Chris Galbraith watched the Crimson Tide battle through the rain from under a canopy off the corner of Memorial Field.
With no bleachers at the facility, fans lugged in their own chairs and umbrellas, and spread out around the action between the end zones.
“We’re all kind of dispersed, so you don’t really get the feel of how many people are really here,” Galbraith said. “… My other son played all four years of Concord High. The stands were always busy, but that was kind of the nostalgia of it.”
The parent of a freshman on the team said hosting a playoff game for the first time in over a decade was a huge deal for the community. However, it was unfortunate the fans could not all sit together, he said.
In the past, Galbraith said the fans and student section would sit together on the stands. Now, the students stay around the end zone and parents watch from along the fence, around the field’s perimeter.
“Everyone loves Memorial Field. There’s a lot of nostalgia here,” Galbraith said. “It just stinks we don’t have the bleachers.”
The Crimson Tide’s home site for over 96 years, Memorial Field, has undergone significant changes this year as its future redevelopment awaits.
The trees around the field were cut down over the winter, and the bleachers were demolished late in the summer, which forced the team to move off-site for its home opener against Windham. It was the first time the team played outside of the field since 1929.
The Concord City Council approved $1.2 million for professional architects and engineers to design the proposed master plan for the site in October. It bonded $600,000, matched by funds from the Concord School District, for this design and permitting phase, expected to last around a year.
That approval came long after Concord football had already returned to Memorial Field. Fans brought out the lawn chairs, the band sat in the temporary bleachers and the student section was moved behind the far end zone.
Kelly Hazzard, a parent of a band student, called the conditions at Memorial Field deplorable. She pointed to the main gate where the pavement is coming apart. The bumpy pavement makes it difficult for band students to maintain their footing, especially when carrying instruments and having to focus forward, she said.
As someone who grew up in Concord, Hazzard said she saw the field’s condition worsen.
“Even last year, when we came to support the band, the bleachers — you could feel the bowing of the wood, so you could tell it was starting to go,” Hazzard said.
Pam Wicks, another parent of a band student and treasurer of the performing arts booster club, said it was frustrating that despite the high school’s use of Memorial Field, the field’s maintenance has been outside of the school district’s control. She hopes to see the city step up and the Memorial Field project move along so that students have a nice place to practice and play.
“We are here because we care about our kids; we care about our athletes; we care about our musicians,” Wicks said. “We’re here to support them in any way we can, even when the facilities are not the best.”
Hazzard said while she’s glad the field is being renovated, she is sad that it has taken so long.
“Now it’s going to be years and a lot of the kids that are playing will never actually see the results of the field being done,” Hazzard said.
Crystal Haskell’s sons will be seniors next year and will not see the Memorial Field project come to fruition. However, she said she and other parents want the field renovated for future students. She stood under a tent selling merchandise, as president of Concord football’s booster club.
Katrina Malone, treasurer of the booster club helped man the booth with Haskell. Malone was one of many Concord parents who attended last month’s city council meeting, where she voiced her support for Memorial Field improvements.
“It’s for the future. The future of all the kids, the students here, but it’s also the community at-large,” Malone said.
Despite the facilities being less than ideal, the team was excited to play on their home field and parents were pumped for them, Haskell said.
“For [the team], it’s great. They’re here, we have people supporting them,” Haskell said. “Unfortunately, for the parents and the people who are coming to watch them, they don’t really have any good places to see the game.”
On Salem’s side, fans commented on the lack of stands and the field as they walked in.
Blue Devils Parent Keith Partridge said the field was “kind of a letdown.” He was expecting at least portable bleachers for viewers.
Standing behind the fence with other Salem fans, Partridge said it was hard to see from the ground. Not having bleachers was a disadvantage for the kids who wanted their parents to see them play, he said.
“You only see your kids play for so long. It’s a short period of life, so when you take away the views of something, it just kind of hurts everybody,” Partridge said.
Compared to Salem’s facilities, Partridge said Memorial Field was a dump.
“There’s nothing here, there’s no seats,” he said.
Salem parent Sean Patel also noted the differences between the viewing experiences at Salem and Concord.
“In Salem, we have bleachers that go up high so you can have a really good view of the field,” Patel said. “And here, we’re at ground level, so you really only get a two-dimensional view. You really can’t see down the field.”
In general, Patel said athletic facilities are important for school communities.
“As a parent, it’s paramount that we have the proper facilities to enjoy the experience,” Patel said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Once it’s over, it’s over, and you don’t get to relive those. Even through film, it’s not the same as seeing it live.”
Akasia Ware, who came to support her younger brother, did not feel as strongly about the lack of bleachers at Memorial Field. She said while Salem was lucky to have a newly renovated football field, she understands the process Concord is going through.
“I went to high school when the field wasn’t very great and we actually had our football games in Haverhill, so I understand they’re probably going to be in that same situation eventually,” Ware said.
Having up-to-date facilities and investing in athletics shows the community how much the city cares, said George Cokkinos, who came from Hooksett to support his friend’s grandson on the Salem team.
“It looks like they don’t care, and that’s kind of sad,” he said.
At the end of the day, Cokkinos said he remembers when he used to play football on dirt and that Memorial Field was an upgrade from what he had growing up.
“It might deter some people, but sports fans are sports fans,” Cokkinos said about how the conditions might impact attendance. “They come no matter what.”