| Built
in 1926 at a cost of nearly half a million dollars,
Birmingham's Legion Field served as the site of many
memories made in the "Football Capital of the
South." Both Auburn University and arch rival
Alabama periodically called Legion Field home, and took
on each other there in their annual "Iron
Bowl." Legion Field would also serve as the
home of two different collegiate bowl games: the
Dixie Bowl of 1947-48, the Hall of Fame Classic (later
the All-American Bowl from 1977 to 1990. With
a seating capacity of 71,594 today, Legion Field has
played host to more pro football teams than any other
facility in North America. 1974 brought the
Birmingham Americans and the World Football League to
the facility. In 1975 the Americans were gone, but
had been replaced by a new team, the Birmingham Vulcans.
In 1979 the AFA was launched with Birmingham represented
by the Alabama Vulcans. The USFL's Birmingham
Stallions competed at Legion Field from 1983 to
1985. The World League of American Football
brought spring football back to Birmingham for two years
with the Birmingham Fire. The Canadian Football
League moved south in 1995, launching the Birmingham
Barracudas, and finally Vince McMahon's XFL came to town
with the Birmingham Thunderbolts in 2001.
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LEGION
FIELD |
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Birmingham,
Alabama |
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