Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium

The new artificial turf is ready

The Block 'A' logo at midfield

Artificial turf was added this summer: a look at the west end zone

Always a packed house

The best student section in the MIAA

Called the "most unique" name for a stadium in college sports, Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium was named in 1976 for a pair of Albion College athletic and academic legends: Dale Sprankle, who won 23 MIAA championships in four sports over a 26-year span as a teacher, coach, and athletic director; and Walter Sprandel, a championship coach in track and basketball while at Olivet and Albion, and later Albion's dean of students for parts of two decades.

Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium was transformed in summer 2011 with a $1.1-million project that included the installation of artificial turf on the football field and a new running surface on Elkin Isaac Track as well as improved facilities for spring field events.

Work on the state-of-the-art field began days after graduation in May with installation of a new drainage system. It was topped with a crushed stone base, cushioned infill, and finally the artificial turf.

Work shifted to the track and field areas once the football field was complete in July. The project involved more than resurfacing the 400-meter track, as the athletes in the long and triple jumps now have two runways and four jumping pits for training and competition. A new cage was installed east of the stadium to host the hammer throw.

Always a "packed house" for home football games, crowds often line the iron fence and mingle in the plaza to the west of the stands. The Albion marching band, The British Eighth, performs for all college home football games, providing a new show for each football appearance.

With an average attendance of nearly 3,000 spectators per game, Albion is annually among the top Division III colleges in average attendance each season. In 1999, Albion drew 5,114 spectators as Albion took on two-time defending Division III national champion, Mount Union, during the regular season opener that year.

The crowd and the stadium give Albion a definite home-field advantage. The Britons have also won the league title 15 times in the 26 year history of Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium. (Albion has won 33 league titles overall, the most among all Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association members.)

The stadium provides not only permanent seating for some 4,244 spectators, but also a pressbox, locker rooms and a concession stand.

In 1999, Albion renovated much of the stadium. A new building in the stadium's northeast corner includes a visiting team locker room for football. The facility, when football is not being played at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium, is used to house visiting teams for soccer, track and field, baseball and softball. On the top floor of the building are public restrooms and a concession stand. Included in the project was a brick walkway, new fencing and the addition of a plaza at the west end of the stadium. Inside the stadium, the varsity locker rooms were also renovated.

Prior to the Homecoming game against Ohio Wesleyan University in 2002, the stadium field was renamed in honor of legendary Briton football coach Morley Fraser. In his 15 seasons as head football coach, the Britons won five MIAA titles.

What A View!

It's rare that a Division III football stadium gets recognition in the travel section of a daily newspaper. Yet that's what the Detroit Free Press did in mentioning Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in its August 28, 1994, edition. And what did the Free Press have to say about Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium?

"Because the Kalamazoo River flows next to the football stadium, fans get to pretend that football is, in fact, a nature experience. Don't laugh. This is one of the few places in Michigan where, in October, you can literally watch the seasons change as the trees on the riverbank bow to the pressure of oncoming winter..."

Another view of Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium and its vistas comes from Grand Rapids Press Sports Editor Bob Becker after a 1996 visit. Becker's comments appear in the October 20, 1996, edition of the Press:

"There is nothing special about Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium, unless you count the beauty of the Kalamazoo River bubbling just behind the visitors' bleachers, bordered by acres of unspoiled forest spotted in brilliant shades of orange, red, green and yellow.

"No rational person could ever observe such stunning natural beauty without being absolutely convinced of the existence--and love--of a much higher power."

A Century on Alumni Field

A view of football action in the 1950s.During the spring of 1900, Albion College received donations for the purchase of land for athletics. Immediately after purchasing land north of the Kalamazoo River, the college began preparing the field for the following football season. The original field was located on the northern section of the property. The new field, known as Winter-Lau Field, was officially opened for league play October 6, 1900, as the home crowd watched Albion shutout Michigan Agricultural College (later known as Michigan State University), 29-0.

By 1902, a baseball diamond, a quarter-mile oval track surrounding the gridiron, and a covered grandstand on the north side of the football field were erected. A rough board fence soon surrounded the north and west sides of the property.

The following two decades brought major changes to the athletic facilities of the college. Alumni and students, alike, were calling for the replacement of the wooden fence, now rotted, weather-beaten, and covered in advertising signs. In 1914, the announcement that the fence would be replaced by a concrete wall brought a sigh of relief from alumni who had pushed for the project. The wall would be built panel by panel as funding became available. An "artistic entrance" complete with wrought iron swinging gates was the senior gift of the class of 1914. At the dedication ceremony it was announced that the field would be renamed "Alumni Field." Completed in 1919, the wall still surrounds the Albion athletic fields today.

The grandstand was destroyed by fire in 1918, however, work had already began to move the gridiron to the south and closer to the Kalamazoo River. The new field was dedicated during the first game of the 1919 season. Also, during the 1919 school year, Albion adopted Purple and Gold as the school colors.

During the summer of 1930, lights were added to the gridiron at Alumni Field. The nickname "Britons" was added to the athletic teams during the 1933 season. The pressbox and home seating stood on the south side of the field from the late 1940's until Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium was built. Pressbox size tripled between 1946 and 1950.

After the construction of the Herrick Speech and Theatre Complex , the outdoor track, still on the northern part of the property, was moved to its present location around the football field. The field was shifted slightly north to make room for this change.

A need for permanent seating and for on-site locker rooms led Albion to erect Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in 1976. In previous years, teams had a three-block trek across campus to the locker rooms at Kresge Gymnasium.