Murtaugh: Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium to Rise at U of M

The University of Memphis has announced plans to build a new stadium for its soccer and track-and-field teams. Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium will be named in honor of the St. Mary’s Episcopal School teacher who was abducted and murdered while on an early-morning run in September 2022. A 2006 graduate of Hutchison School, Fletcher played soccer for two seasons at the U of M and was a member of the 2007 team that won the first of 14 conference championships for the program under coach Brooks Monaghan.

“Our student-athletes deserve a place that reflects their accomplishments,” said U of M athletic director Ed Scott during a press conference Tuesday on the South Campus, where the new stadium will rise. “The importance [of this stadium] goes way beyond the bricks and mortar. It will honor the legacy of Liza Fletcher. I didn’t get the chance to meet Liza, but I’ve heard wonderful things about her. As a girl dad, there’s a special place in my heart when we can honor a young woman.”

The first phase of the stadium project will include the construction of a grandstand, press box, and locker rooms at an estimated cost of $7 million. Having played for many years at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex and more recently on the South Campus (with temporary bleachers), Tiger soccer will gain its first on-campus facility, a “home” as Monaghan emphasized during his remarks.

Read more via Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer.