Ratcliffe Stadium

Ratcliffe Stadium

Former names	Fresno State College Stadium (1926–1940)
Location	1101 E. University Ave Fresno, California
Coordinates	36.768°N 119.789°W / 36.768; -119.789
Owner	Fresno City College
Operator	Fresno City College
Capacity	13,000
Surface	Field: natural grass Track: polyurethane
Construction
Opened	October 9, 1926 98 years ago
Renovated	1976, 1986, 2009
Expanded	1942
Tenants
Fresno City College Rams (1941–present) Fresno State Bulldogs (1926–1979)

Ratcliffe Stadium is a collegiate athletic venue in the western United States, located on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California.

Opened 98 years ago in 1926, it was renamed in 1941 after their first football coach, Emory Ratcliffe. The stadium hosted the Raisin Bowl (1946–1949) and was home to the Fresno State Bulldogs football team through 1979; they moved to their on-campus Bulldog Stadium in 1980.

Ratcliffe also hosted the West Coast Relays, a major track and field competition. Today, local high school football games and various track and field events are still held there. The stadium has a seating capacity of 13,000, and it is located at 1101 E. University Avenue, along Blackstone Avenue.

The football field has a conventional north-south alignment, at an elevation of 300 feet (90 m) above sea level.

Historical events

On June 2, 1964, Fresno Mayor Wallace D. Henderson marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and 1,000 persons from Fresno High School march Ratcliffe Stadium, where about 3,000 persons attended a rally that he spoke at regarding fair housing, desegregation and the Rumford Housing Act and in protest of California Proposition 14 (1964). It was organized as the Witness of Faith for Freedom Rally.

See also

• Save Mart Center
• Chukchansi Park

References

• "Ratcliffe Stadium". Fresno City College. 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.