Audrey J. Walton Stadium overlooking the Northwest corner
It is named for Audrey J. Walton (wife of Walmart co-founder James "Bud" Walton) who donated $1 million in 1995 toward the building of a new 5,800 capacity grandstand to replace the original grandstand. The field is named Kennedy Field after Vern Kennedy, who was a baseball pitcher who attended Central. The stadium itself was referred to as Vernon Kennedy Field from 1954 until 1995.[3]
The Central Missouri website says the first night college football game in Missouri occurred on October 11, 1929 in which the Mules lost 27-0 to Missouri Valley College.[4]
The largest attendance at the stadium was on October 8, 2011, when 14,377 attended a game between Central and Northwest Missouri State University. It was the largest attendance at any MIAA facility.[5] The previous record was another game between Central and Northwest on November 6, 2010 when 13,096 fans watched Northwest kick a last second field goal to defeat the Mules.[6]
