J. Birney Crum Stadium

J. Birney Crum Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The stadium seats 15,000 and is used by several area high schools and the Pennsylvania Stoners of the NPSL (men) and the Northampton Laurels of the WPSL (women) soccer teams. J. Birney Crum Stadium is the home football field for each of Allentown's three high schools: William Allen High School, Louis E. Dieruff High School, and Allentown Central Catholic High School of the Lehigh Valley Conference.

The stadium opened in 1948 as "Allentown High School Stadium." In 1982 , it was renamed in honor of J. Birney Crum, a football, basketball, and baseball coach at Allentown High School (present-day William Allen High School) who was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.

Crum was, at one point, the largest high school football stadium in Pennsylvania. But with the removal of the visitor side stands, it lost that standing.

Crum is also the home high school playing field for numerous Lehigh Valley Conference football players who went on to careers in the NFL, including Ed McCaffrey of the Denver Broncos and New York Giants and Andre Reed of the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins. Tony Stewart, the current tight end for the Oakland Raiders, also played his home high school football games at Crum.

The stadium was recently renovated and FieldTurf was installed to replace the original natural grass surface.

In addition to sporting events, the stadium also hosts the annual Drum Corps International Eastern Championships, with drum and bugle corps from all over the country, and a large Fourth of July fireworks display that typically draws tens of thousands of spectators. The stadium also plays host to the Collegiate Marching Band Festival, held in late September/early October, which showcases college and university marching bands of all sizes and styles from across the Northeastern United States.

External links

* [http://www.allentownsd.org/J_Birney_Crum.htm J. Birney Crum Stadium at Allentown School District] .