Hey, as a fan and long time supporter of the Timbers, (and also someone who has to watch footie on a "smallish" pitch), I was wondering if someone could tell me what the official dimensions were of the pitch at Spartan. Back in the 70's I know Spartan was REALLY narrow, but in 2000(?) they did the major reno that took out some rows of seats and widened the field. I think it was still somewhere around 70yds width? Jeld-Wynn Field is only 70 yds wide and 110 in length. the Length isn't too bad, but I sure wish we had a wider pitch. People just don't realize what an extra 12ft (duhhh not 24') width (if it was 74yds wide) will lend to the style of play. They tell me to quit complaining, but I won't. Is Buck Shaw closer to 73/74yds?
We think BS is about 74 yards. Spartan was 68-70 yards. And btw, 4 more yards would only add 12' of width. And use the phrase "properly sized field" when stating your case with your fellow Timber fans.
And you absolutely shouldn't! Continue fighting the good fight up there. You can read about the progression of our within-the-lines playing field sizes here. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Another solution is just to hire shorter players. If you shrink the players and the ball/nets/on-field markings by about 5% it's the same as expanding the field by 5%. Sort of.
Old Spartan Stadium How I miss that place......... Don't mention the 70's because you will bring a tear to my eye!
I think Timber Fanatic and Goodsport are one in the same... Please read the FIFA Laws of the Game. There is no such thing as a properly sized field. The size of the field is variable. The best size of the field for a professional game is open to interpretation. Only people who fantasize about blue uniforms really care...(let's see if he takes the bait)...
FYI, here are the dimensions for international match play according to FIFA law one: International matches Length: minimum 100 m (110 yds) maximum 110 m (120 yds) Width: minimum 64 m (70 yds) maximum 75 m (80 yds)
I recently purchased several videos of old Quakes games from the NASL days. While watching a couple of them from the late 70s - early 80s, the pitch size at Spartan Stadium is mentioned. There has been two major renovations in which the pitch was widened. When the west side was rebuilt in the early 80s, they added about 4 yards to the width. When the Quakes first played at Spartan Stadium, I believe the official width was 62 yards for soccer. After the west side was rebuilt, it became something like 66 yards. The 1999 upgrade brought it to above 69 yards (enough to round up to 70 yards, which allowed them to host Women's World Cup games). The 1999 construction is something I read that was written by Peter Bridgwater.
Actually, though the 1998 renovation officially widened and lengthened Spartan Sttadium's field to 70x110 yards, they kind of cheated and made the total (wall-to-wall) space 70x110 yards rather than the corner flag to corner flag playing space as how it's generally measured. Spartan's playing space within the lines were later measured at about 68x106 yards. I remember reading that Peter Bridgwater chose the quickest and least expensive of two or three different plans for the 1998 renovation. While the other choice(s) would've taken longer and the team would've had to play more 1998 home games at Stanford Stadium, it would've also likely provided a slightly bigger field, no dugouts built into the west wall and no loss of the first two west-side rows (or at least a more symmetrical loss of those rows all around the stadium). In any case, another way to tell that Spartan's playing field within the lines was less than 70 yards are the endline tick marks that are a fixed distance from each corner: while the tick marks at Jeld-Wen Field (with a true 70 yard wide field within the lines) are just barely outside the penalty boxes, Spartan Stadium's tick marks were within the penalty boxes even after the 1998 renovation. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
You sure about that Goodsie? If you look at the youtube video of The Comeback against LA in 2001, the endline "tick" marks are clearly outside the penalty box by a good yard.
Soon after I posted that, I checked with some pics of Spartan online and it turns out that the post-1998 renovation tick marks were indeed barely outside the penalty box (though I'm not so sure that they were as much as a yard away). My recollection of the tick marks inside the penalty box were from before that renovation. Still, I do remember that Spartan's corner flag to corner flag lengths post-renovation were measured several times (including once by someone at ESPN) at 68x106 yards. The tick marks at Jeld-Wen Field are a bit further away from the penalty box, though still way too close. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
After all these years of posting about field widths and hash marks you still don't get how it works? If it's 68yds wide the gap is 1yrd. Here's the math, again. FieldWidth = 2*gap+pboxWidth+ 2*HashToTouch pboxWIdth and HashToTouch are fixed by FIFA at 44 & 11 yrds respectively. So ... FieldWidth = 2*gap+66 I measured the gap at Spartan four years ago at just over 1.5yrds. So Spartan is just over 69yrds wide. The ESPN guy is wrong. BTW have you ever seen a 70yrd long tape measure? Here's Spartan today. It's still the same. Just over 69yrds wide. Fun fact. Your "proper" 75 yard wide field would have the hash marks 6" outside the football sideline. 53.3+11+11=75.3
LOL, I guess FUEAG thinks that the entire United States of America was surveyed using a 12' Sears tape measure
The crowd thinned out toward the end, as Utah State pulled away, but for most of the game the lower bowl was 95% full. I was packed in there.
I'm guessing it would be impossible to hold the MLS Cup at Spartan Stadium if we were to make it that far in the playoffs. I like the idea of keeping it in San Jose, instead of out in Palo Alto.