Veterans Memorial Stadium

Veterans Memorial Stadium has served as the home to Troy University’s football team since 1950 and the facility has undergone many renovations, including a current $24 million addition, to make it one of the premier facilities among its peers.

Troy University unveiled a newly renovated $18 million Veterans Memorial Stadium as the final piece of its Division I-A move in Fall 2003. The project, which took more than a year to complete, increased the facility’s seating capacity to 30,000, an increase of more than 12,000 seats.

Construction began on the project in July 2002 and was completed in time for the Trojans’ 2003 home opener against Southeastern Louisiana on September 20.

The stadium has seen tremendous growth and change during its 67-year existence. It was built for a mere $65,000 as Memorial Stadium in 1950 and seated just 5,000 spectators. Several renovations followed, including in 1998, when the facility moved from a 12,000-seat capacity to 17,500.

Construction began in July 2002 to expand the capacity to 30,000, with the largest part of the project being a new six-story press box structure that houses 27 sky boxes, a state-of-the-art media hosting facility, a unique Trojan Stadium Club area that houses more than 1,000 guests and floors dedicated to sports medicine, academics and strength and conditioning.

As part of the construction, the Jesse H. Colley Track, which was housed at the stadium, was relocated - making the stadium a football-only venue. Also gone is the prescription athletic turf, replaced by “AstroPlay”, an artificial surface that closely resembles grass in feel and appearance. Troy became one of the first schools in the Deep South to install the turf.

In 2011, the playing surface at Veterans Memorial Stadium was named in honor of Troy head coach Larry Blakeney for his dedication and success with the program; making the official name now - Larry Blakeney Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Veterans Memorial Stadium received a new playing surface prior to the 2012 season Capacity ......................................................................................................30,000 Surface.................................................................................. Matrix Helix Real Fill Location .......................................................................................... Troy, Alabama First Game .................................................................1950 (SE Louisiana; L, 7-18) Largest Crowd..............................................................29,612 (Boise State, 2018) All-Time Home Record ......................................................................... 232-103-3 Sumrall's Home Record ................................................................................... 0-0 Most Points Scored .............................................................76 vs. Concord (1968)

and a major audio and visual enhancement prior to the 2014 season. ProGrass, which is the same surface on Troy’s baseball field, was installed as the new field turf. The turf was once again replaced prior to the 2019 season as Matrix Helix Real Fill was installed.

A 1,250 square-foot high-definition video board was installed in the southeast corner of Veterans Memorial Stadium in the summer of 2014. Additionally, ribbon boards that span goal line to goal line on each side of the stadium were installed. The final piece of the upgrade included the addition of a state-of-the-art custom audio system.

With the naming of Neal Brown as Troy’s new head coach came the upgrade to the football offices in the Tine Davis Fieldhouse. The entire football side of the building received a face lift and a new floor plan to better accommodate the players and coaches.

The North End Zone Facility opened in the summer of 2018 with a final price of $24 million. The 70,000 square-foot addition, which began construction immediately following the 2016 season, features coaches offices, locker room, weight room, training room, players lounge, equipment room, recruiting lounge and 400 additional club level seats.

STADIUM FACTS

TOP CROWDS YEAR-BY-YEAR ATTENDANCE SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS

No. Year Opponent

1. 2018 Boise State ! # 2. 2017 Alabama State # 3. 2012 Mississippi State 4. 2017 Akron 5. 2019 Southern Miss 6. 2004 Missouri # 7. 2019 Arkansas State 8. 2006 Alabama State ! # 9. 2021 South Alabama * 10. 2003 Marshall 11. 2016 Appalachian State * 12. 2018 Florida A&M 13. 2022 Georgia Southern * 14. 2017 South Alabama * 15. 2022 Louisiana * 16. 2022 Liberty 17. 2018 Louisiana * 18. 2012 Navy 19. 2007 Oklahoma State # 20. 2016 Georgia State * 21. 2007 North Texas * 22. 2017 Georgia Southern * 23. 2018 Coastal Carolina * 24. 2016 Arkansas State * 25. 2019 South Alabama *

! Season Opener # Home Opener * Sun Belt Conference Game

Attendance

29,612 29,278 29,013 27,324 27,108 26,574 26,437 26,265 26,211 26,000 25,782 25,767 25,424 25,211 24,738 24,714 24,631 24,321 24,102 23,913 23,887 23,846 23,810 23,764 23,182

Year Gms Attendance Avg. Record

1950-92 114-66-2 1993 7 52,800 7,543 6-0-1 1994 4 51,010 12,753 4-0 1995 6 57,821 9,637 5-1 1996 7 72,000 10,286 7-0 1997 6 52,167 8,695 4-2 1998 5 84,955 16,991 4-1 1999 6 96,439 16,073 6-0 2000 5 75,275 15,055 4-1 2001 5 84,830 16,966 5-0 2002 4 53,612 13,403 3-1 2003 4 83,364 21,091 4-0 2004 5 106,140 21,228 5-0 2005 5 97,125 19,425 3-2 2006 5 104,050 20,810 4-1 2007 5 102,395 20,479 4-1 2008 5 96,155 19,231 5-0 2009 5 92,065 18,413 5-0 2010 5 94,735 18,947 4-1 2011 5 89,492 17,898 3-2 2012 6 125,709 20,952 2-4 2013 5 94,529 18,906 4-1 2014 6 100,602 16,767 2-4 2015 5 96,993 19,399 2-3 2016 6 135,203 22,534 5-1 2017 6 146,736 24,456 5-1 2018 6 147,160 24,527 5-1 2019 6 140,996 23,499 3-3 2020 5 *56,000 11,200 2-3 2021 6 142,009 23,668 3-3

Total 156 2,732,373 17,515 232-103-3 No. Year Average Attendance

1. 2018 24,527 2. 2017 24,456 3. 2022 23,668 4. 2019 23,499 5. 2016 22,534 6. 2004 21,228 7. 2003 21,091 8. 2012 20,952 9. 2006 20,810 10. 2007 20,479 11. 2005 19,425 12. 2015 19,399 13. 2008 19,231 14. 2010 18,947 15. 2013 18,906 16. 2009 18,413 17. 2011 17,898 18. 1998 16,991 19. 2001 16,966 20. 2014 16,767 21. 1999 16,073 22. 2000 15,055 23. 2002 13,403 24. 1996 12,753 25. 2020 11,200*

* The 2020 season was played with limited capacity due to COVID-19