Raiders History and Frank Youell Field
It’s universally understood that Al Davis turned the Oakland Raiders into a viable franchise when the assistant coach left the San Diego Chargers to become coach and general manager of the Silver and Black in 1963.
However, Davis isn’t what kept those early Raiders in Oakland.
The Raiders played home games at Kezar Stadium and Candlestick Park in San Francisco in their first two years, 1960 and 1961, because Oakland did not have a viable facility for American Football League games.
There were constant rumors that the Raiders were going to move to Portland, Salt Lake City, Sacramento and numerous other cities, until the City of Oakland and Alameda County made an effort to keep the team.
For only $400,000, the city built Frank Youell Field, a crackerbox of a stadium that seated only about 20,000 fans on land where the Auditorium Village Housing Project was created for thousands of workers who poured into Oakland during and after World War II to work at Kaiser Shipyards and other war industries.
Frank Youell Field wouldn’t have kept the Raiders in town for long, but at the same time, Oakland and Alameda County issued bonds to raise $25.5 million to build the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which opened in 1966.
“Frank Youell wasn’t much of a stadium, but it saved the Raiders for Oakland,” said Brian Jones, a longtime Raiders fan. “It wasn’t big, but we were so close to the action that we felt part of it.
“And after the games, we could go down onto the field and talk to the Raiders. It was a great time and we made the Raiders our own.”
Paul Maguire, who played tight end for the Buffalo Bills and later became a TV commentator on NFL games, said Frank Youell Field “looked like it was made from early Erector Set.”
The field was named after Frank Youell, a city councilman and mortician who was the owner of Chapel of the Oaks Mortuary in Oakland, which was fitting the way the Raiders played in their first season in the stadium.
The New York Jets beat the Raiders, 28-17, in the first game at Frank Youell Field on Sept. 9, 1962, and Oakland lost its first six home games that season before beating the Boston Patriots in the season finale, 20-0, to finish at 1-13 after going 2-12 the year before.
“The first game I went to was 1963 at Frank Youell Field,” Raiders fan Leonard Haze said. “That day started me as a Raider Fan. Youell was the best place to see a game. After the games we had to cross the field. Kids would try and tackle a Raider.”
After Davis came to town and along with Equipment Manager Dick Romanski changed the Raiders’ colors from Black and Gold to Silver and Black, Oakland was 15-5 in its last three seasons at Frank Youell Field.
Before the 1963 home opener on Sept. 15 against the Buffalo Bills, the Raiders went through warm-ups in their old Black and Gold uniforms. However, when they returned to the locker room, Romanski had new Silver and Black uniforms waiting in their lockers.
When the Raiders retook the field in their new uniforms, the crowd of 17,568 went wild and the Silver and Black claimed a 35-17 victory.
There were several other memorable games for the Raiders in the makeshift stadium, but a few stand out.
The Raiders, who were 0-6 against the arch-rival Chargers before 1963, upset the eventual AFC champions, 34-33, early in that season in San Diego, but were trailing, 27-10, going to the fourth of the game against the Chargers at Frank Youell Field on Dec. 8.
Veteran quarterback Cotton Davidson replaced starter Tom Flores, who was back after missing the 1962 season while battling tuberculosis, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Raiders scored 31 straight points to win, 41-27.
Frank Youell Field was packed with 20,249 fans at the start of the game, but emptied to about half full after three quarters. However, Raiders fans in their cars on the way home turned around after hearing the rally start on the radio, and the stadium was nearly full again at the finish.
On Dec. 6 the following season, the Raiders were trailing the Bills, 13-10, but drove to the Buffalo one-yard-line with one second left in the game and called time out. When Flores went to the sideline to talk things over with Davis, the fans poured out of the bleachers and surrounded the two teams on the field.
Flores came back onto the field and hit wide receiver Art Powell in the right corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with All-AFL cornerback Butch Beard hanging all over him, pulling out a 16-13 victory.
“Beard was all over Powell like a cheap suit,” Raiders play-by-play man Bill King said on the radio broadcast.
Overjoyed Raiders fans picked up Powell and carried him around the field for about 15 minutes.
Two weeks later in the final game of the 1964 season, the Raiders rallied from an early 10-0 deficit against the hated Chargers, but still trailed until Flores threw his third touchdown pass of the game, a 13-yarder to Billy Cannon, in the final minutes to pull out a 21-20 victory.
In their final game at Frank Youell Field on Dec. 12, 1965, the Raiders were tied with the New York Jets, 14-14, going to the fourth quarter but Mike Mercer kicked a 22-yard field goal and Clem Daniels ran 30 yards for a touchdown to give Oakland a 24-14 victory.
It was the end of an era, a bittersweet moment for Raiders fans.
Frank Youell Field remained in operation and hosted high school and junior college football games until it was demolished in 1969 to make way for a parking lot for Laney College, which is across the street.
The only mention of Frank Youell Field, which saved the Raiders for Oakland for several decades, is a plaque on a light pole in that parking lot.
Even though the Raiders are now in Las Vegas, longtime fans of the Silver and Black will never forget the place.
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