Neyland Stadium

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<tr><td>Broke ground</td><td>1921</td></tr>

Neyland Stadium <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
Location	Phillip Fulmer Way Knoxville, TN37996
Opened	1921
Owner	State of Tennessee <tr><td>Operator</td><td>University of Tennessee</td></tr><tr><td>Surface</td><td>Grass</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #efefef;" colspan="2">Former names</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Shields-Watkins Field 1921-1962</td></tr>
Tenants
Tennessee Volunteers (NCAA) (1921-Present)
Seats
104,079

Neyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. It serves primarily as the home of the University of Tennessee football team, the Volunteers, but is also used to host large conventions. It is the largest football stadium in the South, and the third largest in the United States (the two largest are Michigan and Beaver Stadiums). After 79 years, and 16 expansion projects, Neyland Stadium now has an official capacity of 104,079 seats.

The present day Neyland Stadium, Shields-Watkins Field, had its beginning in 1919. Col. W.S. Shields, president of Knoxville's City National Bank and a UT trustee, provided the initial capital to prepare and equip an athletic field. Thus, when the field was completed in March 1921, it was called Shields-Watkins Field in honor of the donor and his wife, Alice Watkins-Shields.

The stadium, apart from the field it grew to enclose, came to bear its own distinguished name - Neyland Stadium. It was named for the man most responsible for the growth and development of Tennessee's proud football tradition. General Robert Neyland served as head coach from 1926-1952, with two interruptions for military service.

After retiring from coaching, General Neyland was the university's athletics director until his death in 1962. He was the guiding force behind several additions to the stadium's capacity and is the man most responsible for the winning tradition that Volunteer fans have come to expect through the years.

The latest addition to the facility are the 78 East sideline skyboxes in 2000, bringing capacity to 104,079.

[edit] Extra Facts

The Sporting News ranked Neyland Stadium as the nation's No.1 college football stadium in a poll in the spring of 2001.
Tennessee set a school-record by averaging 107,595 fans in 2000.
A record total of 747,870 fans in seven games saw the Vols post an undefeated home season in 1999.
UT has averaged 105,176 fans over the past nine seasons, drawing nearly four million patrons during that span.
Many great pro-football players played under Neyland Stadium's lights. These players include the likes of Reggie White and Peyton Manning.
Largest stadium attendance was on Sept. 18, 2004 against Florida with a record of 109,061 people. The game resulted in a 30-28 Volunteer win.