O'Brien Field is a 10,000-seat

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 ...

Charleston, Illinois Charleston is a city in, and the county seat of, Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,286, as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Eastern Illinois University and has close ties with its neighbor, Mattoon. Both are p ...

. It is home to the

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

Panthers Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

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 ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

teams. O’Brien Field is named after

Maynard O'Brien Maynard "Pat" O'Brien (January 12, 1907 – March 16, 1990) was an American football coach. He was the 13th head football coach at Eastern Illinois State College—now known as Eastern Illinois University—in Charleston, Illinois, serving for ni ...

who coached football and track at Eastern Illinois University. The stadium features a nine-lane track and in 2004 an artificial turf field was installed. In 2009 a state of the art scoreboard was installed on the north end of the field with a video board and new sound system. The stadium served as the summer home for the former

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

football team in 1976 and 1977 and again from 1982 to 1987. The record attendance for O'Brien Field was 12,600 on November 9, 1980, vs. Northern Iowa. The all-time record for the Panthers football team at O'Brien Field is 178–95–3 as of the end of the 2019 season. The stadium also plays host to the IHSA State Finals in track and field every year.

Home records

Attendance

^Low attendance due to the

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Attendance records

The following are the highest attendances at O’Brien Field as of the end of the 2019 NCAA football season.

References

External links

O'Brien Field
Athletics (track and field) venues in Illinois College football venues Eastern Illinois Panthers football Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States American football venues in Illinois Buildings and structures in Coles County, Illinois Sports venues completed in 1970 1970 establishments in Illinois College track and field venues in the United States {{Illinois-sports-venue-stub

Home records

Attendance

Attendance records

See also

References

External links