Photos by Gregory Koch, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.00
President’s Field at River Road 23B Boatwright Dr Richmond, VA 23173
Year Opened: 2019 Capacity: 700
Spider Soccer
Located off of River Road on the Westhampton side of the University of Richmond campus, President’s Field at River Road is the home to the Spiders women’s soccer team since 2019 (there is no men’s soccer team here at Richmond.) Before that time, the Spiders played at the much more spacious Robins Stadium, which also hosts football and lacrosse. However, that stadium was far too large for the crowds the soccer team attracted, and now they have their own soccer-specific home.
Food & Beverage 1
Free water bottles are available in a cooler as you come in. Beyond this, there is no food or beverage available, but it is a nice touch. Fans are permitted to bring in items for their consumption, except alcohol.
Atmosphere 3
President’s Field at River Road has a very basic layout, with a few rows of bleachers lining one side of the field. The good news is you are very close to the action. However, there is very little here beyond the basics. There is a scoreboard that shows the time, score, and basic stats, but that is about it. The school does very little to promote the soccer team on campus and seems much more focused on the football program during the fall season. However, this stadium does deserve some credit for the up close and personal experience.
Neighborhood 3
Richmond’s campus is about 20-30 minutes from downtown Richmond, right on the edge of the city limits. As fans of rival school VCU will love to point out, only about half of the University of Richmond campus is actually in the City of Richmond. The other half is in neighboring Henrico County. If you head down Three Chopt Road, there are a few restaurants and other places available, but your best bet is to head about three miles east on Route 147 to the Carytown neighborhood which has far more options available. We recommend the Galaxy Diner and Carytown Burgers and Fries as your best bets.
Fans 4
The Spiders draw well for soccer and seem to have benefited from moving into a much smaller, but mostly full, venue compared to a nearly empty Robins Stadium. Although they will only draw a few hundred fans a game sitting in the bleachers and lawn chairs along the turf, it still seems pretty full. The same crowd at Robins would make it seem almost deserted.
Fans are mainly but not exclusively friends and family of the team and are very knowledgeable about the players on the field. They are happy to share that knowledge with fans who may not be as familiar as them and who are coming to check out the Spiders for the first time.
Access 3
Getting to the Richmond campus is easy enough. It is conveniently located a couple of miles off I-64, the Downtown Expressway, or the Powhite Parkway, depending on where you are coming from. The first route is toll-free but the second two have small tolls.
Unfortunately, once you get onto campus, finding President’s Field can be challenging. No signs are pointing you to the right place, and many GPS apps will take you to the wrong side of the field. You will need to park in the lot across the street by Crenshaw Field, the field hockey stadium, and then simply walk across the street to get here. However, many GPS apps have trouble finding Crenshaw Field as well so it is not as simple as just navigating there.
There are no restrooms at President’s Field itself, but there are some at Crenshaw which will be open during games. There is also a port-a-potty right outside the gate if you have an emergency and don’t have time to run across the street to go there.
Return on Investment 5
Admission is free and so is parking. If that were all, that would be a good deal, but there wouldn’t be enough here to get the top score. However, when you throw in the free bottled water for all fans, that’s enough to kick this score up a notch.
Extras 2
The free bottled water to help fans stay hydrated on hot days, particularly early in the season, is a nice touch. There are free programs available at a table as you come in as well.
Final Thoughts
President’s Field at River Road suits the Spiders’ soccer program much better than Robins Stadium. Although it lacks many of the amenities that Robins offers, sometimes less is more, and playing in a stadium that is suited for the crowds the team attracts offers a marked improvement over having a few hundred fans in a stadium that seats almost 9,000. The stadium is only two years old and still very basic, so hopefully, the Spiders continue to make improvements to it in future years.