Johnny Unitas Stadium is a multi-purpose sports
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 ...
in
Towson, Maryland
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...
, United States. The home of several
Towson University
Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
athletics teams, it is also known as Minnegan Field at Johnny Unitas Stadium or Unitas Stadium.
History
The stadium opened in 1978 as Towson Stadium when the Towson Tigers were in their ninth year of collegiate play and their final year of
Division III
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
. The new, lighted facility had 5,000 seats. The name of the stadium was changed to Minnegan Stadium in 1983 to honor former Towson coach and athletic director
Donald "Doc" Minnegan.
The sports complex began a $32 million renovation beginning in 1999. The renovations, which were completed in 2002, added 6,000 seats, artificial turf, an entry-level plaza, concession stands, new restrooms, ticket booths, a four-tier press box, a field house, and a promenade that connects the northside and southside seating areas.
The stadium is named for the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
'
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...
, the father of three Towson students, who had taken a job trying to find a corporate sponsor for the stadium with Towson University weeks before his death in 2002. In fact, Unitas threw his last public pass at the re-opening of the facility (as Towson University Stadium) just a few days before his death. His widow, Sandy, felt it appropriate to honor him by having the stadium named for him instead, with fund-raising in his name taking the place of the money that a corporate naming would have supplied. The stadium was rededicated a year after it opened, October 11, 2003.
In 2008, the Unitas Stadium
scoreboard
A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...
was replaced with a 16:9 full video scoreboard. The new scoreboard stands where the previous scoreboard was placed. The old incandescent light scoreboard was recycled and a new smaller LED scoreboard was installed in the opposite endzone.
In May 2012, new "Fieldturf Revolution" was installed in the stadium.
Tenants
![UnitasStadiumScoreboard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/UnitasStadiumScoreboard.JPG)
It is the home field for the Towson
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 ...
, men's and women's
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, and the 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 ...
team. The university's annual fall pep rally is held at the stadium.
In addition to Towson events, the stadium has also been used for high school football and lacrosse events, the Under 19 World Lacrosse Championship, Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association lacrosse championships, several
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
women's lacrosse championships as well as competition in the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
men's lacrosse championships.
The
Baltimore Bayhawks
The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...
of
Major League Lacrosse
Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff f ...
used Johnny Unitas Stadium as their home stadium from 2004 to 2006.
From 2008 to 2010, the NCAA women's lacrosse Final Four and championship were held in Johnny Unitas Stadium. In 2008,
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
defeated the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
10-6, giving the Wildcats their fourth consecutive NCAA title in women's lacrosse. In 2009, Northwestern defeated the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
21-7, for their fifth title in a row. The 2010 final saw the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
defeat Northwestern 13-11. This was the Terps' 10th NCAA title in women's lacrosse.
The Under Armour All-American Lacrosse Game for high school athletes has been played at Unitas since 2006, its inaugural year.
Field house
On April 26, 2003, the final renovations to the stadium were completed with the construction of the four-story, field house near the stadium's west end zone. The field house features offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, class rooms, a film editing room, an athlete learning center, an athletic training room and an equipment room. It also has a rooftop patio from which guests can view athletic contests in the adjoining stadium.
The Minnegan Room
The Minnegan Room on the third floor of the field house is named after longtime faculty member, athletic director and coach
"Doc" Minnegan. It is a multipurpose room that has a top view of the action on the field as well as the stadium. The Minnegan Room can accommodate up to 200 guests.
Towson Athletics Sports Medicine Facility
The field house's Sports Medicine Facility is a suite with separate taping, treatment, rehabilitation, and hydrotherapy areas. The state-of-the-art hydrotherapy and rehabilitation areas include the Swimex system and Biodex training equipment. The facility also includes a physician exam room, conference room, and staff offices.
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I FCS football stadiums
The following is a list of current National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) football stadiums in the United States.
Conference affiliations reflect those for the comin ...
References
External links
- Johnny Unitas StadiumTowson Athletics - Field House
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College football venues
Sports venues in Baltimore
American football venues in Maryland
College lacrosse venues in the United States
Former Major League Lacrosse venues
Towson Tigers sports venues
Towson, Maryland
Sports venues completed in 1978
Sports venues in the Baltimore metropolitan area
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums
Lacrosse venues in Maryland
1978 establishments in Maryland
College track and field venues in the United States
Athletics (track and field) venues in Maryland