Estadio Sixto Escobar

Last updated
Estadio Sixto Escobar
Escobar Statue.jpg
Statue of Sixto Escobar at the stadium
Estadio Sixto Escobar
LocationAvenida Muñoz Rivera
Puerta de Tierra
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901
Coordinates 18°27′55″N66°5′20″W / 18.46528°N 66.08889°W / 18.46528; -66.08889
Capacity 9,400
OpenedNovember 12, 1935
Tenants
Cincinnati Reds (Spring Training) (NL) (1936)
Miami Marlins (IL) (1961)
Copa de Puerto Rico (2000)
River Plate Puerto Rico (USL Pro) (2011)
Estadio Sixto Escobar
Part of Puerta de Tierra (ID100002936)
Added to NRHPNovember 14, 2007

Estadio Sixto Escobar is a multi-purpose stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The stadium was named after boxer Sixto Escobar, the first champion of Puerto Rico, in 1938. [1]

Contents

Originally built as a baseball venue, the stadium then became a frequent venue for football matches. In 1979, it was one of the three stadiums that served for the VIII Pan American Games held in San Juan. Nowadays, Sixto Escobar Stadium is the current home venue for C.A. San Juan. [2]

History

The stadium was inaugurated on November 12, 1932. Originally it was a baseball venue, and was built in an area then administrated by the U.S. Army. By the 1940s, a sector of the stadium, behind the baseball pitch, began to be used by some football enthusiasts. They played in a 100-metre length field known as canódromo (a track used for sighthound races). Some of the most notable Puerto Rican footballers of those times, started playing there. [2]

Boxer Sixto Escobar, in honor of whom the stadium was named in 1938 Sixto Escobar and Whitey Brimstein c1930cr.jpg
Boxer Sixto Escobar, in honor of whom the stadium was named in 1938

In baseball, the Cincinnati Reds conducted spring training at the stadium in 1935 and 1936. [3] In April 1938, the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico voted to name the stadium and surrounding park in honor of Sixto Escobar, a Puerto Rican professional boxer who became Puerto Rico's first world champion. [1] A statue of Escobar stands on the grounds.

The Miami Marlins were transferred to San Juan for the 1961 season and opened the season at Sixto Escobar Stadium. Attendance was poor and the team was moved to Charleston, WV on May 19, 1961. The Cangrejeros de Santurce of the professional Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente moved out to the newly constructed Hiram Bithorn Stadium in 1962.

By the 1970s the Sixto Escobar Stadium consolidated its predominance as a Puerto Rican football venue. In 1976 it was refurbished to host the 1976 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament, that also served as qualification for the 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship. Mexico and Honduras played the final at Sixto Escobar stadium on October 6. [2] Likewise, many events of the 1979 Pan American Games were held at the stadium. On July 4, Puerto Rico beat Dominican Republic 1–0 in front of a full attendance. [2]

In 1981, the stadium hosted the "Torneo 5 Estrellas", an international football tournament where Real Madrid, Millonarios, Pumas UNAM, a regional side of United States and local club Internacional de Puerto Rico participated. From the 1970s to early 2000s the stadium was a frequent venue of Puerto Rico national football team matches. [2]

In 2000 the Sixto Escobar Stadium hosted all six matches of the inaugural Torneo de Copa de Puerto Rico. [4] The Copa featured a mix of club and national teams and was hosted by the Puerto Rican Football Federation and the Puerto Rico national team. [5] The international competition was played over the course of a week's time, consisting of three nights of double-headers. The MLS side, Tampa Bay Mutiny were the winners. [6]

In 2011 the stadium was repaired and improved to accommodate the new tenant football team River Plate Puerto Rico, [7] but the club never played there.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixto Escobar</span> Puerto Rican boxer

Sixto Escobar was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. Competing in the bantamweight division, he became Puerto Rico's first world champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Puerto Rico</span>

Sports in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak (Taíno) tribes who inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose for competition. One of the sports which the Taíno's played was a ball game called "Batey". The "Batey" was played in U-shaped fields two teams; however, unlike the ball games of the modern era, the winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Muñoz Rivera Park</span> Park in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Luis Muñoz Rivera Park is a 27.2 acre recreational public space located in Puerta de Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The park was named in honor of Puerto Rican statesman Luis Muñoz Rivera. It is the largest public square in the San Juan metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiram Bithorn Stadium</span> Baseball stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Hiram Bithorn Stadium is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, built in 1962 and designed by Puerto Rican architect Pedro Miranda. The stadium is home to the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Puerto Rican Baseball League (LBPRC), and briefly was home to Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos during their final years.

Torneos de Verano are a series of short friendly football pre-season tournaments held during the southern summer in Argentina every year, usually in January and February. They serve as preparation for the teams for the season coming; however, as the years went by the competitiveness in the tournaments increased, and they are now considered as important competitions. This is clearly reflected in the high crowd attendance for the games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estadio Francisco Montaner</span> Multi-use stadium in Ponce, Puerto Rico

The Estadio Francisco ("Paquito") Montaner is a multi-use stadium in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is home to the Leones de Ponce team of the Puerto Rico Baseball League (LBPPR) and FC Leones of the Puerto Rico Soccer League (PRSL). The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 seats. Construction of the stadium began in 1947 and it opened on 15 October 1949. Montaner is the first stadium in Puerto Rico with an artificial surface field. The stadium lies next to the Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium, where the Ponce Lions (basketball) hold their games. The Stadium was named to honor Francisco "Paquito" Montaner, one of the greatest Puerto Rican pitchers of all times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Club de Fútbol Fraigcomar</span> Association football club that plays in the Puerto Rico Soccer League

Club de Fútbol Fraigcomar is a Puerto Rican association football club, located in San Francisco, a subbarrio of San Juan Antiguo, which is a barrio of San Juan, Puerto Rico. On February 28, 2017; the club announced it will return for the first time since 2007 to a higher category and will be in the Excellence Cup III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente</span> Professional baseball league in Puerto Rico

Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) is the main professional baseball league in Puerto Rico; it is colloquially referred to as the Puerto Rican Winter League. Consisting of six teams as of the 2023–24 season, the league's champion participates in the Caribbean Series.

