Estadio Sixto Escobar is a

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 ...

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The stadium was named after boxer Sixto Escobar, the first champion of Puerto Rico, in 1938. Originally built as a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

venue, the stadium then became a frequent venue for

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 ...

matches. In 1979, it was one of the three stadiums that served for the VIII Pan American Games held in

. Nowadays, Sixto Escobar Stadium is the current home venue for C.A. San Juan.

History

The stadium was inaugurated on November 12, 1932. Originally it was a

venue, and was built in an area then administrated by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. By the 1940s, a sector of the stadium, behind the baseball pitch, began to be used by some football enthusiasts. They played in a 100-metre length field known as ''canódromo'' (a track used for

sighthound Sighthounds (also called gazehounds) are a Dog type, type of hound dog that hunts primarily by sight and speed, unlike scent hound, scent hounds, which rely on scent and endurance. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it ...

races). Some of the most notable Puerto Rican footballers of those times, started playing there. Sixto Escobar and Whitey Brimstein c1930cr

In baseball, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

conducted spring training at the stadium in 1935 and 1936. In April 1938, the

Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico () is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, responsible for the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of an uppe ...

voted to name the stadium and surrounding park in honor of Sixto Escobar, a Puerto Rican professional boxer who became Puerto Rico's first world champion. A statue of Escobar stands on the grounds. The

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

were transferred to San Juan for the 1961 season and opened the season at Sixto Escobar Stadium. Attendance was poor and the team was moved to Charleston, WV on May 19, 1961. The Cangrejeros de Santurce of the professional

Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente The Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Spanish: Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, abbreviation LBPRC) is the main professional baseball league in Puerto Rico; it is colloquially referred to as the Puerto Rican Winter le ...

moved out to the newly constructed Hiram Bithorn Stadium in 1962. By the 1970s the Sixto Escobar Stadium consolidated its predominance as a Puerto Rican football venue. In 1976 it was refurbished to host the

1976 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament The 1976 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was held in Puerto Rico. It also served as qualification for the 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship. Teams The following teams entered the tournament: Round 1 Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 ...

, that also served as qualification for the 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

played the final at Sixto Escobar stadium on October 6.El Estadio Sixto Escobar: el primer estadio nacional de fútbol
by Edwin Jusino -Mar 19, 2021 on Fútbol Boricua Likewise, many events of the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

were held at the stadium. On July 4,

beat

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

1–0 in front of a full attendance. In 1981, the stadium hosted the "Torneo 5 Estrellas", an international football tournament where

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, Millonarios, Pumas UNAM, a regional side of United States and local club Internacional de Puerto Rico participated. From the 1970s to early 2000s the stadium was a frequent venue of Puerto Rico national football team matches. In 2000 the Sixto Escobar Stadium hosted all six matches of the inaugural Torneo de Copa de Puerto Rico. The Copa featured a mix of club and national teams and was hosted by the

Puerto Rican Football Federation The Puerto Rican Football Federation () is the governing body of association football in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1940 and became affiliated to FIFA in 1960, one of the last to do so in the Western Hemisphere. It governs over all football o ...

and the Puerto Rico national team. The international competition was played over the course of a week's time, consisting of three nights of double-headers. The

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United ...

side,

Tampa Bay Mutiny The Tampa Bay Mutiny were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The Mutiny were a charter member of MLS, playing from 1996 to 2001. Th ...

were the winners. In 2011 the stadium was repaired and improved to accommodate the new tenant football team River Plate Puerto Rico, but the club never played there.

References

{{Pan American Games venues football Club Atlético River Plate Puerto Rico Sports venues in San Juan, Puerto Rico Cincinnati Reds spring training venues Football venues in Puerto Rico Athletics (track and field) venues in Puerto Rico Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Sports venues completed in 1935 1935 establishments in Puerto Rico Historic district contributing properties in Puerto Rico

History

See also

References