Jordan-Hare Stadium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jordan-Hare Stadium | |
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| Location | 251 South Donahue Drive Auburn, Alabama 36849 |
| Opened | 1939 |
| Owner | Auburn University |
| Operator | Auburn University |
| Surface | Grass |
| Former names | Auburn Stadium (1939-1949) Cliff Hare Stadium (1949-1973) |
| Tenants | Auburn University Tigers (NCAA) (1939-Present) Auburn High School Tigers (AHSAA) (1939-1947) |
| Capacity | 87,451 |
Jordan-Hare Stadium is the playing venue for Auburn University's football team located on campus in Auburn, Alabama, USA. The stadium is named for Ralph 'Shug' Jordan (pronounced JURD-an), the University's winningest football coach, and Cliff Hare, a member of Auburn's first football team. On November 19, 2005, the playing field at the stadium was named Pat Dye Field, honoring a former coach. The stadium reached its current seating capacity of 87,451 with the 2004 expansion and is the tenth largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA. By the end of the 2006 season, 19,308,753 spectators had witnessed a football game in Jordan-Hare, which has been described as "college football's Grand Canyon" and "the epitome of what the college football experience is all about."[1]
Jordan-Hare Stadium regularly makes lists of the best gameday atmospheres and most intimidating places to play. [1] [2] [3]
[edit] History
The stadium, then known as Auburn Stadium with 7,290 seats, hosted its first game on November 9, 1939, between Auburn High School and Dadeville High School[2]. About one month later, the stadium was dedicated and the first college football game was played against the University of Florida on November 30, 1939. By the time the stadium was renamed Cliff Hare Stadium in 1949, it had grown to a capacity of 21,500. Shug Jordan became head coach of the Tigers in 1951, and he was still coaching when the stadium was renamed to honor him in 1973, making it the first stadium in the United States to be named for an active coach.
Throughout history, many of Auburn's traditional rivals did not play games in Auburn but instead at neutral sites, particularly due to the difficulty in traveling to Auburn in the first part of the 20th century. These games included Alabama (played in Birmingham), Tennessee (played in Birmingham or Knoxville), Georgia Tech (played in Atlanta), and Georgia (played in Columbus). Over the years, Auburn was able to get teams to move these games to Auburn, especially as improvements were made to the stadium. The most notable of these matchups occurred in 1989, when Auburn played and beat #4 Alabama in the first game between these two teams in Auburn.
With the addition of the west upper deck in 1980 and the east upper deck in 1987, the stadium became the largest in the state of Alabama until the 2006 expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium (capacity 92,158) at the University of Alabama. The 2004 stadium expansion extended the east upper deck by an additional section on each end, adding more luxury suites and additional general seating to reach the current capacity of 87,451.
In 1998, artist Michael Taylor was commissioned to paint ten large murals on the east-side exterior of the stadium. The paintings depict the greatest players, teams, and moments from Auburn's football history to that date. [4] In 2006, Auburn updated these murals, including images that recognized great moments in Auburn football history up to 2006. [5]
Before the 2007 season, a new, $2.9 million, 30-foot high by 74-foot wide high definition Daktronics LED video display was installed in the south end-zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn is the first SEC school to install an HD video display and the second in the NCAA (after Texas' Godzillatron). [3]
[edit] Miscellaneous
- As of the 2006 season, in 324 home games played in Jordan-Hare, Auburn has a winning percentage of .798 (255-62-7) playing in the competitive Southeastern Conference.
- The first touchdown pass in the stadium in a collegiate game was thrown by Dick McGowen.
[edit] Gallery
 Exterior view from the south |
 East stands, suites and upper deck |
 West exterior |
 Pregame warmups at the 2006 Florida game |
 Rare snow in Auburn during 2002 |
 Panoramic view of the stadium |
 Seen from the "Eagle's Nest" |
 Bird's eye view |
[edit] External links
- Auburn University
- Auburn University athletics website
- Jordan-Hare Stadium at AuburnTigers.com
- Van Plexico's complete history of Jordan-Hare
[edit] References
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