Folsom Field
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Folsom Field is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. It is the home field of the Colorado Buffaloes of the Big 12 Conference. The horseshoe-shaped stadium runs in the traditional north-south configuration, opening to the north. The CU athletic administration center, named after 1950s head coach Dal Ward, is located at the north end. [1]
The playing field returned to natural grass in 1999, and sits at an elevation of 5360 feet (1633 m) above sea level [2]. Folsom Field is the third highest stadium in major college football, behind only Wyoming and Air Force of the Mountain West Conference.
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[edit] History
Folsom Field opened in 1924, and has been the home of the CU football team ever since. Through the 2004 football season, the Buffs have a home record of 281-132-10, a winning percentage of .680. Prior to the opening of Folsom Field, CU played its games at Gamble Field for two decades, where the seating capacity of 9,000 was limited to temporary bleachers.
Originally known as Colorado Stadium for its first twenty years, it was renamed in 1944, following the death of legendary CU coach Fred Folsom. He coached the Buffs from 1895-1902 and 1908-15, compiling a 78-24-2 (.760) overall record.[3]
[edit] Renovations
When opened in 1924, the horseshoe-shaped stadium had a capacity of 26,000. A second deck was added in 1956 which upped the capacity to 45,000, and 6,000 more seats were added in 1967 with the removal of the running track. In 1968 a huge, six-level press box was added to the top of the west side grandstand, directly in front of Balch Fieldhouse, the former home of the basketball team. Renovations continued in 1976 when the old, rickety wooden bleachers were replaced with aluminum ones, raising the capacity to 52,005. In 2003, suites and club seating was added to the east side of the stadium, raising the capacity to 53,750. [4]
[edit] Playing surface
From 1924-70, the playing surface at Folsom Field was natural grass. In 1971, AstroTurf was installed and the first game played on the new surface was on against Wyoming on September 18th. (The Buffs finished third in the national AP poll in 1971, behind Nebraska and Oklahoma, for a national sweep for the Big Eight conference.[5]) The synthetic turf was replaced in 1978 and again in 1989, with "Astroturf-8.". [6]
After 28 years of AstroTurf, Folsom Field returned to natural grass in the spring of 1999. The project, which included bio-thermal heating, drainage, and a sub-air system, cost $1.2 million.
[edit] Other Uses
Folsom has played host to many top national recording acts, including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney, Eagles, Van Halen, REO Speedwagon, The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers, Journey, Jethro Tull, John Mellencamp and the Dave Matthews Band.
The south end zone was featured in the opening sequence of the late 1970s television show Mork and Mindy. It is also used as the finish line for the Bolder Boulder 10 kilometer road race.
[edit] Attendance Records
CU’s all-time record at Folsom Field, through 2006, is 282-136-10 (.671). The largest crowd for a football game was 54,972, when the Buffs played Colorado State on September 3, 2005. Since 1998, the early season non-conference rivalry game with CSU is usually played in neutral Denver.[1][7]
The top crowd ever at Folsom Field was for a rock concert on May 1, 1977, for one of the popular Colorado Sun Day concert series. The attendance was an estimated 61,500 (exceeding the largest football crowd by about 9,000) for a show featuring Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, Santana and Country Joe McDonald.
