The old Downing Stadium on Randall's Island

Downing Stadium, previously known as Triborough Stadium and Randall's Island Stadium, was a 22,000-seat football stadium in New York City. It was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 after John J. Downing, a director at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.^[1]

Built on Randall's Island in the East River as a WPA project, 15,000 attendees witnessed Jesse Owens compete at Randall's Island Stadium in the Olympic Trials on July 11, 1936, the opening night of the new facility.^[2][3] Downing Stadium also hosted the Women's Olympic Trials in 1964.^[1]. It was the site of an international soccer friendly in which England defeated the USA 10-0 on May 27, 1964. ^[4]

Triborough Stadium served as one of two home stadia of the football New York Yankees of the second AFL (along with Yankee Stadium) in 1936 and 1937; about four decades later, Downing Stadium became the home of the New York Stars of the WFL in 1974, and the New York Cosmos of the NASL in 1975 (for years after the Cosmos played there, the words "COSMOS SOCCER" remained on the stadium to be seen from the nearby highway viaduct on the Triborough Bridge).

The stadium was also used for some Negro League baseball games in the 1930s and was the site when the United States played Scotland in soccer in 1949.^[5] The stadium also played host to the All Blacks several times, in the course of larger tours to Europe. They last played a New York Metropolitan selection in October 1972, beating their hosts 41-9.^[6]

After Downing Stadium stopped being a major sports venue it was occasionally used as a venue for rock concerts such as Pearl Jam and Tibetan Freedom Concert. The stadium was torn down in 2002 in order to be replaced by a newer complex, Icahn Stadium, which was completed in 2004. The stadium lights, which were taken from Ebbets Field after it was torn down,^[7] were left in place to light the new field.

The site was considered for a 48,000 capacity soccer specific stadium, based on the design of the City of Manchester Stadium, had the New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics been successful. The plan was shelved when New York lost out to London.

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v • d • e Sports venues in the New York metropolitan area Active The Bronx Draddy Gymnasium • Gaelic Park • Rose Hill Gymnasium • Yankee Stadium Brooklyn Athletic, Recreation & Wellness Center • Aviator Sports and Recreation • KeySpan Park • Pope Physical Education Center • Schwartz Athletic Center Manhattan Icahn Stadium • Madison Square Garden Queens Aqueduct Racetrack • Arthur Ashe Stadium • Belson Stadium • Carnesecca Arena • Citi Field • Louis Armstrong Stadium • Metropolitan Oval • USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center • West Side Tennis Club Staten Island Richmond County Bank Ballpark • Spiro Sports Center Long Island Belmont Park • Citibank Park • Island Garden • Mitchel Athletic Complex • Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum New Jersey Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium • Giants Stadium • Izod Center • Louis Brown Athletic Center • Mennen Arena • Prudential Center • Rutgers Stadium • TD Bank Ballpark • Yanitelli Center • Yogi Berra Stadium • Yurcak Field Defunct Bronx Coliseum • Capitoline Grounds • Coney Island Velodrome • Eastern Park • Ebbets Field • Dexter Park • Downing Stadium • Hilltop Park • Island Garden (Original) • Long Island Arena • Madison Square Garden (1879) • Madison Square Garden (1890) • Madison Square Garden (1925) • Madison Square Garden Bowl • Polo Grounds • Roosevelt Stadium • Rutgers Stadium (1938) • St. George Cricket Grounds • Shea Stadium • Singer Bowl • Union Grounds • Washington Park • Yankee Stadium (1923) In progress Meadowlands Stadium • Red Bull Arena Proposed Barclays Center • Bergen Ballpark Never built Brooklyn Dodgers proposed domed stadium • West Side Stadium

Coordinates: 40°47′38″N 73°55′27″W / 40.79389°N 73.92417°W / 40.79389; -73.92417

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