Did Alabama once play home games in Birmingham?

Yes, Alabama played a significant number of the conference games and nearly all their cross-sectional home games in Legion Field (Birmingham, Alabama). It was easier on travel and Legion Field use to be a much better venue. Until 1989, all Alabama-Auburn games were played in Legion Field. Auburn got out of their contract and moved their year as the home team to Jordan-Hare. Alabama's last Legion Field home Iron Bowl game was in 1998. Alabama's last Legion Field game was against USF in 2003 for the season opener.

WSIV70 said:

I was visiting with a vendor at work today about UA. She told me she went to UA in the late 80s and I remarked about how much the campus has grown in the last 10 years. She said when she was there, there wasn't even a stadium and she took party busses up to the games in Birmingham. I know BD has been on campus since the 20s. Is this lady off her rocker?

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I went to the USC-Bama game in Birmingham in '78.

Oy vey...............yes, there was a stadium, on campus, but...............

A lot of home games were played at Legion Field, in B'ham. Lots of things factored into enlarging the stadium, and moving all the home games to BDS.

How she thought the homecoming games were played somewhere else................well, who knows?

Yes, Bryant-Denny Stadium was build in the late 20s. However, Alabama has a history of playing games all over the state, including Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery. Alabama used to play teams like LSU in Mobile from time to time. But Birmingham was the site of most of Alabama's big home games - Tennessee, Auburn, USC, Penn State, etc. The Iron Bowl with Auburn was always played at Legion Field in Birmingham, and was split 50/50 as far as ticket sales go.

Birmingham was the center of the state's football recruiting, and Coach Bryant liked playing big games there for recruiting and tv purposes. Legion Field was bigger and in better shape than Bryant-Denny. However, 2 things happened. First, Alabama began investing in the expansion and enhancement of Bryant-Denny and by 1998, it had a higher capacity than Legion Field. Also, NCAA legislation in the mid 90s curtailed hosting recruits at off-campus stadiums. By 1999 and 2000, the Tennessee and Auburn games had moved to Bryant-Denny, and in 2003, Alabama played its last non-conference home game there, vs. South Florida.

was at bama starting in 87 and we went to a ton of games at legion field. i remember one of the years (maybe 87) all/most of the home games were at legion field during construction of bds

eta, i loved going to big games at legion field. i saw some great ones there.

I did not realize the NCAA limitations were a factor. Not a surprise.

What started the movement for upgrading Bryant-Denny Stadium? Was it the age of Legion Field beginning to show or the changing demographics of that neighborhood?

Yeah, she was off her rocker about there not being a stadium in Tuscaloosa. One year, '87 I think, Bama played all its home games at Legion Field while BDS was getting spruced up. She may be referencing that season.

rgw said:

I did not realize the NCAA limitations were a factor. Not a surprise.

What started the movement for upgrading Bryant-Denny Stadium? Was it the age of Legion Field beginning to show or the changing demographics of that neighborhood?

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i'm sure there were a lot of factors, but i imagine that capacity played a big part. the lower bowl of bds was tiny.

jabcmb said:

Yeah, she was off her rocker about there not being a stadium in Tuscaloosa. One year, '87 I think, Bama played all its home games at Legion Field while BDS was getting spruced up. She may be referencing that season.

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i think it was '87. it was my first year on campus and i don't remember any bds games that season

I know I was glad when we didn't have to go back to Legion Field...

Boy, does this OP make me feel ancient or what?

I just appreciate you making me feel so old since I remember going to Legion Field to watch the Alabama games.

rgw said:

I did not realize the NCAA limitations were a factor. Not a surprise.

What started the movement for upgrading Bryant-Denny Stadium? Was it the age of Legion Field beginning to show or the changing demographics of that neighborhood?

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Increased seating capacity meant more revenue as schools designated more and more seats to new season ticket strategies. Our own Tide Pride started in 1988. As I recall, filling the seats on a pretty consistent basis was never a problem no matter what year or W/L record.

All this together pretty much doomed Legion Field as a long term host as BDS continued to grow. Other external factors also negatively affected Legion Field's ability to host Bama, but the biggest problems were it's age and parking.

Tideflyer said:

Boy, does this OP make me feel ancient or what?

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Agreed! And I have some great memories at Legion Field.

rgw said:

I did not realize the NCAA limitations were a factor. Not a surprise.

What started the movement for upgrading Bryant-Denny Stadium? Was it the age of Legion Field beginning to show or the changing demographics of that neighborhood?

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I think 92tide is right. Until the West upper deck in the late 80s, it just held 60,000. When we expanded the East upper deck in 1998, capacity reached 83,818 which passed Legion Field. Seems like the ncaa regs hit right along the same time period and I remember that being part of the impetus to get the big conference home games in Tuscaloosa (Tennessee/Auburn).

TNBama said:

Agreed! And I have some great memories at Legion Field.

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i also have some foggy memories of what i am sure were good times there too

WSIV70 said:

Wow, this is interesting. Thanks for the perspective. I think she was only there one year and if it happened to be in 1987, I could see why she may have though that there wasn't a stadium on campus. I can't imagine LSU and Alabama in Mobile. Crazy!

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Coach Bryant's first game as Alabama's HC was played at Ladd Stadium in Mobile vs. eventual national champion LSU. The temporary bleachers in the north end zone collapsed during the game.

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2011/11/4/2516311/alabama-vs-lsu-rivalry-history-bear-bryant

They also played Tulane at Ladd a few times.