| Season | Games | Sold Out | W-L-T | Attendance | Average |
| 1937 | 6 | 6-0-0 | 46,826 | 7,804 | |
| 1942 | 4 | 4-0-0 | 15,796 | 3,949 | |
| 1946 | 5 | 4-0-1 | 53,000 | 10,600 | |
| 1947 | 4 | 2-2-0 | 54,000 | 13,500 | |
| 1948 | 5 | 3-2-0 | 79,479 | 15,896 | |
| 1949 | 5 | 2-3-0 | 98,776 | 19,755 | |
| 1950 | 5 | 4-1-0 | 97,748 | 19,550 | |
| 1951 | 5 | 5-0-0 | 107,121 | 21,424 | |
| 1952 | 5 | 2 | 3-0-2 | 123,481 | 24,696 |
| 1953 | 5 | 3-2-0 | 113,640 | 22,728 | |
| 1954 | 5 | 2 | 3-2-0 | 129,700 | 25,940 |
| 1955 | 5 | 1 | 4-1-0 | 113,500 | 22,700 |
| 1956 | 5 | 2 | 3-2-0 | 175,000 | 35,000 |
| 1957 | 5 | 3-2-0 | 152,500 | 30,500 | |
| 1958 | 5 | 1 | 2-3-0 | 187,500 | 37,500 |
| 1959 | 6 | 3-3-0 | 177,903 | 29,651 | |
| 1960 | 5 | 1 | 4-1-0 | 185,653 | 37,131 |
| 1961 | 6 | 1 | 5-1-0 | 199,987 | 33,331 |
| 1962 | 4 | 2-2-0 | 116,000 | 29,000 | |
| 1963 | 5 | 1-4-0 | 135,000 | 27,000 | |
| 1964 | 5 | 1-4-0 | 140,600 | 28,120 | |
| 1965 | 5 | 3-1-1 | 129,700 | 25,940 | |
| 1966 | 5 | 1 | 3-2-0 | 196,188 | 39,238 |
| 1967 | 5 | 4-1-0 | 196,817 | 39,363 | |
| 1968 | 5 | 1 | 3-2-0 | 215,574 | 43,115 |
| 1969 | 5 | 5-0-0 | 175,104 | 35,021 | |
| 1970 | 5 | 1 | 3-2-0 | 219,521 | 43,904 |
| 1971 | 5 | 5-0-0 | 220,171 | 44,034 | |
| 1972 | 6 | 3 | 5-1-0 | 307,044 | 51,174 |
| 1973 | 5 | 3-2-0 | 246,521 | 49,304 | |
| 1974 | 5 | 2 | 3-2-0 | 253,762 | 50,752 |
| 1975 | 6 | 6-0-0 | 281,199 | 46,867 | |
| 1976 | 6 | 2 | 5-1-0 | 300,191 | 50,032 |
| 1977 | 6 | 2 | 5-1-0 | 293,483 | 48,914 |
| 1978 | 8 | 2 | 5-3-0 | 383,048 | 47,881 |
| 1979 | 6 | 1-5-0 | 265,956 | 44,326 | |
| 1980 | 6 | 1 | 1-5-0 | 245,868 | 40,978 |
| 1981 | 6 | 3-3-0 | 209,224 | 34,871 | |
| 1982 | 7 | 1 | 1-6-0 | 251,909 | 41,985 |
| 1983 | 6 | 1 | 3-3-0 | 237,674 | 39,612 |
| 1984 | 6 | 1 | 1-5-0 | 235,670 | 39,278 |
| 1985 | 6 | 4-2-0 | 220,734 | 36,789 | |
| 1986 | 6 | 2 | 3-3-0 | 269,546 | 44,924 |
| 1987 | 6 | 1 | 4-2-0 | 268,711 | 44,785 |
| 1988 | 6 | 4-2-0 | 235,142 | 39,190 | |
| 1989 | 6 | 2 | 6-0-0 | 293,726 | 48,954 |
| 1990 | 6 | 4 | 6-0-0 | 310,374 | 51,729 |
| 1991 | 6 | 4 | 4-1-1 | 311,458 | 51,910 |
| 1992 | 6 | 4 | 5-0-1 | 309,900 | 51,650 |
| 1993 | 6 | 5 | 4-2-0 | 311,360 | 51,893 |
| 1994 | 6 | 3 | 6-0-0 | 304,897 | 50,816 |
| 1995 | 6 | 4 | 4-2-0 | 312,958 | 52,160 |
| 1996 | 6 | 4 | 5-1-0 | 312,586 | 52,098 |
| 1997 | 6 | 2 | 3-3-0 | 309,947 | 51,658 |
| 1998 | 6 | 5-1-0 | 284,512 | 47,419 | |
| 1999 | 5 | 1 | 4-1-0 | 239,313 | 47,863 |
| 2000 | 5 | 1-4 | 249,950 | 49,990 | |
| 2001 | 6 | 1 | 5-1 | 284,848 | 47,475 |
| 2002 | 6 | 2 | 5-1 | 295,286 | 49,214 |
| 2003 | 6 | 2 | 3-3 | 302,588 | 50,431 |
| 2004 | 6 | 1 | 4-2 | 287,368 | 47,895 |
| 2005 | 6 | 2 | 5-1 | 302,452 | 50,409 |
| 2006 | 6 | 2-4 | 276,286 | 46,048 |
[edit] External link
- Virtual Folsom Field with images from all sections and 360 degree view at selected locations.
- CU Buffs.com - Folsom Field - history
- Terraserver.microsoft.com - color aerial view (& topo map) of CU campus
