Neyland Stadium

Neyland Stadium ( ) 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 101,915. at one point reaching a capacity of 104,079 before being slightly reduced by alterations in the following decade. Neyland Stadium is the sixth largest stadium in the United States, the eighth largest stadium in the world, and the third largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference. The stadium is named for Robert Neyland, who served three stints as head football coach at the University of Tennessee between 1926 and 1952.

History

thumb|left|Tennessee's football team played at Wait Field (where the Walters Life Science Building now stands) from 1908 to 1920

The Tennessee Volunteers football team originally played at Baldwin Park, which was once located between Grand Avenue and Dale Avenue, north of Fort Sanders.

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 stadiumthe lower level of the current stadium's West Standswas 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 suspended temporarily until MacGregor Smith suggested at a meeting of the university's Scarabbean Senior Society in mid 1921 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 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. Neyland, the man credited with making the Vols a national football power, coached the team from 1926 to 1952, with two interruptions for military service. In 1968, the stadium became one of the first stadiums to have an artificial turf surface. It stayed until natural grass was restored to the field in 1994. Reflecting the Vols' growth in stature, the stadium's capacity jumped more than 14-fold during his 38-year association with UT as either an assistant coach (1925), head coach (three separate tenures from 1926 to 1952), or athletic director (1936–1941 and 1946-1962). By comparison, when Neyland arrived in Knoxville in 1925, Shields-Watkins Field was not even a fraction the size of Tennessee's largest stadium at the time Vanderbilt's Dudley Field. Shortly before his death, he spearheaded the stadium's first major expansion. The plans he drafted were so far ahead of their time that they have formed the basis for every expansion since then. The playing surface is still named Shields–Watkins Field.

The latest additions and updates to the facility were part of a $136.4 million series of renovations, beginning in 2004 and completed by 2010. They included the bricking around the field and the removal of the previous hedges, numerous changes to the inside and outside of the stadium structure, additions and reconfigurations of seating areas, as well as new home locker, press, and varsity rooms.

In a Spring 2001 poll in The Sporting News, Neyland Stadium was ranked as the nation's #1 college football stadium. In 2004, Sports Illustrated ranked Neyland Stadium, the University of Tennessee campus, and the surrounding Knoxville area, as the best college football weekend experience. On April 8, 2009, it was announced that Neyland Stadium was one of seventy stadiums named for the United States' bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

Attendance records

Attendance has been recorded for Tennessee Volunteer football games at Neyland Stadium since 1946. Tennessee set a school record by averaging 107,595 fans per home game in 2000.

thumb|300x300px|Aerial view in 2026

{| class="wikitable"

! style=";"|Attendance !! style=";"|Opponent !! style=";"|Year !! style=";"|Result

| 109,061 || Florida || 2004 || 30–28

| 108,768 || Florida || 2000 || 23–27

| 108,722 || Florida || 2002 || 13–30

| 108,625 || UNLV || 2004 || 42–17

| 108,472 || LSU || 2001 || 26–18

| 108,470 || Georgia || 2005 || 14–27

| 108,064 || Southern Miss || 2000 || 19–16

| 107,881 || South Carolina || 2003 || 23–20

| 107,828 || Auburn || 2004 || 10–34

| 107,745 || Miami (Florida) || 2002 || 3–26

Vols' performance at Neyland

Through week one of the 2022 season, the Tennessee Volunteers football team had compiled a record of 485 wins, 141 losses, and 17 ties at Neyland, for a winning percentage of . The Jacksons performed three concerts at Neyland Stadium in August 1984, during their Victory Tour. East Tennessee native Kenny Chesney performed in Neyland Stadium in June 2003.

Neyland Stadium has hosted several NFL exhibition games, most recently in 1995, when the Washington Redskins played the Houston Oilers. The Knox County Football Jamboree, a preseason event for local high school teams, was held annually at the stadium until 2013. The discontinuation of the Jamboree at Neyland Stadium was due in part to maintaining the condition of the field in the month prior to the beginning of college football.

Soccer was played at the stadium on April 27, 1991, as Northern Irish club Linfield travelled to Knoxville to play a team of American Professional Soccer League all-stars in front of 12,468 fans. The all-stars won 1–0. This was done as part of a bid for Knoxville to further host games in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, though Neyland was ultimately not included.

