When the Gaels kick off on Friday night against Guelph at Richardson Stadium, it will not only mark week four of the 2021 season, but the 100th anniversary of Queen's Football at Richardson Stadium.

The first game ever at Richardson Stadium was played 100 years ago, a 9-5 win over Toronto on Oct. 8, 1921, played in front of 3,500 fans. Bill Campbell scored the first touchdown at the stadium.

The original Richardson Stadium was located on what is now Tindall Field and Mackintosh-Corry Hall on Queen's campus, and was a gift of James Armstrong Richardson, Queen's Chancellor from 1929 to 1939. The stadium is named after Richardson's brother, George Taylor Richardson (BSc 1909), who was a prominent athlete at Queen's in both football and hockey. George Richardson was killed in combat on February 10, 1916 in France during the First World War.

The original Richardson Stadium was also host to Queen's victory in the 10^th Grey Cup, their first of three straight Grey Cup wins, on Dec. 12, 1922. Led by Canadian Football Hall of Famers Harry "Red" Batsone and Frank "Pep" Leadley, Queen's defeated Edmonton 13-1 in front of 4,700 fans.

Eighteen Yates Cup winning teams and one Vanier Cup winning team called Richardson Stadium home over 50 seasons from 1921-1970.

Richardson Stadium moved to its current location on West Campus in 1971, with much of the new stadium constructed using pieces of the original stadium, including the upper portion of the east bleachers. The new stadium had seating for more than 10,000 fans.

Queen's teams that played in the new Richardson Stadium have added another four Yates Cups, seven Dunsmore Cups, and three Vanier Cups. The most recent championship came in 2009, when Queen's went 7-1 in the regular season, including a perfect 4-0 at home, and captured the Yates Cup and Mitchell Bowl at home before winning the program's fourth Vanier Cup at Laval.

Richardson Stadium was revitalized in 2016, thanks to the generous support of Kim (Artsci'76) and Stu Lang (Sc'74), who pledged $10 million, the Richardson Foundation, who pledged, $5 million, and other donors who brought the total amount raised to more than $17 million.

The revitalization brought to Richardson Stadium artificial turf field, a state-of-the-art scoreboard, and bowl-seating.

Moving forward, a new pavilion will be constructed behind the north end zone to complete Richardson Stadium. Queen's announced earlier this year more than 300 donors contributed more than $11 million, with the lead gift coming from Stu and Kim Lang, to construct the pavilion by the spring of 2023.

Richardson Stadium has been an iconic venue of Queen's University and the Kingston community for the past 100 years, and with the scheduled completion of the new pavilion, will continue to be a point of pride for student-athletes, students, coaches, spectators, and community members for years to come.