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 Royal Memorial
Stadium
Austin, TX
Today with a capacity over
80,000, Royal Memorial Stadium looks very different than when it
opened. After playing more than two decades at Clark Field, it was
time for the Longhorns to look to the future and build a new stadium
for the Texas Longhorns. Led by Athletic Director L. Theo Bellmont the
University decided to construct a new stadium in the early 1920’s. The
stadium was built in 1924 and the Longhorns played their first game at
Memorial Stadium on November 8, 1924. At a cost of $275,000, Memorial
Stadium had a seating capacity of 27,000. As interest in the team
increased so did the stadium.
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Two years after opening, Memorial Stadium was
expanded on the north side to give it a horseshow configuration
increasing the capacity to 40,500. By the 1940 season the east and
west grandstands were expanded and the grandstand on the south side of
the field was built allowing 60,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. Lights
were added at Memorial Stadium in 1955 and Astroturf replaced the
grass field in 1969. The upper deck was constructed in 1971. Fans
attending games at Memorial Stadium in the 1990’s saw numerous
changes. In 1996, the playing field was changed to grass and a new
video/scoreboard was added. Memorial Stadium was officially renamed
Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium in 1996 after legendary
Longhorns coach Darrell Royal. The following year, 14 suites were
added on the west side and in 1998, the 5,000 seat upper deck was
constructed on the east side along with 52 luxury suites. The last
expansion at Memorial Stadium occurred before the 1999 season when the
track around the field was removed and the field was lowered three
feet allowing for additional stands along the field. Today, Royal
Memorial Stadium has a seating capacity of 85,123 as Longhorn fans
continue to pack the stadium. After the 2005 season, the Longhorns
added a 55ft. high by 134ft. wide video display to the south endzone.
Current plans call for the north endzone to be expanded to include an
upper deck, a club seats and a war memorial plaza for the 2008 that
will increase the seating capacity to 90,000.
College Football Recruiting
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LONGHORN TIDBITS |
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2007 SCHEDULE |
ROYAL MEMORIAL STADIUM
PICTURES |
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Famous Players: Chris Simms, Tony
Brackens, Phil Dawson, Dan Neil, Vince Young
School Traditions: Bevo, the Longhorn
Mascot, Hook'Em Horns, Hex Rally, Eyes of Texas Song |
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-9/1 - ARKANSAS STATE
-9/8 - TCU
-9/15 - at UCF
-9/22 - RICE
-9/29 - KANSAS STATE
-10/6 - OKLAHOMA
-10/13 - at Iowa State
-10/27 - NEBRASKA
-10/27 - at Texas Tech
-11/3 - at Oklahoma State
-11/10 - TEXAS TECH
-11/23 - at Texas A&M |
Click to Enlarge Pictures -
Submit Pictures!
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HOTELS NEAR ROYAL MEMORIAL STADIUM |
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