Worst Ohio HS FB stadiums

The old Pioneer had some of the worst stadiums around. Strongsville's was a mudhole that was uneven like the surface of the moon and never seemed to have grass. North Royalton had crumbling concrete stands . Brecksville had virtually no away side. Cloverleaf was literally next to a cow pasture. The worst though was Finney/Baldwin Wallace where Berea and Midpark had home games. It had that old school turf that was like playing on a carpeted parking lot. You'd out of there skinned from dad to toe and the ground was so hard you'd rather race out of bounds than go down. That old turf was the absolute worst.

As mentioned above though a lot of those have been replaced by stadiums that all look and feel the same.
 
I can vouch for Mathews.

I'm pretty sure 3 of us could lean on the stands and topple the whole thing ever.

Though to be fair the visiting side looked a lot worse.

A lot of people attending would just stand along the fence. Much safer.

FYI: walking inside the high school is like walking into a time warp. Not sure when that building was built but I'm guessing the 40s? Feels like you are walking down the hall with George McFly.
 
I can vouch for Mathews.

I'm pretty sure 3 of us could lean on the stands and topple the whole thing ever.

Though to be fair the visiting side looked a lot worse.

A lot of people attending would just stand along the fence. Much safer.

FYI: walking inside the high school is like walking into a time warp. Not sure when that building was built but I'm guessing the 40s? Feels like you are walking down the hall with George McFly.
That school is old as the hills. Yikes!
100 years old according to this video:

 
I'm just curious what were some columbus area school facilities like before they grew in population and morphed....
1. Hilliard
2. DUblin
3. pIckerington
4. New albany....a very tiny school at one time?
5, licking heights...liike new albany...tiny school district
6. canal winchester
7. olentangy....was shanahan the original k-12 school?
8. bloom carroll
9. the original westerville hs athletic complex
10. grove city....the original
11...pleasantview...for you west side columbus history buff athletic gurus this used to be a hs before westland was built and they had a football team so ive seen the field because i drove school bus for southwestern for two years.
 
I'm just curious what were some columbus area school facilities like before they grew in population and morphed....
1. Hilliard
2. DUblin
3. pIckerington
4. New albany....a very tiny school at one time?
5, licking heights...liike new albany...tiny school district
6. canal winchester
7. olentangy....was shanahan the original k-12 school?
8. bloom carroll
9. the original westerville hs athletic complex
10. grove city....the original
11...pleasantview...for you west side columbus history buff athletic gurus this used to be a hs before westland was built and they had a football team so ive seen the field because i drove school bus for southwestern for two years.
I can’t speak to New Albany’s football facility, but my cousin played league softball games there in the early ‘90s and per her the outfield would experienced significant flooding with runoff’s & poor drainage. The bathroom for the ball park was the other side of a shipping container, apparently.

BC’s field is turfed, but my understanding is the facility hasn’t significantly changed otherwise?

I don’t believe Pickerington’s current field alignment and facility situation came about until the early ‘80s? I think the field was aligned the other way and went East/West, jutting toward Victory Park? @Walt might know. I’ll ask other peeps I’d know.

I’ll use my “phone a friend” and call @Forepar to this thread. He’d know about Canal, Pickerington and BC as he played against those schools in the O.G. Mid-State League. Off chance he’d know more about New Albany and Licking Heights, too.
 
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I'm just curious what were some columbus area school facilities like before they grew in population and morphed....
1. Hilliard
2. DUblin
3. pIckerington
4. New albany....a very tiny school at one time?
5, licking heights...liike new albany...tiny school district
6. canal winchester
7. olentangy....was shanahan the original k-12 school?
8. bloom carroll
9. the original westerville hs athletic complex
10. grove city....the original
11...pleasantview...for you west side columbus history buff athletic gurus this used to be a hs before westland was built and they had a football team so ive seen the field because i drove school bus for southwestern for two years.

From my middle school and high school years at Hamilton Township in the old Metro League, 1971-1976:

Dublin - in the fall of '71, it was decent for what had been a more rural district. Maintained well, but it was obviously aging and needed expansion to accomodate their growth. By the spring of '73, they had either built a new stadium or upgraded the existing one - nice big bleachers, nice field, new pressbox, all-weather track. We always looked forward to traveling there. Always got a kick out of seeing I-270 in the distance from there.

New Albany - I was dismayed my first time there in early 1970's. Didn't know anything about the area, but it was obviously a tiny rural district, pretty sure it was the poorest one in the league. Kinda felt sorry for the students there. That their track had grass growing in lanes 3 thru 8 even in April and May should give you an idea. HT's band marched about 120 back then, and I don't think there was room in the bleachers for us and the visiting fans. But then Lex Wexner moved in ......

