SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Earthquakes set a Guinness World Record Sunday afternoon for largest participatory groundbreaking, paving the way for future construction on the club's 18,000 seat, privately financed stadium at 1125 Coleman Ave.
The final count was 6,256 participants, smashing the previous mark of 4,532 set by a group in Jaipur, India. An official Guinness World Record adjudicator was on site to verify the record.
"This is a landmark day for all Bay Area soccer fans," Club President Dave Kaval said. "I couldn't be more proud to be a part of this organization. The support from our fans has been tremendous the entire way through this process, but today was something special."
Fans lined up two hours before the event and entered a dirt area which will be the club's future playing field. Club owner Lew Wolff, MLS Commissioner Don Garber and San Jose city officials dug alongside the thousands of participants for two minutes to secure a spot in the record books.
The Earthquakes' new stadium is set for completion in 2014.
