The England first team played the United States in Downing Stadium, on 27th. May, 1964, winning 10-0.
In 1966, the Continental Football League's Brooklyn Dodgers, unable to find a suitable field in Brooklyn (Ebbets Field had been torn down in 1960), played their home games at Downing. (Coincidentally, the football Dodgers wound up playing under the same lights used at Ebbets, as they had been moved to Randalls Island upon the older stadium's destruction.)[6] The club would play only three games at Downing before the league took over the franchise and shifted their remaining home games elsewhere. Eight years later, Downing Stadium became the home of the New York Stars of the WFL;[7] like the Dodgers, the Stars left the stadium before the season ended, shifting to Charlotte.
Soccer
Randalls Island was the site of three international soccer matches: the US team played Scotland on Randalls Island on June 19, 1949, with the Scots winning, 4–0, with 17,000 in attendance;[8] on May 27, 1964, the English squad crushed the Americans, 10–0, in front of just 5,062 fans.[9] Another friendly match took place in 1965 between the Argentine team CA Independiente, winners of the 1965 Copa Libertadores, and Spanish giants Real Madrid, five times champion of the European Cup at the time. The teams drew 1–1 in front of 12,000 people.[10]
A friendly held at the stadium in July 1973 between Haiti and Millonarios of Colombia was delayed for more than two hours and forty five minutes by Haitian exiles protesting against the Duvalier regime. At one point, Haitian manager Antoine Tassy took his team to the dressing room and said that they were going home. He later made a call to Haitian Football Federation president Claude Raymond who told him to resume the match, if possible. Then, Serge Charles, a high-ranking member of the Haitian delegation to the United Nations, arrived and made another call to Raymond, and the Haitians agreed to go back on the field. Police arrived and cordoned off the field.[11]
The New York Cosmos of the NASL moved to Downing in 1974. On June 15, 1975, Pelé made his NASL debut against the Dallas Tornado with 21,567 spectators in attendance and a national television audience on CBS.[12] The stadium's condition was derided by team staff and television commentators; prior to Pelé's debut match, the field had broken glass and other litter that was cleared before green paint was added to improve its appearance for television audiences. The locker room roof had holes that were patched hours before.[13] In 1976, the Cosmos moved out, back to Yankee Stadium (where they had spent their debut season in 1971); for years afterward, the words "COSMOS SOCCER" remained on the stadium to be seen from the nearby highway viaduct on the Triborough Bridge. Downing's last pro soccer tenant were the New York Centaurs of the A-League in 1995.
The stadium also played host to the rugby footballNew ZealandAll Blacks several times, in the course of larger tours to Europe. They last played a New York Metropolitan selection in October 1972, beating their hosts 41–9.[14]
In May 1989, Downing hosted a number of international cricket players from Pakistan and India. They played a 40-over exhibition match, the first in a three-game US series which Pakistan won 2-1.[17]
The "North America Cup", as it was known, continued the following May. In 1990, Pakistan played Australia, with many regular international cricketers participating from both countries. Australia won the match by 5 runs.[18]
Music
In 1938, the stadium hosted the Carnival of Swing, one of the first large outdoor jazz festivals.
After the triumph of Woodstock the previous year, the three-day New York Pop Festival tried to re-create its success in New York City, opening on Randalls Island on July 17, 1970. Unfortunately, the concert was a bust, as half the big name lineup failed to show up (although Jimi Hendrix performed a memorable set). What is more, the festival was picketed by several radical groups: some of the protesters demanded that a portion of the ticket sales go to worthy causes (even threatening the box office), while others wanted everyone to get in free. (This was partially accomplished when thousands of concert-goers literally crashed through the gates.)[21]
The stadium was torn down in 2002 in order to be replaced by a newer, smaller complex, Icahn Stadium, which was completed in 2004. This facility is used primarily for track and field.
^"Haitian protesters rush field", Daily News (New York, New York), July 30, 1973, p.18
^Carlisle, Jeff (2009). Soccer's Most Wanted II: The Top 10 Book of More Glorious Goals, Superb Saves, and Fantastic Free-Kicks. Washington, DC: Potomac Books. ISBN978-1-59797-193-5.