Trinity Health Stadium (formerly Dillon Stadium) is a multipurpose facility in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

. It has been host to concerts and sporting events. It was formerly the home of the

New England Nightmare The New England Nightmare is a now-defunct women's tackle football team. They began play in 2010, as a member of the Women's Football Alliance. Based in Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, a ...

of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). It is now the home of

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

club

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut. History On June 8, 2021, Ha ...

. The

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's f ...

men's and women's soccer teams played a majority of their 2019 matches at Dillon Stadium after starting their seasons at Al-Marzook Field in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The ...

Sports

Football

Dillon Stadium was built in 1935. Formerly named Municipal Stadium, it was renamed in 1956 after James H. Dillon, the City's recreation director. Dillon Stadium was the home of two minor league football teams in the 1960s and 70s: the

Hartford Charter Oaks The Hartford Charter Oaks were a professional American football team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They began play in 1964 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Football League, replacing the Ansonia Black Knights. In 1965 the Charter Oaks were one ...

of the

Atlantic Coast Football League The Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) was a professional american football minor league that operated from 1962 to 1973. Until 1969, many of its franchises had working agreements with NFL and AFL teams to serve as farm clubs. The league paid ...

and

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to becom ...

, owned by the Brewer family, and the

Hartford Knights The Hartford Knights were a professional American football team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They began play in 1968 as a member of the Atlantic Coast Football League, replacing the Hartford Charter Oaks. For the 1969 season, they became the a ...

, also of the ACFL and

Seaboard Football League The Seaboard Football League was an American football minor league that operated from 1971 to 1974.Bob Gill, with Steve Brainerd and Tod Maher, ''Minor League Football, 1960-85'' (McFarland and Co., 2002), pp84, 99-100 It folded during the 1974 ...

. Dillon is now used primarily for high school football teams, including the Bulkeley Bulldogs, the Sport Medical Tigers, the Prince Tech Falcons, and the Capital Prep Trailblazers. Dillon also hosts the annual

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

Turkey Game between Hartford Public Owls and the Weaver Beavers. Lights were added in 1964 to accommodate the Oaks. The stadium also hosted occasional club-level

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

games hosted by the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and ...

. The Hartford Colonials of the United Football League, in part because of a change of management at

Rentschler Field Rentschler Field was an airport in East Hartford, Connecticut in use from 1933 to 1999. Originally a military facility, later a private corporate airport, it was decommissioned in 1999, after which the football stadium of the same name was bui ...

, experienced significant delays in renewing their lease for the 2011 season and had backup plans to relocate to Dillon Stadium (or

Willow Brook Park Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

), although neither venue was believed to be ideal for the UFL. The Colonials did sign a deal with Rentschler in June, but suspended operations on August 10, 2011; the league later folded it outright.

Soccer

International matches

Professional matches

College

Rugby

Renovation

Hartford City FC Hartford City FC is an American soccer team based in West Hartford, Connecticut. The team plays in the National Premier Soccer League Northeast Region, North Atlantic Conference. The team played its first game during the 2017 season. The Colts pla ...

, a projected indoor soccer franchise that also hoped to compete in the outdoor

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

, announced plans to reconstruct Dillon Stadium to create a 15,000 seat soccer-only stadium for the 2017 season. In 2014, the city awarded a $12 million contract to Premier Sports Management to redevelop the stadium in hopes of attracting a professional soccer team. The company was unable to interest various soccer leagues and instead partnered with an outside investor seeking to build a larger stadium on the site with city funding. However, the city ended the project in October 2015 over financial and legal concerns with the investment group, who were later found guilty of embezzling $1 million from the redevelopment fund. On February 17, 2018, the State Bond Commission approved $10 million in public funding. This would help the Hartford Sports Group establish a USL club in 2019.

Concerts

On June 27, 1966,

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

played in Dillon Stadium, supported by

The McCoys The McCoys were a rock group formed in Union City, Indiana, United States, in 1962. They are best known for their 1965 hit single " Hang On Sloopy". Their name was changed from Rick and the Raiders to The McCoys, taken from the B-side of The ...

(with their up-and-coming guitarist, Rick Derringer). Near the end of the Stones' performance, fans rushed the stage, so electricity to the amplifiers was cut.

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

threw his microphone stand out into the crowd, and the Stones then left the venue, as fans began breaking chairs. Police gathered the crowd towards the exits. The

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

performed there in 1972 and again in 1973. On July 16, 1972, the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

played in Dillon Stadium and were joined on stage by

Dickey Betts Forrest Richard Betts (born December 12, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. Early in his career, he collaborated with Duane Allman, introducing melodic tw ...

Berry Oakley Raymond Berry Oakley III (April 4, 1948 – November 11, 1972) was an American bassist and one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, known for long melodic bass runs. He is ranked number 46 on the ''Bass Player'' magazine's list ...

and

Jai Johanny Johanson John Lee Johnson (born July 8, 1944), frequently known by the stage names Jai Johanny Johanson and Jaimoe, is an American drummer and percussionist. He is best known as one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band. Johanson played w ...

of the

Allman Brothers Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboa ...

. Their July 31, 1974, performance at the field was released as an album titled '' Dave's Picks Volume 2''.

References

External links

*
Trinity Health Stadium
at

Hartford's Dillon Stadium
at JCJ Architecture {{American Athletic Conference soccer venue navbox American football venues in Connecticut Sports venues in Hartford, Connecticut Sports venues in Hartford County, Connecticut Rugby union stadiums in the United States Rugby union stadiums in Connecticut Minor league baseball venues High school football venues in the United States North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums Soccer venues in Connecticut Hartford Athletic UConn Huskies soccer USL Championship stadiums College soccer venues in the United States 1935 establishments in Connecticut Sports venues completed in 1935