O'Hara's new home field on campus

Cardinal O'Hara High next fall will become the first Catholic League football team in half a century to play all home varsity games on campus.

Coach Danny Algeo said yesterday that the Lions, on their new artificial-turf field behind the school, will host Ss. Neumann-Goretti on Sept. 18, Chester on Oct. 2, Monsignor Bonner on Oct. 16 and Archbishop Wood on Oct. 30. Each date is a Saturday and all but the Chester game (11 a.m.) will start at 2 p.m.

La Salle was the last CL member to routinely play home games on campus. That stopped in 1960 when the school separated from the college, at 20th and Olney, and moved to Springfield Township, in Montgomery County.

Roman Catholic long used its "own field." But it wasn't on campus - it was at 29th and Clearfield; the school's at Broad and Vine - and the property actually belonged to the Water Department, which reclaimed it after the 1997 season. Roman had used it only infrequently for varsity games - mostly in the aftermath of postponements elsewhere - since early in the '81 season.

Though Monsignor Bonner also boasts an artificial-turf field on campus, it continues to play its home varsity games at nearby Upper Darby High.

Algeo said construction will begin sometime this summer on home-side stands at O'Hara's field. He's unsure about the expected capacity. *

- Ted Silary