In order to purchase a ticket for the November 20 game, fans must purchase season tickets for Northwestern’s five home games at Ryan Field. Season tickets are now on sale through Wildcat ticket outlets (Ryan Field Box Office, 847-491-CATS [2287] or NUsports.com
Pat Fitzgerald, Head coach of Wildcats
This will be the first time in nearly 90 years that Northwestern and Illinois will play at Wrigley Field. On October 27, 1923, the Wildcats and the Illini squared off at the Friendly Confines (then called Cubs Park) before 32,000 fans. This year’s Northwestern-Illinois game will mark the 104th matchup between the Big Ten Conference rivals since the two first met in 1892.
Wrigley Field, built in 1914 and home of the Cubs since 1916, regularly hosted football games from 1916-70, including roughly 370 NFL games. Northwestern’s Nov. 20 game will be the first football game of any kind at Wrigley Field in 40 years. Wrigley Field’s primary football tenants were the Chicago Bears, who called it home from 1921-70, but the ballpark also hosted the Chicago Tigers (1920) and the Chicago Cardinals (1920, 1931-39).
Northwestern is returning 16 starters from last year’s squad, which finished 8-5 and earned a berth in the 2010 Outback Bowl.
Jacek Urbańczyk
Photo:Jacek Urbańczyk