Estádio Arthur Lawson

Estádio Arthur Lawson sits on Av. Itália 1815 in Rio Grande. It is the home of Sport Club Rio Grande, the oldest active club in Brazil, founded in 1900. The ground opened its doors on August 31, 1985. The surface is natural grass, cut to the standard 105 by 75 metres, and it was fitted with night lighting in 2009.

What makes this place different from the identical one down the road is its name. It honours Arthur Cecil Lawson (1880–1946), the man who first brought the ball to Brazil. He died long before the concrete was poured, but his name stays fixed above the entrance. The opening game was a local affair against Grêmio Santanense, a match Rio Grande won 5–2. Today, the venue hosts lower-division fixtures, including the Campeonato Gaúcho Série B, but it has not seen a major tournament or an international friendly since those early years.

There is disagreement about how many people can stand here. Grêmiopédia lists 3,500, while Europlan-Online states 4,300. Sumulas-Tchê reports 5,000, and one historical article mentions a capacity of 20,000 with a record attendance of 28,000 for a friendly between Fluminense de Feira and Vasco da Gama. That figure suggests a significant reduction over time, but no source documents the specific changes or the original 1985 capacity. The discrepancy is left as is; the numbers are scattered, and one cannot reconcile them with certainty.

The stadium is situated near the Aeroporto Regional de Rio Grande and the Polícia Rodoviária Estadual, but there is no formal district name within the city specified in the sources. It is a functional ground, used for Sub-20 championship games and Copa FGF matches. There are no significant finals or special events recorded here beyond regular competitive play.