The Crimson Tide & The Magic City

 

      The Crimson Tide has played football in five different stadiums in the city of Birmingham. Today you can still visit three of the five stadiums. Alabama played its first football game in the city of Birmingham at Lakeview Park on November 11, 1892. . Lakeview Park would be Alabama's home in Birmingham for the next three years and a total of seven games. Alabama would not return to Birmingham until the 1900 season.

     On Thanksgiving day 1900, the University of Alabama played Clemson at West End Park, making this its second home in

    By the 1910's the popularity of Alabama football was spreading throughout the state and the crowds it was drawing showed this. In 1912 Alabama moved into Rickwood Field. The Tide would stay at Rickwood until the end of the 1927 season. Rickwood Field offered Alabama a state of the art facility with seating for over 10,000.

     In 1925 and again in 1926, the Crimson Tide was declared the National Champion of college football. By then, even the 10,000 seat Rickwood Field was not big enough to hold the large crowds that Alabama was drawing in Birmingham. For the 1927 season, the University would play its final season at Rickwood Field. The Tide played its last game at Rickwood Field on November 5th defeating Kentucky 21-6.

Three weeks later, on November 27th, the Tide would play its first game at Legion Field. The day was bitter sweet for Tide fans. The day marked a new beginning in Crimson Tide history with a new stadium but a 14 point defeat to the Georgia Bulldogs 20-6. Legion Field has been the home away from home for the University of Alabama now for 75 years. Many of the great moments in Crimson Tide history have occurred at Legion Field.