Ten Delaware High School Football Stadiums Up for Best-in-State Reader Vote

A Delaware News Journal reader poll is asking fans to choose the state's top high school football venue from ten nominees, with the winner named Friday, Oct. 2.

Supporters of high school football across Delaware are being asked to name the best stadium in the state. A weekly reader poll from the Delaware News Journal, where Brandon Holveck covers high school sports, lists ten nominees, all taken from Kevin Tresolini's earlier ranking of Delaware's top 15 venues. Tresolini's write-ups on each contender accompany the ballot, and the winning choice will be revealed on Friday, Oct. 2.

Going to games is a longstanding ritual for many First State fans, who fill the bleachers, claim a spot on a grassy slope beside the field or, in a habit some hold dear, stand along the fence lines found at many fields.

Rocco Abessinio Stadium at Salesianum opened in 2020 on land formerly occupied by Baynard Stadium. The 5,000-seat venue, funded by a $16 million donation from Abessinio, a Salesianum graduate, generates a major-event atmosphere and also serves as home field for two other Wilmington schools, Howard and St. Elizabeth.

Middletown's Cavalier Stadium seats its fans just off the sideline, a layout that pulls the crowd into the game, and it has long ranked among Delaware's leading football settings on the strength of winning programs and devoted followings that often push attendance past capacity. Archmere's Coaches Field honors a long history of football achievement in its name and offers a scenic setting; the school is also the only one in Delaware where a future U.S. president played the game.

Dover Stadium arrived alongside the new Dover High School, which opened in 2014, and ranks among the state's largest and most admired venues, with almost any point in Delaware no more than about an hour away by car. Bob Dowd Stadium in Seaford was once considered a premier Friday-night destination when the Blue Jays fielded some of Delaware's strongest teams and best-known players; that stretch has passed, yet the home-field edge there has not gone away.

Frances E. Nunvar Stadium in Delmar occupies ground right at Delaware's southern line with Maryland, so the Wildcats have long performed for ardent supporters from both states. Bruce Reynolds Field/Bill Cole Stadium at William Penn drew Saturday afternoon crowds in its heyday; even with the Colonials no longer the powerhouse they once were, the facility remains an excellent site for competition and a difficult one for opponents to visit.

Schollenberger Field in Laurel functions as a Friday-night hub for much of the small town, and those gatherings have long supplied the Bulldogs with a home-field boost. In Newark, Butch Simpson Field/Hoffman Memorial Stadium led the way in 1987 as the first high school stadium north of the C&D Canal to install lights, a step other schools later copied, and its roomy seating creates a strong setting for major matchups.

Smyrna's Charles V. Williams Stadium completes the ballot. A run of strong recent results has filled its stands and lifted the energy, and the home crowd ranks among the state's hardest on officials; the school's Regiment in Red band supplies additional color on game nights.

Next on the Global Sportscast schedule, Ware High School visits Holyoke High School on Monday, September 28, with kickoff set for 4:00 PM EDT.