Glover Stadium/Dee Fee Field is a

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 ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

located in La Palma Park. It is a combined

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

primarily used for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in addition to

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. The seating capacity for baseball is 700 and 5,200 for football and soccer.

History

Stadium construction began on December 16, 1937 and was completed in March 1939. The original name of the stadium was the same as the park in which it is located, La Palma Park. Funding for the stadium was provided by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. The stadium was renovated in 1956 with the Anaheim City Council deciding it would be cheaper to add grandstands to La Palma Park rather than to build a new football stadium. Grandstands were constructed across the outfield from left field to right-center reducing the size of the baseball field. The football stadium was named La Palma Stadium. The football stadium was renamed Glover Stadium in 1971 after Richard Glover, an assistant and head football coach at Anaheim High School from 1931 until 1957. The baseball field was renamed Dee Fee Field in 1987 after Dee Fee, who worked for the Anaheim Parks Department from 1937 to 1987. In addition to baseball and football, the stadium has played host to soccer games, rodeos, circuses and area high school graduations.

Baseball history

The first event at the stadium was a baseball game on March 12, 1939. It was a

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

spring training game between the Seattle Rainiers and Sacramento Senators. The Sacramento team trained at the stadium and played ten spring training games in 1939. The stadium was the spring training home of the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in 1940. It was also the spring training home of the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

for the 1946 season. La Palma Park was the home of the Anaheim Aces, a charter member of baseball's Class C

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

in 1941. The stadium was also home of the Class C Anaheim Valencias of the

Sunset League The Sunset League was a minor league baseball circuit that operated from 1947 through 1950. The Sunset League was a Class C level league, with franchises based in the United States and Mexico. The league expanded from six to eight teams from ...

from 1947 to 1948. In addition to hosting minor league and major league games, the stadium hosts American Legion Baseball and California Interscholastic Federation high school baseball games.

Football history

The first football game at the stadium was a contest between

Anaheim High School Anaheim High School is a public, four-year high school in the city of Anaheim, California, United States and serves students living in the Colony District of Anaheim. Anaheim High School was first established in 1898, which makes it the oldest o ...

and Redlands High School on September 21, 1956. It has continued to be used as a venue for California Interscholastic Federation high school football since that time. The stadium has hosted community college and

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

college football games. In 1983, the Cal State Fullerton Titans football team played two of their three home football games at the stadium. The first game was on October 1, 1983 versus the

Pacific Tigers The Pacific Tigers represent the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division I, and are currently in their second stint as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). C ...

. The second contest was on November 12, 1983 against the UNLV Rebels football team. The games were played at the stadium due to rainy weather and field conditions at Cal State Fullerton's home football stadium, Anaheim Stadium.

Rugby union

In January 1976 the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

played

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the stadium with approximately 7,000 fans in attendance. Australia won the game 24–12. The match was the first game played by the USA team after the formation of USA Rugby.

Gallery

File:Glover Stadium (Anaheim, CA).jpg, Glover Stadium grandstand File:Glover Stadium (Anaheim).jpg, Glover Stadium scoreboard File:Dee Fee Field (Anaheim).jpg, Dee Fee Field (football stands constructed on baseball infield) File:Dee Fee Field (Anaheim, CA).jpg, Dee Fee Field scoreboard (football stands constructed on baseball infield)

References

{{Cal State Fullerton Titans football navbox American football venues in California Baseball venues in California Cal State Fullerton Titans football Defunct college football venues Defunct minor league baseball venues High school football venues in California Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Philadelphia Athletics spring training venues Rodeo venues in the United States St. Louis Browns spring training venues Soccer venues in California Sports venues in Anaheim, California Works Progress Administration in California