PHILADELPHIA — It has been 19 years since Lincoln Financial Field first opened, but Tony Leonard hasn’t forgotten the planning for the stadium’s first event.
“We’re going to bring this team from Europe over, Manchester United,” the Eagles’ veteran director of grounds recalled in an interview with The Inquirer. “And you’re like, ‘Who?’”
It didn’t take long for the people asking to get an answer. Five months before Manchester United and Spain’s Barcelona christened the Linc with a soccer exhibition on Aug. 3, 2003, tickets sold out within two hours of going on sale on March 18.
