Candlestick Park went out a winner in the last regular season game to be played in the 53-year-old stadium. The hometown San Francisco 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 34 to 24, in the 36th Monday Night Football game to be held in Candlestick Park. The longtime home of the 49ers will be demolished after the season ends and the team will be leaving San Francisco proper for the suburbs. The only way another game can be played at the park is if the 49ers host a team during the playoffs.

Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California will be the new super high tech home of the club. At a cost of over $1 billion, and ripe with Silicon Valley innovations such as concession stand orders via smartphones, the stadium will be comfortable and intimate, something the outgoing Candlestick Park never was. With bizarre wind conditions thanks to nearby San Francisco Bay and a soggy field surface when high tide arrived, the playing conditions were less than stellar. Known affectionately by 49ers fans as the 'Stick, no one will miss the stadium's all-concrete construction. The electrical wiring also became an issue when two power outages delayed NFL games during the current season and in 2011.

What everyone will miss is the winning tradition started by legendary Quarterback Joe Montana and continued by fellow Hall of Fame signal caller Steve Young. The Quarterback tandems were responsible for delivering five Super Bowl titles to San Francisco over the course of 14 seasons (1981-1994) and Candlestick played an important role during each championship run. Perhaps the most famous play in NFL history "The Catch" launched the team to its first big game during the 1981-82 Playoffs. Joe Montana fired a pass high and to his right. Dwight Clark needed every inch of his 6'4" frame to snag the football. Once Clark landed with the ball firmly in place and San Francisco was officially headed to Super Bowl XVI Candlestick Park shook under the weight of 60 thousand fans. The old guard (the Dallas Cowboys) has been defeated and a new NFL dynasty was set to begin.

What many may not realize is that Candlestick Park wasn't originally planned to be a football stadium. Still an undeveloped plot of land in the late 1950s, the park's construction got underway once Charles Harney, a local contractor, sold the land to the city. The land would be used as a baseball stadium for the New York Giants baseball team once they finalized their cross-country move. The stadium had different dimensions and only started to become a multi-purpose venue when the American Football League's Oakland Raiders needed a place to play at the end of the 1960 season. The Raiders then played the entire 1961 season at the 'Stick before moving on.

Many famous events have been held at the 'Stick and, while it is sad to see it go, it really needs to be retired. It hosted numerous baseball events including two All-Star Games, eight NFC championship games and an earthquake. It was known by four names over its half century of usage, but NFL and MLB fans across the world will always call it Candlestick Park.