The University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field is an 18,500-capacity

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 either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

located in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, near the West Virginia State Capitol complex. It features a FieldTurf playing field for football and facilities for

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

competitions. The turf field is no longer suitable for soccer and lacrosse due to alterations to the track facilities. The University of Charleston Stadium is the home of the American football team of the

Charleston Golden Eagles The Charleston Golden Eagles, known previously as the Harvey Mudd Golden Eagles, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Charleston, located in Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West V ...

. It was finished in 1979, as a complete rebuild of a previous facility. It is owned by Kanawha County Schools. In 2003, because the school board lacked funds to maintain the stadium, it entered into a joint venture with the private University of Charleston. UC invested over $1.5 million to replace the turf, add locker rooms and a skybox, and make other improvements in exchange for access and naming rights. Originally the home field of Capital High School football after the consolidation Stonewall High School and Charleston High School. Multiple

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

and community teams also play at the location. It hosts the state high school track and field championships. The field has also played host to multiple high school playoff games as well as being host to the State Championships before their move to Wheeling in the 90's. It also hosts the Gazette-Mail Kanawha County Majorette and Band Festival, an annual marching band festival held at the end of September. Record attendance for this stadium was set at a local high school contest, Charleston High School vs. Stonewall Jackson High School in the latter part of the 1980s, later to be locally called "The Game" of the century. Record attendance was set at over 21,000. Later, when Capital High and Riverside High met when both were undefeated and ranked 1 and 2 in the state, there again were over 20,000 in attendance.

References

{{Coord, 38.344048, -81.615158, type:landmark, display=title American football venues in West Virginia Soccer venues in West Virginia Sports venues in West Virginia College football venues Buildings and structures in Charleston, West Virginia Tourist attractions in Kanawha County, West Virginia Sports venues completed in 1979 1979 establishments in West Virginia