An era came to a close on Saturday afternoon at UR Stadium. The Richmond Spiders played their last regular season game at the facility they have called home since 1929. Their biggest rival, William & Mary, provided the opposition for the 119th game of their series with the Spiders.

At Richmond.com there’s a story up about that event that I wrote, a piece that also looks at some of the colorful history of the stadium.

The advance notices for the two-day rock festival announced it would be a “No Hassles” event, which in the vernacular of the day meant marijuana-smoking would be ignored by the authorities. However, it seems nobody told The City’s policemen on duty at the stadium about ignoring anything, especially marijuana smoking. So, on the event’s first day there were hassles aplenty. When the cops began pulling what they saw as law-breaking pot smokers out of the stands, some of the bare-chested hippies resisted. Other young attendees came to the rescue and a battle started. A full-fledged four-hour riot ensued. Police cars were destroyed and heads were bloodied.

Click here to read the story, “Spiders Outlast Tribe: Ending an era at UR Stadium,” which touches onto some of the 80 years of history at what was known as City Stadium until 1983.

By the way, Richmond won, 13-10, on a last second 48-yard field goal.

Click here for more on the game, including video, at SLANTblog.

– Words and photo by F.T. Rea