Salem Stadium 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 ...

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combin ...

, United States. It is primarily used for football and hosts the home football games of the Salem High School Spartans. It was built in 1985 and seats 7,157 people. The stadium is part of the James E. Taliaferro Sports and Entertainment Complex (named after a former mayor of Salem), which also includes the

Salem Civic Center The Salem Civic Center is a 6,820-seat multi-purpose arena in Salem, Virginia. It was built in 1967 and is part of the James E. Taliaferro Sports and Entertainment Complex (named after a former mayor of Salem), which also includes the Salem Football ...

and the

Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium Salem Memorial Ballpark is a baseball park in Salem, Virginia. It is part of the James E. Taliferro Sports and Entertainment Complex, along with the Salem Civic Center and Salem Football Stadium, located approximately southeast of downtown. Ope ...

. Salem Stadium hosted the

NCAA Division III national football championship The NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973. The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in the Division III playoffs. The Division III championship game, known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl or Stagg Bowl ...

game, known as the

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

Bowl from 1993 to 2017. From 2012 to 2015, the

National Club Football Association The National Club Football Association (NCFA) is an association of collegiate American football teams. It is a member of CollClubSports and manages the NCFA National Championship. NCFA teams are typically operated by student sports clubs rather ...

, which sanctions most

club football This is a list of post-secondary colleges and universities that have club football teams. Operating independently of their colleges' athletics programs, these teams are typically administered, coached, and played by students. In addition to playi ...

in U.S. colleges, also held its championship games at Salem Stadium; for 2016, Salem was designated as a semifinal site for the NCFA playoffs, but play was moved to the smaller Salem High School.NCFA Announces Playoff and Championship Game Locations
(September 14, 2016). Retrieved September 18, 2016. In 2015, the natural playing surface was replaced by FieldTurf in part to ensure that the Stagg Bowl continues to be played in Salem. The field was named the Willis White Field in honor of the former head football coach at Salem High School. Salem Stadium also currently hosts the

Virginia High School League The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored debate and also continues to sponsor sta ...

football state championships in Group A and the Southwestern Virginia Educational Classic, an annual contest between two football teams from

historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

References

College football venues American football venues in Virginia Sports venues in Salem, Virginia 1985 establishments in Virginia {{Virginia-sports-venue-stub