Memorial Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Memorial Stadium was a 10,022 seat stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington that served as the home site for the numerous teams that would become UT Arlington Mavericks as well as the Arlington Independent School District.
Features
The all-steel stadium opened in time for the 1951 season and cost $60,000 to construct. Original capacity was 5,500. The stadium was oriented north-south from end zone to end zone with a playing field, west-side stands and a press box. In 1962, Memorial Stadium was expanded, reaching its final capacity of 10,022 with the addition of east-side stands.
History
The Arlington State College Rebels would win the national junior college championship in 1956 and 1957. The school would rise to four-year status in 1959. UTA would play as an NCAA College Division Independent for a half decade before founding the Southland Conference and playing its first conference game as a University in 1964. The stadium would host the 1966 SLC co-champions and the 1967 outright champions, the first SLC team to post a perfect conference record. The 1967 team would finish the regular season ranked third in the UPI poll and beat North Dakota State, who was ranked second in that poll, 13-0 in the 1967 Pecan Bowl.