For the last few years, Legion Field was a dump.
But in the late 70s heyday, it could be electric. Only one game on TV, we were it, Goodyear blimp overhead, tailgating in Mrs. Bagwell's back yard. Touchdown Café burgers, it was something.
But those days ended, and we were a bit late moving all games to Tuscaloosa.
I remember the last game there -- opening against USF on a brutally hot day. City of Birmingham did its usual bang-up job, and it took over an hour to get a coke. Utterly miserable experience all around. When it mercifully ended, Mrs. Basket Case and I simultaneously said a bunch of banned words.
This ^^^
Legion Field was great in its day.
But times changed, and economics changed (mostly due to TV), But the Absolute Death Knell was the malfeasance of the corrupt City of Birmingham government! They made the whole situation 100 times worse than it might have been by utterly neglecting critical maintenance - SAFETY Maintenance on the Stadium itself, not to mention Amenities, AND by letting the surrounding neighborhoods descend into tragic SLUMS.
By the last couple years we played there, going to a game at LF was like visiting the worst parts of Memphis or New Orleans, Parking was horrific (and sometimes very dangerous), concessions were woefully inadequate, the restrooms were disgusting - it wasn't unusual to wade through pools of "liquid" just to get to and from the field level restrooms.
One of the last times I was there I clearly remember looking at a structural beam and LITERALLY seeing daylight through the rust patches.
Frankly, its a MIRACLE that the upper deck especially, or even part of the lower bowl, never collapsed during an Alabama game when the place was full. That would have been a true tragedy and lives would have been lost.