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Earthquakes Defender, James Riley (#4), and Dallas Defender, Blake Wagner (#23) fight for the ball.
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Two members of organized Earthquake fans - The Casbah (www.thecasbah.org) show their team spirit. The Casbah were one of two groups out in force both in numbers and noise level for the game. The SJ Ultras (www.sjultras.com) - another group of organized Earthquake fans, were also at the game and were equally boisterous.
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The 2008 SJ Earthquakes
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Buck Shaw Stadium's new look
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By Robert Haugh
Christening their new home field in front of a capacity, standing-room-only crowd, the two-time MLS champion San Jose Earthquakes valiantly tried capturing a victory in their Buck Shaw Stadium debut in Santa Clara, coming shy of the win, tying FC Dallas 0-0.
Earthquakes management is proud of their new home turf, stating that it’s reminiscent of their former home field at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.
“This day is the one we’ve been looking forward to for a long time, this stadium is going to be our real home stadium,” said Earthquakes Head Coach Frank Yallop. “It’s very nice. It looks and feels like a stadium now.”
The sellout crowd --- 10,515 fans --- including over 200 standing-room-only seats added for the crowd, exceeding Buck Shaw’s maximum capacity of 10,300 made the Earthquakes debut at Santa Clara University the largest-attended game in the nearly 50-year history of the fabled stadium.
Prior to the Earthquakes inaugural Buck Shaw Stadium visit, the stadium’s largest attendance was 8,800 (December 6 and 8) in 1996 when the largest crowds ever gathered to witness an NCAA Women’s Championship game.
“First and foremost, the crowd needs to be involved,” said Earthquakes Goalkeeper Joe Cannon, referring to the intimate setting of Buck Shaw Stadium. Cannon, a 1997 All-American at SCU, says he’s glad to be “back at home again.” Cannon is a Los Altos Hills native.
The ambience of a standing-room-only crowd decked out in Earthquakes blue, white and black, many fans adorned with face paint, large posters and more often creates an advantage for the home team --- not to mention over 10,000 fans cheering on their team.
“As a coach, you’re not looking around the crowd and listening to it much, says Yallop, “But it felt really good that the crowd was really behind us and they saw a team that was trying to win,” says Yallop. “It certainly creates an extra obstacle for opposing teams to overcome,” adds Yallop.
Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed performed the coin toss and SCU’s Army ROTC program provided color guard services at the historic game on Saturday, May 3.
Eleven Buck Shaw Stadium contests remain on the Earthquakes 2008 schedule, starting this Saturday, May 10 when the Quakes clash with the Columbus Crew.
Earthquakes season tickets, including all game splayed at Buck Shaw are available by calling 408-556-7700. Individual game tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-225-2277 or online at sjearthquakes.com.
