Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium
Skelly Stadium
View from southeast in 2009
Tulsa is located in the United States
Tulsa
Tulsa
Location in the United States
Tulsa is located in Oklahoma
Tulsa
Tulsa
Location in Oklahoma
Former namesSkelly Stadium (1947–2007)
Skelly Field (1930–1947)
Address3112 East 8th Street
LocationUniversity of Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Coordinates36°8′55″N 95°56′38″W / 36.14861°N 95.94389°W / 36.14861; -95.94389
OwnerUniversity of Tulsa
OperatorUniversity of Tulsa
Capacity30,000 (2008–present)
35,542 (2005–2007)
40,385 (1965–2004)
19,500 (1947–1964)
14,500 (1930–1946)
Record attendance47,350
(vs. #1 Oklahoma, 1987)
SurfaceFieldTurf (2000–present)
Stadia Turf (1991–1999)
Astroturf (1982–1990)
Tartan Turf (1972–1981)
Natural grass (1930–1971)
Construction
Broke groundMay 11, 1930 (1930-05-11)
OpenedOctober 4, 1930 (1930-10-04)
Construction cost$275,000 (all in tax money) (approximate, original)
($4.82 million in 2022[1])
ArchitectSmith & Senter[2]
Tenants
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (NCAA) (1930–present)
Tulsa Roughnecks (NASL) (1978–1984)
Oklahoma Outlaws (USFL) (1984)
Tulsa Tornados (USL) (1985)

Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the south central United States, located on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Commonly known as H. A. Chapman Stadium, it is the home field for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane of the American Athletic Conference.

The HA Chapman Stadium opened 94 years ago in 1930 and its current seating capacity is around 30,000 for football, following the renovation of 2008.[3][4] The FieldTurf playing field has a traditional north-south alignment at an approximate elevation of 770 feet (235 m) above sea level.

History

The 14,500-seat stadium opened in 1930 as Skelly Field, named for its primary benefactor, William Skelly, the founder of Skelly Oil. Tulsa defeated Arkansas 26–6 at the inaugural game on October 4.[5]

In 1947, the north stands were added and the stadium was renamed Skelly Stadium. In 1965, the track was removed, the field was lowered, the west stands were expanded and the south stands were added, bringing the capacity to 40,385 seats. In February 2005, the north stands were demolished to make way for the new Case Athletic Complex, reducing the seating to 35,542.[5] In 2007–2008, the stadium was renovated, reducing capacity to 30,000 [6]

Located on historic U.S. Route 66, the stadium hosted the Oklahoma Outlaws of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984. Skelly was once the principal home field for two American football legends – future NFL Hall-of-Famer (and later U.S. Congressman) Steve Largent when he played for the University of Tulsa and Doug Williams of the Oklahoma Outlaws, who later was a Super Bowl MVP for the Washington Redskins. The stadium was also home to the Tulsa Roughnecks of the North American Soccer League 1978–1984 and the short-lived Tulsa Mustangs of the AFA.

On April 26, 2007, it was reported that, with a renovation project underway, the stadium was renamed as Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium after the primary benefactor of the renovation.[7]

The stadium is also used for the Jenks–Union football rivalry games.

Attendance

The stadium's attendance record was established 37 years ago in 1987, when 47,350 watched top-ranked Oklahoma shut out Tulsa 65–0 on September 26.[5][8][9][10]

Top ten single-game attendances

Rank Attendance Date Opponent Result
1 47,350 September 26, 1987 No. 1 Oklahoma L, 65–0
2 41,235 September 13, 1986 Oklahoma State W, 27–23
3 40,785 September 9, 1989 Oklahoma State W, 20–10
4 40,385 September 18, 1993 Oklahoma State L, 16–10
September 20, 1997 Missouri L, 42–31
September 12, 1998 Oklahoma State W, 35–20
September 9, 2000 Oklahoma State L, 36–26
August 30, 2002 No. 1 Oklahoma L, 37–0
9 40,248 November 17, 1990 Montana State W, 20–2
10 40,235 September 29, 1984 No. 10 Oklahoma State L, 31–7

Largest season attendance average

The highest attendance average in a season was 31,236 in 1991 with 7 games.[9]

Rank Season Average Games
1 1991 31,236 7
2 1965 28,899 4
3 1982 28,355 5
4 1989 25,388 5
5 1993 25,077 5
6 1992 24,883 6
7 1996 24,814 5
8 1995 24,538 6
9 1987 24,074 4
10 1990 23,917 5

Wins

Tulsa's Victories at Skelly Field

Win Date Opponent Score Attendance
First win October 4, 1930 Arkansas 26–6 30,000
25th win October 27, 1934 Kansas State 21–0 12,000
50th win October 18, 1941 Saint Louis 33–7
75th win November 22, 1945 Arkansas 45–12
100th win November 10, 1951 Kansas State 42–26
125th win November 15, 1958 Texas Tech 9–7
150th win October 23, 1965 Cincinnati 49–8
175th win September 29, 1973 Cincinnati 16–13
200th win November 3, 1979 Wichita State 28–26
225th win October 20, 1984 Wichita State 55–20
250th win November 16, 1991 Louisville 40–0
275th win September 20, 2003 Arkansas State 54–7
290th win November 26, 2006 Tulane 38–3
300th win October 24, 2008 UCF 49–19

Renovation

The newly renovated H. A. Chapman Stadium.
Exterior of west grandstand in 2009

The stadium was renovated following the 2007 season. The project included new seating, a new pressbox, club and loge seating, and a new scoreboard. With the removal of the upper section of the west stands, seating capacity dropped to approximately 30,000, which made Chapman Stadium the smallest stadium in Conference USA.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Leon Bishop Senter, FAIA (1889–1965)". Tulsa Architecture. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ "SKELLY FIELD at H.A. CHAPMAN STADIUM".
  4. ↑ "Flip this house".
  5. 1 2 3 "Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium". Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  6. ↑ "TU Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium". Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  7. ↑ Eric Bailey (April 26, 2007). "TU's stadium changes titles, but Skelly name not forgotten". Tulsa World.
  8. ↑ "Oklahoma 65, Tulsa 0". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 27, 1987. p. 8B.
  9. 1 2 "Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium and Case Athletic Complex".
  10. ↑ "Do you remember the old Skelly Stadium?".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.