Ivor Wynne Stadium
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| Ivor Wynne Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hamilton, Ontario |
| Opened | 1930 |
| Owner | City of Hamilton |
| Surface | AstroPlay |
| Construction cost | Unknown |
| Architect | Unknown |
| Tenants | |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats (CFL) McMaster Maurauders(temporary) |
|
| Seats | |
| Football: 30,000 (43,000 with temporary seating) | |
Ivor Wynne Stadium (aka Never Win Stadium, originally known as Civic Stadium) is a Canadian football stadium located in Hamilton, Ontario. The stadium was originally constructed in 1930 to host the 1930 British Empire Games, though playing fields had stood on the site since the city bought the land from a local farmer in 1913. The stadium, which currently seats 30 000 for football, has been the home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL since 1950.
The stadium consists of a large grandstand on one side of the field, with a small section curving around the end zone, and a separate grandstand on the opposite side of the field. The stadium was heavily rebuilt in 1970-71 and renamed for Ivor Wynne, the former chairman of the city Parks Board, in 1971.
From 1971 to 1975, Ivor Wynne's 34,500 seats made it the largest stadium in the CFL.
Ivor Wynne was the second facility in Canada to use Astroturf - Empire Stadium in Vancouver being the first in 1970 - or indeed any other artificial surface - a trend that has been followed by almost every major sports facility in Canada.
In the 1980s, the west end zone bleachers were removed for the addition of a new scoreboard, dropping capacity to approx. 29,500. A subsequent retro fit of the north stand lower east section for handicap access in the 1990s dropped capacity further to just under 29,000.
The stadium was renovated again after the 2002 football season and had a new AstroPlay playing surface installed. Shortly following the 2003 season a new scoreboard was erected in the west end of the stadium; owing to sponsorship, it is known as Dofasco TigerVision. In April 2005, Ivor Wynne hosted Our Game to Give, a charity hockey game similar in concept to the Heritage Classic.
Ivor Wynne has hosted the Grey Cup twice, in 1972 (with a win by the hometown Tiger-Cats over Saskatchewan in a sell out) and 1996, when temporary west and east end zone seating raised capacity to 43,000, but actual attendance was 36,000 even with a last minute discount ticket promotion by local coffee giant Tim Hortons. With the ticket discount, and 7000 empty seats, the 1996 Grey Cup suffered at least a 2.5 million dollar loss. The '96 Cup game, perhaps one of the greatest of all time, was played in a steady snowstorm, and won by the Toronto Argos over the Edmonton Eskimos.
The stadium has also hosted some of the best-attended CIS football games, including the 2004 and 2005 Vanier Cups.
In September 2006 the stadium's turf was damaged by flares thrown by fans during a match between Serbian White Eagles and Toronto Croatia [1].
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[edit] External links
| Current stadiums in the Canadian Football League |
||
| Western Division | Eastern Division | |
|---|---|---|
| BC Place Stadium | Commonwealth Stadium | McMahon Stadium | Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field | Canad Inns Stadium | Ivor Wynne Stadium | Olympic Stadium | Percival Molson Stadium | Rogers Centre | |
