Griffin Stadium

Home of the Raiders Football and Track & Field Teams

         It was the brain storming of the first M&O director Chuck "Maddog" Gibson back in 1965 that the location of Griffin Stadium is where it is today. While construction of Moorpark College was going on, construction crews needed a place to put the dirt while they excavated on upper campus. Chuck had the foresight that  the college was eventually going to build a stadium, so he had the excavation crews build two mounds wide enough apart to fit a football field and a track in between them. Even though there was a football field and track when the stadium was completed, there was no seating due to 1975's prop 13. The stadium was OK to use for track meets, but it forced the football teams to play at Simi Valley HS. Thousand Oaks HS, and finally at Camarillo HS. Until 1982, when once again Chuck Gibson brain stormed again. He came up with an idea to have the Port Hueneme Construction Battalion finish the stadium. In 1984 with the stadium half completed, the Raiders only played 2 games in the stadium because there was no press box. So after several fundraisers and with the help of developer Paul Griffin, the stadium was completed in the spring of 1985.

         On September 14, 1985, the stadium was named Griffin Stadium with the Raiders playing a game against LA Harbor. The Raiders won that game, 55-28, and went on to win only the 2nd Western State Conference Championship in school history. In 1989, lights were added and Griffin Stadium was deemed complete. Until the year 2003.

         In the spring of 2003, the Ventura County Community College District put Measure S in the ballot in hopes of upgrading facilities at Moorpark, Ventura and Oxnard Colleges. With the passing of Measure S, the brickdust track was on the top of the list to be replaced. After months of construction, the upgrades at Griffin Stadium are complete

         On March 4, 2005, Griffin Stadium was re-dedicated. The natural grass football field was replaced with the Sportexe Momentum turf system. The brickdust track was replaced with the Rekortan M99 Polyurethane surface system. The football field features blue endzones with "Moorpark" in the east end and "Raiders" in the west end. An interlocking "MC" adournes the center of the field. The new red track has 9 NCAA regulation lanes along with 6 pole vault boxes, 4 jump pits and a steeplchase water jump. The track was configured to start races at 4 different areas and features the Finishlynx photo finish system. The new scoreboard from Fairplay, will feature a message center and will be able to post finish results from all races.

Griffin Stadium Quick Facts.

Opened: 1970

Seating Capacity: 6,000

Playing surface: Sportexe Momentum Turf System

Track surface: Advanced Polymer Technology's Rekortan M99 Polyurethane System

First Track Meet: March 2, 1972

First football game: September 14, 1985; defeated LA Harbor College, 55-28

First night game: September 22, 1990; defeated LA Valley College, 44-10 (thanks to Rick Wright for the correction)

First Bowl Game: December 2, 1990; K-Swiss Bowl, defeated Santa Monica City College, 59-21

First Track Meet on synthetic surface: March 4, 2005

First Game on synthetic surface: September 3, 2005; defeated Cerritos College, 30-23

Attendance records:

December 12, 2003: 13,331 - Westlake HS vs St Bonaventure HS; CIF Finals

December 15, 1996: 12,201 - Newbury Park HS vs Hawthorne HS; CIF Finals

December 8, 1998: 12,102 - Newbury Park HS vs Diamond Bar HS; CIF Finals