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Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: The Old Gray Lady, Legion Field
When construction began in 1926, plans were for west-side stands, a press box, and a small seating area on the east side, for a capacity of 21,000 at a cost of $439,000. Legion Field, named in honor of the American Legion, a U.S. organization of military veterans, hosted its dedication game on Nov. 19, 1927, with Howard College (now Samford University) defeating Birmingham-Southern College, 9-0. Alabama’s first game there was a week later, a 20-6 loss to Georgia.
Although the stadium, dubbed by Paul W. “Bear” Bryant as the “Old Gray Lady,” became the home for UAB games – in addition to the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, the annual Alabama A&M-Alabama State showdown, and high school games – its most memorable moments were from Alabama games, as the Crimson Tide used to hold most of its marquee contests there instead of Tuscaloosa.
Not only was it a larger venue, but in the state’s biggest city and home to many of the program’s biggest boosters (not to mention recruits).
In addition to hosting the Iron Bowl from 1948-98, with Alabama and Auburn splitting tickets each year, it was the site of Bryant’s 315th career victory, when he became the winningest coach in college football.
The first two Southeastern Conference championship games were held in Birmingham, which is also the home of the conference headquarters, and both games featured the Tide.
On December 5, 1992, the Southeastern Conference became the first Division I-A conference to stage a title game between its division winners, when Alabama defeated Florida, 28-21. Cornerback Antonio Langham’s 27-yard interception return for a touchdown earned him most valuable player honors, and the Tide went on to defeat Miami in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship.
A year later, the teams rematched with Florida pulling out a 28-13 victory. The title game subsequently moved to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Alabama’s last football game at Legion Field was also Mike Shula’s debut as the Tide’s coach. Alabama won 40-17, and left with an all-time record of 160-52-12, including a 32-15 mark against Auburn.
Legion Field was the home of the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1977-85, before it relocated to Tampa, Florida and later renamed the Outback Bowl. It also hosted the Dixie Bowl (1947-1948), and the All-American Bowl (1986-1990),
In 2006, the inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl, formerly known as the Birmingham Bowl, was played on December 23rd and featured South Florida vs. East Carolina, with the Bulls winning 24-7.
The “Football Capital of the South” has also been the home to numerous other football ventures, including the Birmingham Americans and Vulcans of the World Football League (1974-1975), the Alabama Vulcans of the American Football Association (1979), the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (1983-1985), the Birmingham Fire of the World League of American Football (which became NFL Europe) in 1991-92, the expansion Birmingham Barracudas of Canadian Football League, and the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the XFL (2001).
Finally, Legion Field was a prominent soccer venue, and a host site for the 1996 Olympic Games, with the opening match between Argentina and the United States drawing 83,810 fans to set the stadium attendance record. However, with the field switching from natural grass to an artificial surface, US Soccer no longer considered it a viable location.
When the upper deck was removed due to structural damage capacity dropped to 71,594.
• Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books
