E. Claiborne Robins Stadium is an 8,217-seat

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. It is home to the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, and women's track and field teams. The men's soccer team played there until 2012, when the university discontinued the program.

History

Known for many years as the Soccer/Track Complex, the original 2,000-seat facility was renamed First Market Stadium in 2001 following a sponsorship from First Market Bank (now Atlantic Union Bank). In 2002, the stadium's track was completely rebuilt. In 2003, it was named the Fred Hardy Track in honor of the longtime Spiders coach. The playing surface was changed from natural grass to

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

, an

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 ...

, in 2004. Due to the age and off-campus location of City Stadium, where the

Richmond Spiders football The Richmond Spiders are a college football team representing the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond was the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision champion for the 2008 season. Richmond competes in CAA Football, a ...

team played its home games, demand grew for an on-campus football facility. The university and donors committed more than $25 million to a renovation of First Market Stadium, including a $5 million grant from the Robins Foundation in early 2008. Renovations on the stadium began on December 20, 2008, coincidentally the day after the Spiders football team won the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was ca ...

– the school's first national title in any sport. On September 16, 2009, the stadium was renamed E. Claiborne Robins Stadium to honor the legacy of E. Claiborne Robins Sr and his historic philanthropy to the school. The football team began play at Robins Stadium in the 2010 season, they won their first game 27-21 in overtime over

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, the university is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or ...

Attendance records

Aerial view of Richmond Spiders football stadium - E

References

{{Richmond Sports College football venues in Virginia College lacrosse venues in the United States College soccer venues in the United States Richmond Spiders football Richmond Spiders soccer American football venues in Virginia Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Soccer venues in Virginia Sports venues completed in 2010 2010 establishments in Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia

History

Attendance records

See also

References