi-sport event, and were held in Santa Clara, California, United States. The games featured sports that were not included in the Olympics, including tug-of-war, racquetba ...

, an international multi-sport event. During the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, the stadium was the official practice field of the Brazil soccer team. The Brazilians won the World Cup that year. It also played host to the Romanian national team for their practice prior to that year's quarterfinal match. Stevens Stadium set a record for highest attendance at a women's outdoor collegiate sporting event in 1996. The 1996 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament semifinals and finals were played at Buck Shaw, which had its capacity temporarily expanded to 8,800 seats and sold out both days of the tournament. The championship game attendance record was broken the following year in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

at UNCG Soccer Stadium in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

Soccer-only

In 2005, the venue was converted from a multipurpose facility to a soccer-only facility when the dugouts, baseball infield, and baseball backstop were permanently removed. The name was changed to "Stevens Stadium" following a renovation project in 2015; the project was funded by a $7.7 million donation from alumna Mary Stevens and her husband Mark. The stadium is the current location of the commencement ceremonies for the university. The site was first used for the undergraduate commencement on Saturday, June 9, 2001. left, The stadium during a San Jose Earthquakes match in 2010. The franchise used Stevens Stadium as home venue until 2014, when they moved to Avaya Stadium On October 26, 2007, the

announced that they would play a majority of their home games during the 2008 season at the stadium. Upgrades such as additional seating and bathrooms were added to the stadium in order for it to comply with MLS standards and funded by the Earthquakes organization over the last part 2008. The capacity was increased from 6,800 seats to 10,300 seats. In addition, the field was moved closer to the existing grandstand, with a small section removed from section 107 to accommodate the shift. The Santa Clara practice field between the Leavey Center and Stevens was replaced with an "Italgrass"

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

surface. Drainage improvements were also made to the stadium's field in concert with the field crown being removed to produce a flat pitch. A new video scoreboard was added along with additional concession and merchandising stands. General facilities were also modernized or improved including the addition of new lighting, a TV press box, new sound system, and an additional grandstand on the stadium's west side. The new grandstand included all of the seating additions made to the stadium. About half of the new grandstand included tip up seating. Overall, the enhancements cost around $4 million. After the Earthquakes departed for their new

Avaya Stadium PayPal Park (formerly Earthquakes Stadium and Avaya Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, California. It is the home stadium of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Bay FC of the National Women's Soccer Leagu ...

, the university undertook an improvement project that removed the original east side press box from the stadium as well as the Earthquakes temporary bleachers on the west side of the stadium. In their place a new smaller permanent west side grandstand, press box and entry plaza were installed. Capacity of the stadium was reduced back to 7,000 permanent seats as a result. In 2009, the stadium also hosted FC Gold Pride, one of the seven charter teams of

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

. However, Gold Pride moved to Castro Valley High School, and then

Pioneer Stadium Pioneer Stadium is a stadium owned and operated by California State University, East Bay in Hayward, California, United States. It currently hosts the East Bay Pioneers soccer and track and field teams. The stadium also hosts the East Bay FC S ...

in Hayward, for the 2010 season. In 2021, the stadium hosted the College Cup final that determinated the winner the 2021 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament. In that match,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

defeated BYU by

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

to win their third NCAA national title. scored the goal for the 4–3 win on penalties that gave Florida State its third national title.Sweet revenge! Florida State soccer wins third national title over BYU in penalty kicks
by Curt Weiler on the ''Tallahassee Democrat'', 6 Dec 2021 800px, center, Buck Shaw Stadium before an Earthquakes game in September 2008

Other sports events

Rugby

The stadium has also hosted several international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

matches. In 2006, Buck Shaw hosted three pool matches in the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

competition, becoming the first U.S. venue to host matches in that tournament (all matches in the 2003–2005 editions had been in Canada). In May 2009 the stadium again hosted an international rugby match, with 10,000 fans turning out to watch the game between the

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

.ESPN Scrum, United States v. Ireland, May 31, 2009, http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/match/91196.html

International matches

References

External links

* {{Former MLS stadiums Sports venues in Santa Clara County, California Defunct college football venues Santa Clara Broncos baseball Santa Clara Broncos football Santa Clara Broncos soccer Santa Clara University buildings and structures Rugby union stadiums in California College football venues in California Baseball venues in California Soccer venues in California Sports in Santa Clara, California FC Gold Pride San Jose Earthquakes Women's Professional Soccer stadiums Former Major League Soccer stadiums Sports venues in the San Francisco Bay Area Buildings and structures in Santa Clara, California 1962 establishments in California Sports venues completed in 1962