Editing FirstBank Stadium (section)

==History==

===Old Dudley Field===
Vanderbilt football began in 1892, and for 30 years, Commodore football teams played on the northeast corner of campus where Wilson Hall, Kissam [[quadrangle (architecture)|Quadrangle]], and a portion of the Vanderbilt University Law School now stand, adjacent to today's 21st Avenue South.<ref>See ''VUcommodores.com'', "History of Vanderbilt Stadium", ¶ 7. Online at http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-stadium.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929224616/http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-stadium.html |date=September 29, 2011 }}.</ref>

The first facility was named for [[William Lofland Dudley|William Dudley]], [[Dean (education)|Dean]] of the [[Vanderbilt University Medical School]] from 1885 until his death in 1914. Dudley was responsible for the formation of the [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association|SIAA]], the predecessor of the [[Southern Conference]] and [[Southeastern Conference]], in 1895, and was also instrumental in the formation of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] in 1906.<ref name="vucommodores"/>

[[File:VandySewanee1921.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Old Dudley Field in 1921]]

In 1922, after a 74.2 winning percentage during the 18-year tenure of Coach McGugin, the Commodores had outgrown old Dudley Field.<ref name="vucommodores"/>  The old field was re-christened '''Curry Field''', in honor of [[Irby Curry|Irby "Rabbit" Curry]], a standout football player from 1914 to 1916, who left Vanderbilt to serve in the [[American Expeditionary Force]] to Europe in World War I and was killed while flying a combat mission over France in 1918.  The football team played two games on the renamed Curry Field before moving to New Dudley Field in 1922.

===New Dudley Field===
There was not enough room to expand old Dudley Field at its site near Kirkland Hall, so Vanderbilt administrators purchased land adjacent to what is today 25th Avenue South, on the west side of campus, for the new facility.<ref name="vucommodores"/>  The new stadium, the first in the South built solely for football, was christened "Dudley Field", and its capacity was 20,000. As evidence of Vanderbilt's stature in the sport at the time, it dwarfed rival Tennessee's Shields-Watkins Field (now [[Neyland Stadium]]), which had opened a year earlier and seated only 3,200.

{{multiple image
|direction = vertical
|align = left
|image1 = Vandystad1922.png
|image2 = Dudley22.jpg
|footer = New Dudley Field on October 14, 1922 during its first game
}}
The first game played at new Dudley Field was on October 14, 1922 between the Commodores and the powerful [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan Wolverines]]. A goal line stand by the Commodores preserved a 0–0 tie.<ref name="vucommodores" /> The following Friday, nearby [[Hume-Fogg High School]] played a game at the stadium. Senior [[Jimmy Armistead]] returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the first touchdown ever recorded at the stadium. Armistead went on to a successful career at Vanderbilt. He was the captain and starting [[quarterback]] for the [[1928 Vanderbilt Commodores football team|1928 team]].

In 1949, Vanderbilt officials built a modern press box at Dudley Field, replacing a platform that had been used prior to that.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv.com">See "Key Dates in the History of Vanderbilt Stadium", VUcommodores.com. Online at http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-renovation-history-timeline.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080825193931/http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-renovation-history-timeline.html |date=August 25, 2008 }}.</ref> Additional seating was also added to the west side of stadium, boosting capacity to 27,901.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv.com"/>

On September 25, 1954, Vanderbilt hosted the No. 10-ranked [[Baylor Bears football|Baylor Bears]] in the first night game ever played on the Dudley Field surface. Lights were installed so that Dudley Field could host a [[Billy Graham Crusade]] on campus.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv.com"/>

In 1960, nearly 7,000 more seats were added to the stadium, with an expansion on the east side of the stadium near Memorial Gym. Capacity jumped to 34,000.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv.com"/>

At a price of $250,000 (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|250000|1970}}}} today), officials installed what was then a state-of-the-art AstroTurf synthetic surface in 1970.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv.com"/>

===Vanderbilt Stadium===

====Battleship gray====
Over the winter and spring of 1980&ndash;81, most of the Dudley Field grandstand was demolished. The 12,088 seats on each sideline—the only vestige of the old stadium—were raised ten feet through the use of 22 hydraulic jacks on each side of the stadium. The "new" venue was rechristened Vanderbilt Stadium.  However, the playing surface itself is still called Dudley Field.

