April 29, 2011

Past Venue: Balboa Stadium

San Diego, CA



Year opened: 1914
Capacity: 34,000 after expansion to accommodate Chargers, up from 15,000 at opening.

Names:
City Stadium
Balboa Stadium

Pro football tenants:
San Diego Chargers (AFL), 1961-66

Postseason games hosted:
AFL Championship, Oilers 10 Chargers 3, Dec. 24, 1961
AFL Championship, Chargers 51 Patriots 10, Jan. 5, 1964
AFL Championship, Bills 23 Chargers 0, Dec. 26, 1965

Other tenants of note:
San Diego Toros (NASL), 1968
San Diego High School, 1914 to date

Notes: Hosted AFL All-Star Games, Jan. 7, 1962; Jan. 13, 1963; Jan. 19, 1964. Hosted San Diego East-West Christmas Classic, 1921-22. Hosted Harbor Bowl, 1947-49. Hosted home games of PCPFL San Diego Bombers, 1940-46, and San Diego Clippers, 1948 Used for auto racing, 1937-61, but that ended with arrival of the Chargers. Stadium was also used on occasion by St. Augustine High School and San Diego City College for football and track & field. Originally constructed as part of 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

Fate: Demolished in 1978, although field is still in use. Concrete bleachers replaced the original structure, dramatically reducing seating capacity (3000).



(Modern view below, since demolition and rebuild to smaller facility)