J. Birney Crum Stadium is a 15,000-capacity outdoor stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania, used predominantly by three Allentown-based high school football teams. As of 2024, it is the largest high school football stadium in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
This stadium serves as the home football field for each of Allentown's three high schools: Allen High School, Dieruff High School, and Allentown Central Catholic High School, each of which compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of the premiere high school athletic conferences in the nation.
History
A helicopter landing at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown prior to Allen High School football game on Thanksgiving Day in 1948
In 1948, the stadium opened as Allentown High School Stadium and was sometimes alternately referred to as Allentown School District Stadium[1] or ASD Stadium.
In 1982, the stadium was renamed in honor of J. Birney Crum,[2] a football, basketball, and baseball at Allentown High School,[3] now Allen High School, who was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.
In 2002, the stadium was substantially renovated, including the installation of FieldTurf, which replaced the stadium's original natural grass surface.
The stadium hosts a large annual Fourth of July fireworks display that typically draws tens of thousands of spectators and is among the largest such July 4 fireworks events in the Lehigh Valley.
This stadium also hosts the Collegiate Marching Band Festival, an annual event held in late September or early October that showcases college and university marching bands of all sizes and styles from across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Crum also hosts USBands A Class National Championships, which features performances of high school marching bands annually in November.
