Today's Tidbit... Grandstanding in Early Football

I'm not an architectural historian, but that has not stopped me from noticing how some old-time football stadiums had covered grandstands. I'm not referring to stadiums with lower-level seats covered by an upper deck, only stadiums that cover a single level of seating.

The word "grandstand" is used inconsistently. Some consider grandstands to be tiered, with individual seats rather than benches. Others suggest that grandstands have a roof over the ticket buyers’ heads, and bleachers are the seats without cover. This article will adopt the latter definition that says the covered areas are grandstands.

In the early days, few purpose-built football stadiums existed. Big games were played at minor and major league baseball parks with varying configurations. By the 1890s, some faculties frowned on playing games at off-campus stadiums, so schools began building their own stadiums. Whether on campus or not, most stadiums were designed for football and baseball or football and track. Most did not have covers or grandstands, but let’s look at some examples that did.

Corner Grandstands

Below are circa 1888 plans for Princeton's new athletic field with the grandstands in a corner of the football field, but positioned properly for baseball.

The image below shows Princeton’s Phil King preparing to kick off as his teammates align in the V Trick. As seen in the previous drawing, the covered grandstand sits in the corner of the field.

Here’s the grandstand at Wesleyan’s Andrus Field, also situated in the corner for baseball.