The rebuilt stadium and its Fred Russell Press Box (named for Vanderbilt alumnus, former football player, and sports journalist [[Fred Russell]]) were designed to resemble a United States naval vessel slicing through the water&mdash;a nod to Vanderbilt's naval themed-mascot, the Commodore. Accordingly, the color scheme picked for the exterior of the stadium was battleship gray.{{cn|date=November 2018}}

The stadium's maximum capacity after the 1980&ndash;81 renovation was 41,000, consisting of a single-decked horseshoe grandstand filled in with wooden bleachers from the 1960 expansion. The project cost $10.1 million, and the Commodores celebrated a sold-out dedication by taking a 23&ndash;17 comeback win over [[Maryland Terrapins football|Maryland]] on September 12, 1981.

To enhance the gameday experience, officials increased capacity to 41,448 and added a [[Jumbotron]] video screen in the north end zone, adjacent to Kensington Place, in advance of the [[History of the Tennessee Titans#Tennessee Oilers era (1997–1998)|Tennessee Oilers]] playing their 1998 home games in the facility.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}}

After the Oilers&mdash;now the Titans&mdash;left in 1999, the playing surface was returned to grass. In 2002 and 2003, the school removed the aging bleachers from the 1960 renovation from the north end zone, lowering capacity to 41,221 in 2002 and to 39,773 in 2003.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}} The bleachers from the north end zone were replaced with a visitors' concourse that affords any fan in the stadium a field-level, up-close experience with the playing surface. The metal frames for the bleachers were relocated to Mt. Juliet Christian School's football facility in suburban Nashville.

====Brick-and-iron====
After nearby [[Hawkins Field]], Vanderbilt's baseball stadium, was constructed in a classic brick-and-iron style in 2002, Vanderbilt administrators began to look at giving Vanderbilt Stadium a similar flavor. They also began to consider the construction of a football facility in place of the present concourse and JumboTron in the north end zone.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv">See "Facilities Upgrade Central", VUcommodores.com.  Online at http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-renovation.html.</ref>

On July 24, 2007, Vanderbilt officials announced they were in the preliminary stages of a stadium renovation plan, with financing, design concept, and date of completion yet to be determined.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv" />

Nine months later, on May 20, 2008, Vice Chancellor David Williams II announced, in a McGugin Center press conference, that the university was beginning a five-phased, multimillion-dollar program of renovations to Vanderbilt athletics facilities, including extensive renovations and additions to Vanderbilt Stadium.<ref name="vucommodores.cstv" />

Under the plan announced by Williams, Vanderbilt Stadium was modified (in the first four phases) as follows:

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
 ! style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Vanderbilt Commodores|color=#FFFFFF}};"|Phase !! style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Vanderbilt Commodores|color=#FFFFFF}};"|Date completed !! style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Vanderbilt Commodores|color=#FFFFFF}};"|Estimated cost !! colspan=2 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Vanderbilt Commodores|color=#FFFFFF}};"|Renovation and construction
|-
 | {{center|'''I'''}} || August 2008 || $12 million || Brick-and-iron fences, new ticketing facility, renovation of east concourse, new paint scheme throughout interior, exterior of stadium painted gold, "VANDERBILT" and Star-V logos added to exterior of press box
|-
 | {{center|'''II'''}} || August 2009 || $12 million || Renovation of west concourse, brick-and-iron fences added to west concourse, addition of brick to exterior of Natchez Trace (west) façade of stadium, construction of new entry plazas at Gates 2 and 3 on Jess Neely Drive
|-
 | {{center|'''III'''}} || August 2010 || $8 million || Renovation of north concourse, brick-and-iron fences added to north concourse, completion of bricking of exterior of entire stadium, construction of new entry plazas at Gates 1 and 4 on Kensington Avenue
|-
 | {{center|'''IV'''}} || August 2011 || $18 million || Construction of additional seating, football offices, locker rooms, recruiting facilities, hospitality facilities, and indoor/outdoor luxury suites in north endzone, with relocation of JumboTron, addition of high-quality synthetic playing surface on Dudley Field
|-
 ! colspan=4 style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Vanderbilt Commodores|color=#FFFFFF}};"| Source: Vanderbilt Athletics Facility Upgrade Central
|}