Structure and seating

Growth

Shields–Watkins Field opened in 1921 with a single grandstand along the west sideline–the lower portion of the current facility's West Stands–having a capacity of 3,200. The East Stands were added five years later in 1926 to increase capacity to 6,800. The West Stands were increased from 17 rows to 42 rows in 1930, increasing capacity to 17,860. The estimated $200 million renovations, which will be carried out over a series of several phases, are to be funded entirely by private donations and revenue generated from priority and club seats. The East Club Seats, built on the East Upper Deck, includes 422 seats and an adjoining club room overlooking the Tennessee River. The Lauricella Center for Letter Winners, named for Vol All American running back Hank Lauricella, sits adjacent to the locker complex, and provides a gathering area for athletes, coaches, and their family members. The Stokely Family Media Room provides a setting for press conferences and coach and player interviews. The West Club Seats are similar to the East Club Seats, with 422 seats and an adjoining club room. The Tennessee Terrace features 1,782 priority seats, with an adjacent climate-controlled concourse area, overlooking the west sideline.

Phases IV and V will involve renovation of the south and east concourses and the creation of an entry plaza at Gate 10.

Shields–Watkins Field

thumb|170px|South side of Neyland Stadium as the sun sets

From 1921 to the end of the 1967 season, the field surface was natural grass. In 1964, the orange-and-white checkerboard end zones were added. This was one of the many changes initiated by new head coach Doug Dickey, who also added the "T" logo to the football helmet and initiated the tradition of the team running onto the field through the "Power T" formed by the Pride of the Southland Band, and moved the Tennessee bench from the east side line to the west side line.

In 1968, coinciding with the addition of the East Upper Deck, Tennessee-Turf (TartanTurf-3M) was installed as the playing surface, in part to provide better drainage following heavy rains. The checkerboard end zones were initially not included as part of the Tennessee-Turf playing surface. End zone designs used through the years on the artificial surface included having TENNESSEE and VOLUNTEERS in orange turf lettering and the end zone green turf. The end zones, as well as the midfield logo, were unique in that they were separate pieces of contrasting turf rather than painted turf. The artificial surface, as many from this era, was blamed for excessive leg injuries. In 1989, the orange-and-white checkerboard end zone patterns were restored, and an interlocking "UT" was placed at midfield.

The artificial surface was used through the 1993 season, the last game on the surface being a 62–14 win over Vanderbilt. Afterwards the surface was ripped up and sections were auctioned off to raise funds for the university. The turf was replaced with natural grass the following year, with the checkerboard end zones and midfield logo retained. In 1998, the interlocking "UT" was replaced with the same Power T logo as seen on the football helmets. Since 2007, the entire surface gets re-sodded annually with Tifway Bermuda grass, which rests on a 12-inch bed of sand to enhance drainage.

Gallery

Image:Neyland and downtown aerial.JPG|Pre-renovation aerial view, including part of UT campus, Henley Street Bridge, Gay Street Bridge, and the Tennessee River

Image:IPhone Pics 003.jpg|West Side tower as viewed from Peyton Manning Pass, near the completion of PhaseIII renovations

Image:Tenn Pride Southland Field.jpg|View from the East Stands of the Pride of the Southland Marching Band's famous pregame show

Image:Neylandstadium.jpg|Empty Neyland Stadium, viewed from the Southeast Upper Deck

Image:IPhone Pics 001.jpg|Construction of Gate 21 Plaza, the northwest entrance

Image:IPhone Pics 002.jpg|Construction of the amphitheater next to Alumni Memorial Building

Image:IPhone Pics 005.jpg|Ground view, Gate 21 Plaza construction

Image:Neyland Stadium aerial.jpg|Aerial view from John C. Hodges Library

Image:Neyland 032.jpg|Elevated view of the completed West Side

Image:Neyland Stadium 2010.JPG|View from campus of the new Gate 21 Plaza and the West Side tower

A statue of former University of Tennessee football coach Brig. Gen. Robert R. Neyland is unveiled at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 3, 2012 121103-A-EO110-001.jpg|Statue of Robert Neyland

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