Information and facts about Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama

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Image of Legion Field by
Alabama Birmingham Sports Information Office

Street	400 Graymont Avenue West Birmingham, AL 35204
Phone	(208) 254-2848

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Date Built	1926
Ownership (Management)	City of Birmingham (University of Alabama, Birmingham)
Capacity	72,000
Surface	Artificial Turf

 

Tenants	Alabama Birmingham Blazers (NCAA)
On Site Parking	4,000
Nearest Airport	5 Miles

LEGION FIELD CHRONOLOGY:

1926: Construction begins on Legion Field, a 21,000-seat stadium, at a cost of $439,000.

Nov. 19, 1927: Legion Field debuts as Howard College shuts out Birmingham-Southern College 9-0.

November 2, 1946: Alabama A&M and Alabama State play the first Magic City Classic.
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1948: With an assist from the legislature, Alabama and Auburn renew rivalry after 41-year feud. Tigers claw way to 55-0 victory.

1970: natural grass removed in favor of Poly-Turf. An artificial surface remains in place for the next 25 years.
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November 28, 1981: Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant became the
winningest coach in college football history with his 315th
career win as Alabama beat Auburn 28-17.

1995: Artificial surface removed, replaced with Bermuda grass to meet requirements to host 1996 Olympic soccer matches.
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1996: Olympics come to Legion Field, USA vs. Argentina men's soccer match draws capacity crowd.
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1998: Final Iron Bowl played at Legion Field, as Crimson Tide rolls to 31-17 win.

Recent Changes

In 2004 a structural evaluation determined that the 9,000 seat upper deck, installed in 1961, would need major remediation to meet modern building codes. Because the capacity of the stadium was well beyond the needs of any of its current tenants, the process of dismantling and removing the upper deck was begun in June 2005, and completed two months later.

In 2006, to accommodate high school football games, the Birmingam Park and Recreation Board is in the process of reconverting the grass surface back to artificial turf. Unlike AstroTurf, FieldTurf has been approved by FIFA, UEFA and other governing bodies for use in soccer, except for the World Cup finals. While FIFA supports the use of FieldTurf, the US Soccer Federation has not been as supportive. In April of 2006, Birmingham was awarded a World Cup warm up match on the condition that the natural surface would remain until the game was played. The City of Birmingham refused to delay the installation and, for all practical purposes, forfieted their good standing with US Soccer. US Soccer had regularly visited Legion Field since the successful 1996 Olympic games.