A new vision for Memorial Stadium. With over 75 years of history, Memorial Stadium has long captured the attention of Seattleites. Despite being in the shadow of the Space Needle and surrounded by all the other tourist attractions that Seattle Center has to offer, Memorial Stadium still holds a special role in the community. On Sunday, we will celebrate that history while also looking forward to a bright future.
Now, let’s preview the match itself.
We take on FC Olympia in a playoff rematch from last season. FC Olympia sit in fifth place with seven points after six matches and are coming off a big 2-0 win against CFC Atletico. Seattle University forward Lennard Fock scored both goals and goalkeeper Jackson Ozburn kept his second straight clean sheet.
FC Olympia have won two straight matches to propel themselves from last place to mid table and will be looking to continue their climb this weekend. Last season, FC Olympia and Ballard met four times and Olympia were the only team to beat Ballard FC. However, Ballard would get the last laugh with a 3-0 playoff win.
Both teams will be hoping for another playoff run, and although Olympia have a small mountain to climb they could be a lot closer to the summit with three points on Sunday. Sunday will be Ballard’s first home match in over two weeks and the team will be eager for their first home win almost 20 days. After three straight road matches, the team will love having thousands of fans supporting them again this Sunday evening.
MATCH DETAILS
Gates: Gates open at 3:00pm! We are opening thirty minutes early for the United States’ opening Copa America match. Come into the Beer Garden and enjoy the match with discounted beers. We also recommend arriving early to beat the food and beer lines, watch the players warm up, beat the hassle of traffic and parking, and to enjoy all of the prematch festivities. Also, the first 150 fans can receive the above match poster for FREE.
Food Vendors: Beyond the thrilling soccer action, Saturday’s match will feature an array of food vendors, including Kottu, Mainstay Provisions, Katmandu, Big Boys Filipino, and Seattle Pops.
Ballard Food Bank: We also encourage fans to support the community by bringing donations of Ramen for the Ballard food bank.
Beer Garden: We’re proud to offer the Reuben’s Brews beer garden this season at Memorial Stadium, featuring Up The Bridges Pale Ale! The beer garden can only be accessed through the stadium but please note that the field is not visible from the garden. We understand this is disappointing and please trust that we’ve done everything possible to make the most of the situation. Seattle Public Schools does not allow alcohol on facility grounds. We recommend you arrive early to the stadium to grab a prematch brew or head to Reuben’s Brews Taproom in Ballard and catch the shuttle to the match.
Shuttle: This season we have a ticketed shuttle ride option for all matches this regular season at home! Tickets are now available for individual purchase for our shuttle program at an affordable rate of $8.50 per person round trip from Reuben’s Brews in Ballard to Memorial Stadium and back.
Transportation: Parking is extremely limited and is all paid. We highly recommend alternative forms of transportation. Please consider riding King County Metro on game day, where youth through age 18 always ride free! Check out transit mode in Google Maps, the TripPlanner.kingcounty.gov website, or an app like OneBusAway.
Live Stream: Can’t make it to the match? All Ballard FC home matches will be streamed to our YouTube channel. The stream for the match this Sunday can be found HERE. Our live stream is proudly presented by Albert Lee Appliance and Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants.
A New Vision for Memorial Stadium
Families have watched as tens of thousands of student-athletes compete on the field before graduating just years later in that same stadium. Yet this may not be able to continue. Memorial’s future is in jeopardy. Time and a lack of maintenance have slowly made the stadium more and more obsolete. Yet, it cannot be this way, and it doesn’t have to be.
Seattle Public Schools, the City of Seattle, and The One Roof Foundation have come together to form a partnership to make sure Memorial Stadium can modernize while also remaining a place of Memorial, acknowledging the 762 Seattle Public School children who tragically lost their lives in World War II.
This new stadium will not only serve but highlight over 50,000 Seattle Public School students and help make good on the promise of making Seattle Center a civic treasure.
Memorial Stadium has hosted some huge events throughout its history. Scroll through the slideshow below to see some of the biggest.
A national TV audience screened the 19765 Sounders-New York Cosmos match, featuring the world’s top player, Pele. (Frank MacDonald Collection) 
Water skiing and speedboat races circled through a makeshift moat during the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair (Seattle Times) 
Memorial’s last major international before the grass was replaced came in 1967, with Chelsea cruising past the Northwest All-Stars, 5-0. (Seattle P-I) 
Washington Youth Soccer state cup finals were often hosted by Memorial. Here Olsen’s United lifts the famous Sir Thomas Lipton trophy. (Washington Youth Soccer) 
Poland’s powerful national team, winner of the 1972 Olympic gold medal, beat the United States in 1975. (Seattle P-I) 
Seattle Pacific played home games at Memorial from 1975-90, hosting four NCAA Division II finals and becoming the first champion to repeat in 1986. (Seattle Pacific) 
In 1994 the Sounders were reborn and played eight seasons at Memorial, winning two championship finals in 1995 and ‘96. (Frank MacDonald Collection) 
Seattle Reign FC played matches at Memorial from 2014-18. (Seattle Reign FC) 
In 1967 Memorial Stadium became the nation’s first soccer/football stadium to install artificial turf after Houston’s Astrodome. (Seattle Times) 
In 1968, Scotland’s Kilmarnock defeated England’s West Ham United in the world’s first professional game played on Astroturf. (Seattle Times) 
From 1974-75, the Seattle Sounders made Memorial their fortress while increasing capacity to nearly 18,000. (Frank MacDonald Collection) 
Seattle hosted its first professional soccer match two years after Memorial Stadium opener, in 1949, when England’s Newcastle United routed the Washington State Selects, 11-1. (George Craggs Family)
We thank Frank MacDonald for providing us with these images