Olentangy - nothing stands out in particular. Nice facility for the era, decent size. Always had great athletes. As fans, we never had any complaints going there. Exception: we couldn't stand their lady PA announcer for basketball, lol.
 
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in my two year run as a bus driver for southwestern city schools, i took the finland middle school volleyball team to sells middle school right there on old 33 post road. i believe the volleyball game was held in what used to the old high school gym all those years ago. i think my bus was parked near the old football stadium as a walked a few laps around the middle school track.
 
I didn't notice when I was there.

Lowellville most notably has a train.

Lowellville might be the worst I’ve seen in person, it’s tiny on both sides and the grass is craters. My son played against them before in pee wee and after the game said there was holes everywhere
 
I'm just curious what were some columbus area school facilities like before they grew in population and morphed....
1. Hilliard
2. DUblin
3. pIckerington
4. New albany....a very tiny school at one time?
5, licking heights...liike new albany...tiny school district
6. canal winchester
7. olentangy....was shanahan the original k-12 school?
8. bloom carroll
9. the original westerville hs athletic complex
10. grove city....the original
11...pleasantview...for you west side columbus history buff athletic gurus this used to be a hs before westland was built and they had a football team so ive seen the field because i drove school bus for southwestern for two years.
Answer to #7 is Yes i believe.
 
Rittman has light poles but are wooden telephone poles wrapped in foam very close to the field where people can get hurt . And also when you kick field goals your kicking it into the street behind the stadium so they have to close the street down . And on the other end where you kick field goals in gos over a hill and hits the parked cars .
 
Rittman has light poles but are wooden telephone poles wrapped in foam very close to the field where people can get hurt . And also when you kick field goals your kicking it into the street behind the stadium so they have to close the street down . And on the other end where you kick field goals in gos over a hill and hits the parked cars .

How much damage can a football do?
 
Struthers before they redid it when they built the new school was a dump. The visitor locker room under the bleachers had most all of the concrete wrapped in chicken wire so it wouldn’t fall and hit you in the head.
 
Struthers before they redid it when they built the new school was a dump. The visitor locker room under the bleachers had most all of the concrete wrapped in chicken wire so it wouldn’t fall and hit you in the head.
Yeah before the renovation in… 2008 I think it needed to be renovated about 30 years prior to that. Visiting locker room was also only about 5’7 in height if I recall. It was a very very old stadium.

edit. It was a 1936 WPA project. Did not start renovations until 2007. Crazy

 
Didn’t know common sense needed an answer. A car can be dented by a football either thrown or kicked at. Does that answer your question?

It's a question worth asking. It's not like a baseball or a golfball. Those brake windows. A football is mostly air packed in leather.

Has anyone ever put a radar gun on a football? Has anyone measured the speed of a kicked or passed football? I'm curious to know how fast it's going.
 
It's a question worth asking. It's not like a baseball or a golfball. Those brake windows. A football is mostly air packed in leather.

Has anyone ever put a radar gun on a football? Has anyone measured the speed of a kicked or passed football? I'm curious to know how fast it's going.
Doesn’t matter. A falling object (average football weight is 14oz-16 oz= 1 lb)can still make a small dent in a car. I’d still be mad if that happened. Can’t believe I’m still explaining this. Take something that is 1lb and start tossing it at your car. See if it makes a dent.
 
Doesn’t matter. A falling object (average football weight is 14oz-16 oz= 1 lb)can still make a small dent in a car. I’d still be mad if that happened. Can’t believe I’m still explaining this. Take something that is 1lb and start tossing it at your car. See if it makes a dent.
A pound of feathers or a pound of lead? :unsure:
 
Lucas High School may be one of the state's oldest. It was built in 1918, and is still in operation today.
Shelby W.W. Skiles field is right up there. Not sure the exact year but it's nearly 100. They play one last game to open this season before it's closed for good. Flooding, lack of upkeep, and the demolition of the schools around it ultimately meant it was time to move on.
 
1907...

1656099159152.png
 
Shelby W.W. Skiles field is right up there. Not sure the exact year but it's nearly 100. They play one last game to open this season before it's closed for good. Flooding, lack of upkeep, and the demolition of the schools around it ultimately meant it was time to move on.
As much as the town loved that field it was just beyond repair. A lot of history in that place but as you'll see in the below pictures, it was in in terrible shape.
Shelby-Bond-issue-01.jpg




1195482763_6105fc03ab.jpg
5cbe0e64-4499-4a6b-bdd8-11bfde452390-flooding_5.9.2021.jpg
4851e5e8-c6d4-4cb2-8635-9ca734bfd5d3-IMG_1541.jpg

This photo was taken at the end of last season.
 
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