The eighth edition of the Men's Football Tournament at the Pan American Games was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 2 July to 14 July 1979. Nine teams competed in a first round-robin competition, with Brazil defending the title. After the preliminary round there was a second round, followed by a knock-out stage.

The Torneo de Copa de Puerto Rico is the top knockout tournament of Puerto Rican football. In its inaugural year it was played entirely at Estadio Sixto Escobar over the course of one week, as a round-robin tournament with teams from three other nations invited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Club Atlético River Plate Puerto Rico</span> Association football club based in Fajardo, Puerto Rico

Club Atlético River Plate Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican professional football team based in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Founded in 2007 as a franchise of the Argentine club River Plate, the team plays in the Puerto Rico Soccer League, and is the reigning Supercopa DirecTV champion.

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 was an attempt to further develop the game on the island. The previous highest league in the country was the Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Puerto Rico. It shares Division I status with Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Puerto Rico.

Bayamón Fútbol Club is a Puerto Rican professional football club. The team is based in Bayamón and founded in 1999. They play their home games at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium. The club is a member of David Villa's DV7 Soccer Academy.

Football is one of the leading sports of Puerto Rico, ranking only behind baseball, basketball and boxing in national popularity and is the number one participation sport on the island. There has been a significant growth in the sport in recent years, as traditionally football has played a very small role in Puerto Rico. The sport on the island is governed by the Puerto Rican Football Federation, an affiliate of FIFA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseball in Puerto Rico</span>

Baseball is the most popular sport in Puerto Rico. In terms of spectators and active participants, it is the premier sport on the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Caribbean Club Championship</span> International football competition

The 2017 Caribbean Club Championship was the 19th edition of the Caribbean Club Championship, the annual international club football competition in the Caribbean region, held amongst clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), a sub-confederation of CONCACAF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan FA</span> Association football club that plays in the Puerto Rico Soccer League

Metropolitan FA is a Puerto Rican association football club from the capital of San Juan that currently plays in the Liga Puerto Rico. The club plays its home matches at the Parque Reparto Metropolitano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copa Luis Villarejo</span> Association football league in Puerto Rico

The Copa Luis Villarejo is an association football league in Puerto Rico. Created in 2016, it is open to all clubs that are affiliated with the Puerto Rican Football Federation.

The 2017 Puerto Rico Soccer League season would be the 9th season as Puerto Rico's top-division football league.

Mark 'Marcos' Lugris is a former Puerto Rican football player. He played his professional club football mostly in the United States. Mark debuted for Puerto Rico on June 17, 1983, in a Pan American Games Qualifier vs Surinam at Sixto Escobar Stadium in San Juan. He represented Puerto Rico in the 1990-94-98 FIFA World Cup Qualifying .Lugris was captain of the PRMSNT from 1992 to 1998. Lugris also represented Puerto Rico in 4 Caribbean Shell Cups 93-94-95-98. In 1993 Shell Cup was the first and last time that Puerto Rico qualified for the group finals in Jamaica by winning its preliminary group in Guyana. That year in May Puerto Rico attained its highest FIFA world ranking (93rd)in its history. The first qualification match of World Cup 94 USA was between Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, played on 21 March 1992, and the Puerto Rican defender Marcos Lugris scored the first goal in qualification.In 1995 Lugris was inducted in the Fordham University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1998 vs Haiti in Port-au-Prince, Lugris played his final match for the National team .In 2014,Lugris was inducted in the Puerto Rican Soccer Hall of Fame. On April 5, 2018, Mark was announced as the Guest Honoree for the 5th Annual FutBoricua.Net Awards Gala in San Juan, Puerto Rico. At the Gala he was presented with the "Premio Cronica Joe Serralta" for his lifetime achievements with the Puerto Rican National team .In 2020, FutbolBoricua.Net announced its Historic Puerto Rico All Time Best XI Team, Lugris was named to this team along with his teammates Roberto "Boy" Santana, Wilfredo " Cobre" Vinas and Chris Armas. On April 17, 2022, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, named Lugris to its "Mens All Time Puerto Rico Dream Team".

References

  1. 1 2 "Escobar To Be Honored; Stadium in Puerto Rico Will Be Named for Champion". New York Times. 1938-04-14. p. 33. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 El Estadio Sixto Escobar: el primer estadio nacional de fútbol by Edwin Jusino -Mar 19, 2021 on Fútbol Boricua
  3. ↑ Alan Gould (1936-02-11). "Majors' Spring Training Under Way Officially". The Meriden Daily Journal. p. 4. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  4. ↑ "Mutiny set for three games in Puerto Rico". St. Petersburg Times. February 22, 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  5. ↑ El Huracan Azul PR (9 March 2015). "Puerto Rico vs Tampa Bay Mutiny (Partido Completo)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
  6. ↑ "Copa Puerto Rico (San Juan) 2000". rsssf.
  7. ↑ "Pagina Oficial de River Plate Puerto Rico". Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2010-08-18.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.