Neyland Stadium
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| Former names | Shields-Watkins Field (1921–1962) |
|---|---|
| Location | Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 35°57′18″N 83°55′30″W / 35.95500°N 83.92500°WCoordinates: 35°57′18″N 83°55′30″W / 35.95500°N 83.92500°W |
| Owner | University of Tennessee |
| Operator | University of Tennessee |
| Capacity | 3,200 (1921–1925) 6,800 (1926–1928) 17,860 (1929–1936) 19,360 (1937) 31,390 (1938–1947) 46,390 (1948–1961) 52,227 (1962–1965) 58,122 (1966–1967) 64,429 (1968–1971) 70,650 (1972–1975) 80,250 (1976–1979) 91,249 (1980–1986) 91,110 (1987–1989) 91,902 (1990–1995) 102,544 (1996) 102,854 (1997–1999) 104,079 (2000–2005) 102,037 (2006–2008) 100,011 (2009) 102,455 (2010–present) |
| Record attendance | 109,061, on September 18, 2004 (Tennessee 30, Florida 28) |
| Surface | Grass (1921–1967, 1994–Present) AstroTurf (1968–1993) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | March 21, 1921 |
| Opened | September 24, 1921 |
| Renovated | 2006, 2008, 2010 |
| Expanded | 1926, 1929, 1937–1938, 1948, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1987, 1990, 1996 |
| Construction cost | $42,000 ($564 thousand in 2017 dollars) $136.4 million (2004–2010 renovations) |
| Architect | McCarty Holsaple McCarty (renovations) |
| Tenants | |
| Tennessee Volunteers (NCAA) (1921–present) | |
Neyland Stadium (pronounced NEE-land) is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Football League (NFL) exhibition games. The stadium's official capacity is 102,455. Constructed in 1921, and originally called Shields-Watkins Field (the playing surface is still called that today), the stadium has undergone 16 expansion projects, at one point reaching a capacity of 104,079 before being slightly reduced by alterations in the following decade. Neyland Stadium is the fifth largest stadium in the United States, the sixth largest stadium in the world, and the second largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference. The stadium is named for Robert Neyland, who served three stints as head football coach at Tennessee between 1926 and 1952.
The Tennessee Volunteers football team originally played at Baldwin Park, which was once located between Grand Avenue and Dale Avenue, north of Fort Sanders. From 1909 to 1920, the team played at Wait Field, which was located where the Walters Life Science Building now stands.
The Stadium was first conceived in 1919. Colonel W.S. Shields, president of Knoxville's City National Bank and a University of Tennessee trustee, provided the initial capital to prepare and equip an athletic field. Thus, when the original stadium–the lower level of the current stadium's West Stands– was completed in March 1921, it was called Shields-Watkins Field in honor of the donor and his wife, Alice Watkins-Shields. However, the project ran out of funds and was unfinished temporarily until MacGregor Smith (1921) suggested at a meeting of the University's Scarabbean Senior Society that the students and faculty finish the project together. At the group's behest, students and faculty finished the field over a two-day period. An invitational track meet was then held as a celebration and thus became the very first event at Neyland Stadium. The first UT football game at the stadium took place on September 24, 1921, with the Vols defeating Emory & Henry, 27–0. The first night game at Neyland Stadium was played on September 16, 1972, with the Vols defeating Penn State, 28–21.
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