Riddick Stadium (opened 1907, closed 1965) was a

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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

stadium in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, and home to the

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

Wolfpack football team. When the stadium was first opened, it was referred to as New Athletic Park. Later it was named Riddick Field and then Riddick Stadium, after

W. C. Riddick Wallace Carl Riddick Jr. (August 4, 1864 – June 9, 1942) was an American college football coach and university administrator. Riddick received his A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his degree in civil engineeri ...

, N.C. State football coach during the 1898 and 1899 seasons. The Wolfpack baseball team also played its home games in the stadium prior to moving to

Doak Field Doak Field (or The Doak) is a baseball venue in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It opened in 1966 and is home to the North Carolina State University Wolfpack college baseball team of the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference (AC ...

. Prior to moving to the Riddick site, the Wolfpack had played their games at Athletic Park (now

Pullen Park Pullen Park is a public park immediately west of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is located on Ashe Avenue and is adjacent to the Main and Centennial campuses of North Carolina State University, covering an area between Western Boulevard and ...

) and at the

North Carolina State Fair The North Carolina State Fair is an American state fair and agricultural exposition held annually in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1853, the fair is organized by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It attrac ...

grounds. The stadium initially had only wooden

bleacher Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a ro ...

s on the sidelines, but over the years concrete bleachers were built and a fieldhouse was erected behind the south

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

. The NC State Wolfpack defeated Florida State 3-0 in the final game ever played in Riddick Stadium on November 13, 1965. It was one of the smallest stadiums in the country; it never seated more than 23,000 people, and never had more than 14,000 permanent seats. By the 1950s, it was at the end of its useful life, and the Wolfpack were often forced to play more games on the road than at home. The stadium was partially demolished in 1968, three years after the opening of its replacement, Carter Stadium (now Carter-Finley Stadium. The east stands and the field were replaced by a parking lot, and the field house became the campus police station. The west stands remained and served a number of functions through the years, including a residence hall in the 1940s and the home of the University Planning office until their demolition in the summer of 2005. The former field house, the last remaining remnant of the stadium, was demolished in March 2013. SAS Hall, the new mathematics and statistics building, occupies the former site.

References

External links

A photo of early baseball action at the field
{{Triangle sports venues NC State Wolfpack football venues American football venues in North Carolina Defunct college football venues Sports venues completed in 1907 Sports venues demolished in 2005 1907 establishments in North Carolina Demolished sports venues in the United States 2005 disestablishments in North Carolina