Roy Stewart Stadium is a 16,800-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 ...

Murray, Kentucky Murray is a home rule-class city in Calloway County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of Calloway County and the 19th-largest city in Kentucky. The city's population was 17,741 during the 2010 U.S. census, and its micropolitan area's po ...

. It opened in 1973 and is home to the

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

Racers

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 ...

, rifle and women's

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. Before Racers football left the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

(OVC) for the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

(MVFC) in 2023, the stadium was the second-largest of any on-campus stadium in the OVC; it now lies roughly at the MVFC average. The seven-floor structure is named after Roy Stewart, a longtime Murray State football coach and athletics director. It features a FieldTurf surface surrounded by a nine-lane track. Inside the stadium are athletic offices, locker rooms and meeting rooms for football and track and field, as well as a training room and weight room. The Pat Spurgin Rifle Range, site of seven

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championships, is located at the northern end of the second floor. The Racers' first mascot, a racehorse named Violet Cactus, is buried at the stadium near the area where the current mascot, Racer 1, begins its trek around the football field before the beginning of each football game, and after each Racer touchdown.

History

From 1934 until 1972, Racer football played at Cutchin Football Stadium, which was at the location of the current soccer field. Cutchin Stadium was demolished in 1972 when construction began on a new football stadium to be located on the North end of campus, along US Highway 641. The Racers played their first football game in Roy Stewart Stadium in 1973, and earned a win over

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

by a score of 27–25. The stadium was officially dedicated on September 9, 1974.

Renovations

On April 9, 2007, a turf replacement project began to remove the existing turf and install a FieldTurf playing surface at the stadium. The new FieldTurf also allowed for the existing three percent grade on the field to be reduced to 0.5 percent. The rise in the middle of the field was lowered from 18 inches to three inches. The FieldTurf installation was completed in time for the Racers' 2007 home opener on September 15 against

Lambuth University Lambuth University was a private Methodist university in Jackson, Tennessee. It was active from 1843 to 2011 and was supported by the Memphis Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The university began as the Memphis Conference Female ...

. The improvement project also brought about new play clocks, new goal posts, and a new surface on the track.

Record football crowds

;All-time largest crowds #16,600, vs. Eastern Kentucky, October 31, 1981 (L 20–24) #16,300, vs. Middle Tennessee State, October 18, 1980 (W 38–6) #16,300, vs. Tennessee Tech, September 26, 1981 (W 15–10) #16,000, vs. Eastern Kentucky, October 27, 1979 (W 24–7) #15,800, vs. Western Kentucky, November 22, 1980 (W 49–0) #15,711, vs. Eastern Kentucky, November 4, 1995 (W 17–7) #15,500, vs. Youngstown State, September 13, 1980 (W 24–6) #15,200, vs. Eastern Kentucky, October 29, 1977 (W 24–20) #15,200, vs. Western Kentucky, November 23, 1974 (W 9–7) #15,000, vs. Southeast Missouri State, September 6, 1980 (W 19–6) ;Largest crowds since 2000 #11,921, vs. Morehead State, September 21, 2019 (W 59-7) #11,276, vs. Tennessee Tech, October 28, 2000 (L 21–36) #11,137, vs. UT Martin, September 29, 2018 (W 45–38) #10,897, vs. Jacksonville State, September 27, 2014 (L 28-52) #10,620, vs.

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

, September 26, 2015 (L 29–31) #10,132, vs.

Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

, September 14, 2013 (W 41–38) #10,031, vs.

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

, September 17, 2011 (W 58–27) #10,014, vs. Southeast Missouri State, September 24, 2016 (L 16–17) #9,848, vs. #25

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...

, September 8, 2012 (L 20–42) #9,794, vs.

, September 29, 2012 (W 70–35) #9,597, vs. UT Martin, October 13, 2012 (L 59–66) #9,191, vs.

Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

, September 23, 2017 (L 7–27) #9,019, vs.

, October 10, 2015 (W 34–18)

References

External links

Murray State University – Roy Stewart Stadium
{{Kentucky college football venues College football venues Murray State Racers football American football venues in Kentucky Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Buildings and structures in Calloway County, Kentucky 1973 establishments in Kentucky Sports venues completed in 1973 College track and field venues in the United States Athletics (track and field) venues in Kentucky

History

Renovations

Record football crowds

See also

References

External links