AUTOMOTIVE STADIUM "Autostade"

EX 108A

The Autostade (the English name Automotive Stadium was rarely used) was a Canadian football stadium in the Victoriatown neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec that stood at the north-west corner of the Cité du Havre sector of the Expo 67 site. It was the home of the Montreal Alouettes from 1968-1976, except for a brief period in 1972 when the team returned to its previous home, Molson Stadium.

It was originally planned that Montreal's new baseball team, the Montreal Expos, would play home games at the Autostade, but the team instead elected to use a renovated Jarry Park, and the new stadium was configured for CFL football use. The first CFL game played at the Autostade was by the Ottawa Rough Riders in an Eastern final against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on November 19, 1966. Lansdowne Park was undergoing extensive renovations at the time, necessitating the change of venue. Ottawa won the game 42-16. This game also marked the first use of the single-shaft "goose-necked" field goal posts in the CFL.

Following its use in Expo 67, the gaps between the sections were filled in as preparation for the Alouettes' 1968 season. However, the stadium was considered by many to be located too far from downtown (a complaint that would be echoed years later regarding Olympic Stadium) as well as too cold due to its proximity to the Saint Lawrence River, and as a result crowds declined rapidly. Despite this, those fans that did attend remember the stadium as having an intimate atmosphere well suited to CFL football.

Unused 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" standard size chrome postcard.

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