# Boxer Stadium

Boxer Stadium (also known as Matthew J. Boxer Stadium) is a soccer stadium in San Francisco, California. Located in Balboa Park, the stadium has a capacity of 3,500. It is owned and operated by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department and is the only public soccer-specific stadium in San Francisco. Boxer Stadium is the primary home of the century-old San Francisco Soccer Football League.

## History

Boxer Stadium opened September 27, 1953 as the Balboa Park Soccer Stadium at a cost of $150,000. The concrete bleachers were added later after the November 1953 Proposition G bond passage. The stadium was renamed in honor of the late SFSFL President, Matthew J. Boxer in the 1990s.
Boxer Stadium served as the main venue of the 1982 Gay Games.
Boxer Stadium hosted the California Rugby League Championship Game in 2021. East Palo Alto Razborbacks won the championship

## Tenants

The stadium is home to the San Francisco Soccer Football League, the Golden Gate Women's Soccer League, and the San Francisco Unified School District CIF high school and middle school soccer.
For the 2013 season the San Francisco Stompers FC of the National Premier Soccer League played their home games at Boxer Stadium.
The San Francisco Glens of USL League Two played at Boxer for their first two seasons in the league (2018-19).
High school Lacrosse teams from SHC also use Boxer Stadium.
Rugby and Gaelic Athletic Association teams had used Boxer Stadium until the opening of Ray Sheeran Field on Treasure Island in 2005. In 2016, Boxer Stadium was the home pitch for the San Francisco Rush professional rugby team in the new PRO Rugby competition in the United States, however, the team was folded by the league after one season citing an unsuitable venue.

## USA Internationals

Boxer Stadium has hosted 16 USA Eagles international rugby union matches. It was the unofficial home of the Eagles from 1996 to 2000, hosting 12 of their 17 test matches. The results are as follows:
| Date | Opponents | Final score | Competition | Attendance |
| 11 May 1996 | Canada | 19 – 12 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 3,500 |
| 29 June 1996 | Hong Kong | 42 – 23 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 2,200 |
| 6 July 1996 | Japan | 74 – 5 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 2,500 |
| 7 June 1997 | Japan | 51 – 29 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 1,800 |
| 14 June 1997 | Hong Kong | 17 – 14 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | |
| 28 June 1997 | Canada | 11 – 22 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 1,800 |
| 12 July 1997 | Wales | 23 – 28 | 1997 Wales rugby union tour of North America | 4,425 |
| 13 June 1998 | Japan | 21 – 25 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 1,800 |
| 20 June 1998 | Hong Kong | 17 – 27 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 1,300 |
| 14 May 1999 | Tonga | 30 – 10 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 4,600 |
| 22 May 1999 | Fiji | 25 – 14 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 3,950 |
| 15 July 2000 | Samoa | 12 – 19 | Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | |
| 16 June 2001 | England | 19 – 48 | 2001 England rugby union tour of North America | 5,150 |
| 22 June 2002 | Scotland | 23 – 65 | 2002 Scotland rugby union tour of North America | 2,400 |
| 15 August 2002 | Uruguay | 28 – 24 | 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying | 1,230 |
| 17 May 2003 | Japan | 69 – 27 | Super Powers Cup | 1,852 |
USA Record at the Boxer Stadium :
| Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | % Won |
| Pacific Rim Rugby Championship | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 63.64% |
| Rugby World Cup qualification | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Super Powers Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Test Match | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| Total | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 56.25% |
Updated 30 April 2021