Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium (Spanish: ''Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel'') is a
soccer-specific stadium
A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium whic ...
located in
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bayamón (, ) is a Bayamón barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. Located on the northeastern coastal plain, it is bounded by Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Guaynabo to the east, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, Toa A ...
. It is best known as the former home of the
Puerto Rico Islanders
The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...
of the
North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to
1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
and current home of the
Bayamón FC of the
Liga Puerto Rico
The Liga Puerto Rico (LPR) is an amateur football competition organized by the Puerto Rican Football Federation. It is the top division football league on the island. The champion qualifies to participate in the Caribbean Club Shield each season ...
. The stadium can seat up to 12,500 people. It can be publicly access by the
metro station
A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...
known as "
Deportivo Station
Deportivo is a rapid transit station in San Juan agglomeration, Puerto Rico. It is located between Bayamón and Jardines on the sole line of the Tren Urbano system, in Bayamón, just outside of its downtown ( Bayamón Pueblo). The trial ser ...
."
History
Built in 1973 as a
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
stadium with a capacity of 12,500, it was home to the
Vaqueros de Bayamón
The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...
until 2003 when the team became defunct.
La Meca of Puerto Rican Football
In 2003 with the Vaqueros folding, the stadium seemed doomed to be relegated to a youth stadium or to demolition, but late that same year the stadium became home of the
Puerto Rico Islanders
The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...
. Its "''L''" shaped stands were not suited for the sport and it originally had an awkward feel to it since the stand behind the goal angles away from the pitch.
Another name that has been used for the stadium is "La Islandera" since it was the home of the Islanders.
It was home to
Bayamon FC, a professional football team in the
Puerto Rico Soccer League
The Puerto Rico Soccer League or PRSL is an association football league in Puerto Rico founded in 2008 and the first unified football league in the island's history. Association football had been growing in popularity in recent years, and this wa ...
now playing in the
Bayamon Soccer Complex, and Sevilla Bayamon FC, now called
Sevilla-FC Juncos; they moved to
Juncos.
It has also played host to the
CFU Club Championship
The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). ...
Group C in 2006, where the Islanders played but lost to
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
,
W Connection
W. Connection Football Club is a professional football (soccer), football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are ba ...
0-1 and the
Puerto Rico MLS-USL Challenge in 2007, and two
2010 World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
qualifying matches against the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
and
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
.
Renovation in 2012
The renovations to the stadium have been made to upgrade a stadium created for baseball to be soccer-specific. The stadium will also have new dressing rooms and bathrooms and the replacement of some seating. There will also be some temporary bleachers until the addition for new seating is completed later. Lighting has also been adjusted to be more uniform across the field.
The remodeling of the stadium will be done in several stages, with a total cost of $7 million.
A new team, a new home (2015–2017)
In 2015, it was announced home to
Puerto Rico FC
Puerto Rico FC was a professional football club based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2015, the team played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team debuted in the 2016 fall seas ...
of the
North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to
1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
. The team played in the
2016 North American Soccer League season
The 2016 North American Soccer League season is the 49th season of Division II soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 6th season of the modern North American Soccer League.
Three expansion clubs joined the league, with Miami FC and ...
of Fall season.
Hurricane damage to the stadium (2017)
On September 22, 2017, the stadium was severely damaged by
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...
, which led to cancellations of the games and forced
Puerto Rico FC
Puerto Rico FC was a professional football club based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2015, the team played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team debuted in the 2016 fall seas ...
to play the next same matches in neutral venues.
2018-present
The first match played after Hurricane María was a friendly match between
Puerto Rico women's national football team
The Puerto Rico women's national football team () represents Puerto Rico in women's international football, and are governed by the Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol (FPF).
History
On 30 August 2018, in a home friendly versus Argentina, ...
and
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
on September 2, 2018.
On November 19, 2019, it was announced that
Bayamón FC will be using the stadium for its home matches of the
Liga Puerto Rico
The Liga Puerto Rico (LPR) is an amateur football competition organized by the Puerto Rican Football Federation. It is the top division football league on the island. The champion qualifies to participate in the Caribbean Club Shield each season ...
.
Events
The first boxing bout between
Alfredo Escalera
Alfredo "El Salsero" Escalera (born March 21, 1952) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer and is the former World Boxing Council Super Featherweight world champion. A native of Carolina, his nickname was "Salsero" because he was a fan o ...
and
Alexis Argüello
Alexis Argüello (April 19, 1952 – July 1, 2009) was a Nicaraguan professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 1995, and later became a politician. He was a three-weight world champion, having held the WBA featherweight title from 1974 to 19 ...
dubbed
The Bloody Battle of Bayamon, took place at the stadium on January 28, 1978.
On July 16, 1988, wrestler
Bruiser Brody
Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, the Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the year ...
was fatally stabbed in the shower by fellow wrestler Jose Huertas Gonzalez.
On September 26, 1992 the heavy metal band Iron Maiden played on their Fear of the Dark Tour. This was the first time Iron Maiden visited Puerto Rico.
The popstar
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
performed a sold out concert at the stadium on October 26, 1993 during
The Girlie Show World Tour.
American pop-singer
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
planned to perform there in November 1993 as part of his
Dangerous World Tour
The ''Dangerous'' World Tour was the second world concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson and was staged to promote his eighth studio album '' Dangerous.'' The tour was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various chari ...
, but the concert was cancelled due to Jackson’s illness
The rock band
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
performed there on January 28, 1994 during their
Get a Grip Tour
The Get a Grip Tour was a concert tour by American hard rock band Aerosmith that lasted over eighteen months, from early June 1993 to mid-December 1994. The tour was put on in support of the band's third consecutive multi-platinum album ''Get a G ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium
Bayamón Fútbol Club
Buildings and structures in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Defunct baseball venues in the United States
Football venues in Puerto Rico
North American Soccer League (2011–2017) stadiums
Puerto Rico Islanders
Puerto Rico FC
1974 establishments in Puerto Rico
Sports venues completed in 1974