Pop Keeney Stadium
9809 N.E. 188th St.
Bothell 98011
Seating Capacity: 4,438 (Home team seating - 2,900; visitor team seating - 1,538)
On-site Parking: 501 spots
Gate time: Ticket sales/gates open two hours prior to game time.
Driving Directions
From North or South I-405:
- Take Exit 23 Westbound onto SR 522
- Follow SR 522 Westbound to Bothell-Everett Highway (SR 527) (2nd stop light)
Go Right (North) - Turn Left onto NE 188th Street
- The entrance to Pop Keeney Stadium will be on your left
From Lake City/Bothell Way
- Follow SR 522 Eastbound to Bothell-Everett Highway (SR 527). Go Left (North)
- Turn Left onto NE 188th Street
- The entrance to Pop Keeney Stadium will be on your left
Northshore Athletics
Regarded by many as one of the best places in the state to watch a high school football game, Pop Keeney Stadium is home to athletic events hosted by Northshore's high schools, Bothell, Inglemoor, and Woodinville, and junior highs, as well as numerous community activities and youth sporting events.
Located in downtown Bothell, the complex include a lighted turf football/soccer stadium with a capacity of 4,500, a grass soccer field, and a baseball diamond with stands. In addition to hosting state football playoffs games, Pop Keeney has also hosted state soccer playoffs for both boys and girls.
Pop Keeney Renovation
The project updates the 40-year-old Pop Keeney stadium, which includes updates to field lighting, replacement of the field turf and visitor stands, as well as the construction of locker rooms, restrooms and concession facilities.
The funding for the Pop Keeney was split between the proceeds from the sale of the downtown property ($5.7 million) and the 2010 bond ($4 million). Under the conditions of the Purchase and Sale Agreement between the Northshore School District and the City of Bothell, the district was required to vacate the 18 acres sold by June 30, 2010.
The locker rooms, parking areas and concessions stands were included in the property sold to the city, so those facilities needed to be replaced. They were paid for with proceeds from the sale of the downtown property. The visitor stands and the playing field reached the end of their useful lives and needed to be replaced to ensure a safe environment for our students and community. As with other district structures and building systems that have reached the end of their lives, their replacement was funded from bonds passed by the voters in the 2010 election. By state law, neither the bond funds nor the proceeds from the sale could be used for operational and instructional costs of the district, only levy funds such as the recently passed supplemental levy can be used for those purposes.
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Artist's Rendition |
Time Line
| 1920 | Bothell School Board authorizes removal of old orchard on land adjacent to Bothell-Everett Highway to provide space for the high school football team to practice. |
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1921
| Young Harold "Pop" Keeney (1920 graduate of Bothell High) becomes the high school football coach. |
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1953
| With the opening of the new Bothell High School, the football field is christened Pop Keeney Field, becoming a community facility. |
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| 1968 | A covered stadium, funded with a voter-issued bond, is completed and becomes the home field for Bothell and Inglemoor High Schools, as well as Woodinville High School when it opened in 1983. |
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| 1986 | The grass field is replaced with artificial turf, after voters authorize the improvement. The community field is now utilized year-round by a variety of district and community groups. |
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1989
| Pop Keeney Field is rededicated, commemorating nearly 70 years of community use. |
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| 2009 | New state-of-the art scoreboard donated to the district and installed at south end of field. |
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| 2010 | Renovations to Pop Keeney Stadium completed. |
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| 2010 | "Wall of Honor" that recognizes outstanding achievements of Northshore alumni, retired staff and volunteers donated to district and installed at stadium. |
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A Look Back
George Selg |
Today, his reaction is the same as it was then: his spine tingles, butterflies begin to flutter in his stomach, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end.
It's been 43 years since Bothell High School graduate George Selg last stepped on the field at Pop Keeney Stadium as a competitor, but he still gets the same feelings every time he returns to the Northshore landmark.
"I've had a great life," he said. "But to this day I can sit in the stands and remember playing on that field and in front of those fans like it was yesterday."
The Bothell of the early 1960's was much different than the one we know today.
The population of about 1,250 sent their children to the only high school in the area and Pop Keeney Stadium was the place to be on a Friday night.
"Playing there was like being on stage," Selg explains. "It meant we (as athletes) were accountable not just to ourselves and our teammates, but to the people in town. Because the town was so small, you felt a special relationship with almost everyone. We were unique in that regard.
"You knew that during the week you'd run into somebody who'd have a comment on the game. People took an interest in you as an individual."
George credits the lessons he learned as a student athlete with helping him start and grow his business. Today, he owns and operates two companies, Selg and Associates and Selg International, both industrial wastewater treatment operations.
Although business took him away from the Northshore area for several years, he has not missed a game since his return five years ago. "Things at the stadium have changed," he laughs, recalling the wooden bleachers and muddy grass field. "But it remains one of the best facilities in the state to play or watch a game." (reprinted from Northshore Community, Winter 2006)
