40 YEARS OF STAMBAUGH STADIUM

The year was 1982. It was the year the 1982 World’s Fair came to the United States. Knoxville, Tennessee played host to the World’s Fair that summer. It was also the year when the Anheuser-Busch company launched Budweiser Light (aka Bud Light) and the year that gave us one of the biggest movie box office blockbusters of all-time in “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” Remember the “E.T. Phone Home” scene? I do.

Locally, the Mahoning Valley had the highest unemployment rate of any region in the United States in late 1982 when the Youngstown-Warren area had an unemployment rate of 20.9 percent in August 1982.

On the sports scene locally, we cheered for Youngstown’s own Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini when he became the World Boxing Association (WBA) Lightweight Champion of the World by beating Arturo Frias on May 8, 1982, in Las Vegas, Nevada, we cheered for Boardman’s Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. when his NFL team that he owned San Francisco 49ers won the first of their 5 Super Bowl championships when they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, 26-21, on January 24, 1982, in Pontiac, Michigan, and we cheered for the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals football team coached at the time by the legendary Don Bucci won their third Ohio High School Athletic Association Football Championship by defeating Toledo St. Francis deSales in the OHSAA Division II Football Championship Game, 12-0, played at the legendary Akron Rubber Bowl.

On the campus of Youngstown State University, a new multi-purposed stadium opened it’s gates on September 4, 1982, when YSU played host to their then-main rival, Akron, in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,833 people. It’s known officially as Arnold D. Stambaugh Stadium, to most however as Stambaugh Stadium (aka “The Ice Castle”). Akron spoiled YSU football’s Stambaugh Stadium opener that day, 20-19.

When it opened in 1982, Stambaugh Stadium had one large grandstand on the west side of Stambaugh Stadium, with a seating capacity of approximately 17,000. Stambaugh Stadium was renovated several times since its 1982 opening:

1. In 1997, the stadium was upgraded and expanded with the addition of over 3,000 bleacher seats on the east side of the field, on the site of a practice field. In addition, a new press box was created and 14 additional luxury suites were built (12 suites pre-1997 to 26 suites today), along with a stadium club, which hosts the YSU football’s weekly press conferences. Stambaugh Stadium’s capacity since 1997 is 20,630, the largest facility in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

2. In 2009, an auxiliary scoreboard was constructed in the south end zone, giving Stambaugh Stadium a scoreboard in each end zone, along with the installation of new reserved chairback seats and 2 new flagpoles next to the scoreboard in the north end zone, one for the Ohio flag and one for the United States flag.

3. In 2015, a state-of-the-art video board installed by LED3 of Canfield was enhanced in the North End Zone.

4. In 2019, the opening of Constantini Multimedia Center.

5. A new film and meeting room is currently under construction. When completed, the facility located on the second-level hallway will feature seating of more than 100 student-athletes, coaches and staff members.

There were great student-athletes that played for YSU football during the 40 seasons that YSU has called Stambaugh Stadium its home: Tim Johnson (1999-2000), Paul McFadden (1980-1983), Marcus Mason (2005-2006), Jeff Wilkins (1990-1993), Kevin Rader, Colt McFadden, Derek Rivers, Avery Moss, Jaleel McLaughlin (2020-present) to name a few of the YSU Football student-athletes that played at The Ice Castle over the past 4 decades.

Then, there we’re the YSU Football great games that we’re playing at Stambaugh, particularly the playoff games at Stambaugh in which YSU has a record of 16-1: remember the great catch by Herb Williams against Villanova in the 1991 NCAA Division I-AA First Round that set up Jeff Wilkins’ game-winning field goal, and the great games against Alcorn State (led by the late Steve McNair), Eastern Kentucky and Montana in 1994.

Since 1982, YSU Football has qualified for the NCAA I-AA/FCS playoffs 13 times, advancing to the championship game 7 times, winning 4 of those I-AA/FCS titles (1991, 1993, 1994, 1997).

Yet, my first memory of being inside Stambaugh Stadium for a sporting event is wasn’t even a YSU Football game, it was in June of 1990 when as a kid I attended the Mahoning Valley Coaches Association High School Football All-Star Game that was played at Stambaugh Stadium. The Blue team won that game over the Gold team 19-13 in double overtime.

Even there were some great High School Football games played at Stambaugh Stadium in the 40 years since The Ice Castle opened its gates:

There were the Holy War matchups between the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals against Ursuline Fighting Irish and the so many home games from Mooney and Ursuline that we’re playing at Stambaugh Stadium in the past 40 years.

And, then the great Ohio High School Athletic Association Football Playoff Games played at Stambaugh Stadium since 1982.

Many in the Mahoning Valley still remember the Ursuline-Steubenville OHSAA Division II football playoff game played in a driving rainstorm on November 9, 1984 – a game where the Big Red of Steubenville shut out Ursuline, 8-0, that launched Steubenville’s road to their first ever OHSAA football championship in Division II 2 weeks later when they defeated Columbus Whitehall Yearling, 12-9, in overtime, and the 3 football playoff meetings between Mooney and Campbell Memorial Red Devils in a 4-year span (1986, 1988, 1989) – Campbell Memorial defeated Mooney in 2 of those meetings (1986, 1989).

It’s been a great joyride of seeing the many great moments at Stambaugh Stadium over the past 40 years, either attending a game, covering a game, or seeing it on TV.

I along with everyone at YSN Live (along with my colleagues Kristin Seidler and Scotty “Scooter” Mincher) join in wishing YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium a happy, healthy, and prosperous 40th Anniversary. Here’s to 40 more great years of more great memories of YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium.

Until the next On The Radar, this is Radar Pavlov reporting for YSN Live.