Thanks for the Memories, Memorial

It would be 90 miles each way and I was a year away from a driver’s license. Tickets were student-priced at $2.50 but the seats were view obstructed. Yet I was determined to finally see with my eyes what I had only imagined in my mind.

As it turns out, Sunday, June 29, marks 50 years since I first saw a Seattle Sounders game firsthand. Officially, it was sold-out, except for these seats whose vantage point continually had spectators straining to see around the substantial concrete pillars. I paid cash from my lawn mowing earnings and convinced my sister to make the long drive from Centralia to Seattle to see our first professional soccer contest at Memorial Stadium.

If there was any question whether I would be consumed by this game, it was answered in those first minutes after taking our seats. One by one, the Sounders starters were announced over the loudspeaker and the crowd stood and roared.

The atmosphere in Memorial on a summer evening was magical. Between the steep rake of the permanent stands, the twin concrete roofs of the two sideline stands and the extra 6,000 bleachers filling every bit of spare space, the feeling was intimate and the noise incredible. As it turned out, I was hooked. For life.

A Beautiful Backdrop

At its best, Memorial was a big city cracker box where the sport could shine. Fifty years ago from next Saturday came the first nationally televised Sounders game, against Pelé and the Cosmos. It had the look and feel of a Soccer Specific Stadium because, in those early days, it was compact and a scarcity of tickets; the final 17 home games were all filled to capacity.

As time marched on, Memorial would lose its luster, bit by bit. The landscaping, once green and lush under the care of Buster the custodian, became neglected. The wooden bleachers were in constant disrepair and the spartan restrooms and concession areas were no longer quaint, they were sad. In the 1980s, illegal fireworks ignited by knuckleheads badly burned the turf. In the 1990s, an earthquake led to chunks of the roof crumbling into the stands. In each instance, the stadium was closed for repairs but reopened within several weeks.

For 30-something years, we have heard of both Memorial makeovers or outright demolition, with most plans calling for no replacement of the stadium or its memorial to the 762 past Seattle public high school students who lost their lives in World War II.

Thankfully, with time came a greater understanding and vision of what Memorial was, since 1947, and what a new Memorial Stadium could become. Finally, that vision was sufficient for funding to be secured and the promise of a beautiful new sports and concert venue opening in 2027, a process that got an official kickstart on Thursday with a ceremony bidding farewell to the old facility.

In the five decades since that Seattle-L.A. Aztecs match, I have almost exclusively returned to Memorial nearly 200 times as a worker bee. Often from the press box hanging from the north stand roof, I would cover high school, college, FC Seattle, A-League Sounders and Reign games. I watched amazing, trophy-clinching games in each decade.

Let Me Count the Times

Beyond that cauldron of sound during my first visit to the venue, I’m finding random, anecdotal flashes from the past coming to mind as my fingers tap the keyboard:

Working and watching 13 otherwise forgettable Far West Classic and FC Seattle games over three days during one Labor Day weekend.
Cliff McCrath repeatedly bellowing, “Next man! Next man!” to his ever-pressing Seattle Pacific teams – and McCrath climbing onto a railing to celebrate FC Seattle’s very first goal after mere seconds – scored by SPU alum Bruce Raney – against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Innovative players like Peter Hattrup and Kim Little wiggling through defenders to score and set-up goals again and again, and Marcus Hahnemann being hoisted onto the shoulders of field-rushing fans following his championship-clinching shootout save. Meeting an 18-year-old Chris Henderson and the sight of the three Schmetzer brothers lining up against Santos.
The blaring horn and scoreboard lights celebrating home goals, plus the periodic screams of Fun Forest rollercoaster riders beyond the south stand, and the World’s Fair-era tram ferrying folks across the horizon while the elegant Needle towered above. Husky Stadium has a majestic setting, but Memorial’s must be part of the conversation.
There was witnessing the elation and relief of those players raising league trophies. The pitch’s tight confines and unforgiving turf (particularly during the days of the crowned field) which gave visitors plenty of excuses for their defeats. The ache of my quads, glutes and calves after repeatedly descending and ascending the hundreds of steep steps from the field to the press box.
I remember bringing my young son to Sounders games and pointing out particular players to watch closely, to help spur his own appreciation for the game. In ensuing years he played on that field, walked the commencement stage and finished a marathon on the stadium floor.

The Next Chapter

My father would share tales of Memorial’s predecessor on that plat of earth. Civic Field was where he ran hurdles for Broadway High and watched football games and boxing bouts. Now, I have begun assembling my own memory bank of Memorial 1.0 to share with the descendants of Boomers like myself.

It remains to be seen who will make a home of Memorial 2.0. Certainly, Seattle public middle and high school teams will be in residence. Perhaps some minor league tenants or small college tournaments. It would be awesome to occasionally bring back the state youth and high school championships, to let kids and perhaps those aspiring for greater things begin weaving their dreams on the new pitch and bring on a new era of Memorial magic.

This story first posted on the author's local soccer history blog, FrankMacDonald.net.