Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Hadley, Massachusetts, on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It has been the Massachusetts Minutemen football team's home stadium since 1965, with the exception of 2012 and 2013, when the team played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. From 2014 to 2018, the Minutemen split their home dates between McGuirk and Gillette. McGuirk Stadium is also home to the UMass Minutewomen lacrosse team. Originally known as Alumni Stadium, the facility was renamed in 1984 to honor Warren McGuirk, who was the UMass athletic director from 1948 to 1971. Although it is on the university's campus, which is almost entirely in Amherst, the stadium itself lies just across the town line in Hadley. History By 1960, the growth of the University and its burgeoning football program made the construction of a new sports facility a top priority. From the beginning, the stadium was conceived as a multi-purpose facility which could be used for other sports as well as for ceremonial occasions. A sweeping concrete structure whose bold curves and open space express and exploit the vocabulary of its material, McGuirk Stadium was the first major concrete stadium to be built in the Northeast since 1920. One unusual feature is its raised design: the lowest seats in the stands are more than off the ground. Replacing Alumni Field, the stadium hosted its first game on September 25, 1965, with UMass beating American International College, 41–0. The stadium was officially dedicated on October 16, 1965, when UMass defeated Rhode Island, 30–7, in a homecoming contest. The first sellout came on November 6, 1965, as Massachusetts hosted Holy Cross in front of 17,400 spectators. On November 25, 1972, McGuirk held its largest attendance of 20,000 for the Massachusetts win over Boston College, 28-7. The most recent sellout at the stadium was on September 27, 2014, with a shootout loss against MAC foe Bowling Green, 47–42. The stadium is also the site of UMass Amherst graduation ceremonies, and hosted the 1987 NCAA women’s soccer championship. On April 10, 2009, an Amherst resident fell from the stadium in what police believe was a suicide. UMass now plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). McGuirk Stadium's current capacity is only modestly above the NCAA's requirement of 15,000 average attendance for FBS membership. The school upgraded its press box to meet NCAA requirements to bring some games