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November 27, 1965. "Iron Bowl -- Alabama vs. Auburn." The Tide swamped the Tigers 30-3 at Legion Field in Birmingham. 4x5 acetate negative from the News Photo Archive. View full size.
I wonder if they put the fence up around the field because of, or in honor of, Forrest Gump. Maybe both?
So I am a Tide fan by marriage, they do take their ball seriously. That is quite the crowd. Funny, I was born less than two months after this photo, I did not realize the world was still black and white even then.
The Wikipedia history of Legion Field states that in 1965, that was the seating capacity of the field including the newly built press box. Something tells me that in many areas it was standing room only.
I think I see some guy in a houndstooth hat down on the sidelines.
This stadium seems to have been built exclusively for football games. No racetrack for runners or anything else visible that would make it useable for multiple purposes. I guess no other sports were as popular back then??
For those in the know, how much would the cheapest / most expensive ticket have cost almost 60 years ago and how does it compare to a similar event held nowadays ??
The neighborhood to the east has changed significantly, the factory (?) and a lot of the houses are gone, most, if not all of the cars and buses went to the junkyard and (wild guess here) the majority of people in this picture are dead, too.
Legion Field opened in 1927. It's been remodeled several times to make it bigger, and at least once to make it smaller.
Here's a Google Earth photo now. Click to embiggen.
... if a high school stadium could grow up, it would end up looking a lot like this.
They obviously didn't watch the Weather Channel. There's a 100% chance of rain starting just before half-time.
I wonder how long it took to break up that logjam of buses after the game?
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