Veterans Memorial Stadium is a multipurpose outdoor stadium in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

. Built from 1937-1938 under the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

, it seats 5,000 spectators for

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 ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

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 ...

. The stadium underwent a $1.2 million renovation in 2006, including accessibility improvements and new synthetic turf as well as making the stadium usable as a lacrosse, rugby and soccer field, and another $1.5 million renovation in 2018, adding extra capacity and a large electronic video board. It is the home field of Quincy High School athletics, namely football and soccer, and the

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first ...

of Major League Rugby. The grounds have most notably held the annual intracity Thanksgiving Day Game between QHS and NQHS, dubbed by SI.com as one of the best in America, since 1932. The land the stadium sits on is part of Merrymount Park, which’s was gifted to the city by the Adams family. The current stadium replaced a prior athletic field that was known as Pfaffman’s Oval, a cinder dirt track with a large embankment on one side, which made for a natural

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

for spectators. After several attempts to fund the stadium failed, ground was broken in January, 1937. The stadium was opened on September 25, 1938 in a ceremony attended by Senator

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...

. Throughout the 1960s, the

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

played several preseason intra-squad scrimmages for charity at the stadium

https://talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/1964-boston-patriots-broadside/] In 1976 it served as a home stadium for the

Boston Minutemen The Boston Minutemen were an American professional soccer team based out of Boston that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. The stadium served as the home of the Boston Cannons 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 ...

for the 2019 season. Due to

Covid Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, the team played the entire shortened 2020 season behind closed doors at

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

in Annapolis, Maryland, in which they would win the championship. The team was then absorbed by the

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...

Premier Lacrosse League Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is an American professional field lacrosse league, composed of 8 teams. The league's inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major-market cities. The le ...

, for which a home stadium was no longer necessary. On June 28, 2021, the

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

announced they were moving into the stadium starting with the final game of the 2021 MLR season. NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS ANNOUNCE VETERANS MEMORIAL STADIUM IN QUINCY AS THE NEW HOME FOR MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY IN NEW ENGLAND
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Notable Events

Rugby

References

{{MLL Stadiums 1938 establishments in Massachusetts

Veterans Memorial Stadium (Quincy) Veterans Memorial Stadium is a multipurpose outdoor stadium in Quincy, Massachusetts. Built from 1937-1938 under the Works Progress Administration, it seats 5,000 spectators for football, soccer, Rugby union and lacrosse. The stadium underwent a $1 ...

Boston Cannons venues Buildings and structures in Quincy, Massachusetts Lacrosse venues in Massachusetts Major League Lacrosse venues Major League Rugby stadiums New England Free Jacks North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums Rugby union stadiums in the United States Sports venues completed in 1938

Sports in Norfolk County, Massachusetts