On February 6, 2012, Williams announced Vanderbilt would be adding new [[FieldTurf]] and a new [[JumboTron]]. A large berm was constructed in the open end of FirstBank Stadium as a place for fans to watch games starting fall 2012. The project, in addition to other renovations, began after the Black & Gold scrimmage on April 14, 2012.

With only 500 seats available, the hillside was a first-come, first-served area in terms of picking a spot to sit. The berm did not reach the permanent seating on the sidelines to leave space in the corners of the end zone for fans to enter.

The fourth major project set for the stadium was improved lighting. Renovations were also completed at McGugin Center, with new meeting rooms and Olympic sport locker rooms built. The work was completed in the summer of 2014.

Since the 2007 season, midshipmen of the Vanderbilt [[Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps|Naval ROTC]] sound a foghorn, nicknamed "The Admiral", whenever the Commodores take the field, as well as after every score and win.  It is also sounded at intervals prior to the scheduled kickoff to encourage fans to go ahead and enter the stadium. After wins the Commodores raise a victory flag sporting the "Star V" emblem.

{{Panorama
|  image = File:Vanderbilt Stadium panorama.jpg
| height = 300
| caption= Stadium panoramic during a Vanderbilt football game in the 2010 season.
}}

===Naming rights===

On August 29, 2022, Vanderbilt announced a ten-year naming rights deal with Nashville-based FirstBank for the football team's stadium.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Julie |last=White |date=2022-08-29 |title=Vanderbilt University Partners With Nashville-Based FirstBank For Football Stadium Naming Rights And Campus Collaboration Agreement |url=https://www.firstbankonline.com/vanderbilt-announces-agreement-with-firstbank/ |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=FirstBank |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vucommodores.cstv.com/facilities/vand-renovation.html|title=Vanderbilt Official Athletic Site|publisher=Vanderbilt Athletics|date=May 20, 2008|access-date=October 3, 2012}}</ref>

===Historic upset win against Alabama===

{{main|2024 Alabama vs. Vanderbilt football game}}

[[File:VanderbiltAlabamaSunset.jpg|thumb|right|FirstBank Stadium in 2024 during the historic upset win against Alabama]]

On October 5, 2024, FirstBank Stadium hosted unranked Vanderbilt’s stunning 40-35 upset over the top-ranked [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|University of Alabama Crimson Tide]].<ref name="rolltide">{{Cite web |title=Alabama Athletics Football History vs Vanderbilt University |url=https://rolltide.com/sports/football/opponent-history/vanderbilt-university/38 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Alabama Athletics |language=en}}</ref> It was Vanderbilt’s first victory over the college football powerhouse since 1984 and its first win in Nashville since 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Championships – Paul W. Bryant Museum |url=https://bryantmuseum.com/traditions_alabama/national_championships/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=bryantmuseum.com}}</ref><ref name = rolltide/> Additionally, it marked Vanderbilt’s first-ever victory against a Top 5 opponent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gerson |first=Aria |title=How upset of Alabama stacks up among Vanderbilt football's best wins of past 50 years |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2024/10/05/vanderbilt-football-best-wins-alabama-tennessee-georgia-upset-sec/75535764007/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}}</ref>

Vanderbilt students in celebration tore down the South [[end zone]] [[goalpost]], and carried it approximately 2.5 miles through downtown Nashville before throwing it into the [[Cumberland River]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lev |first=Jacob |title=Vanderbilt stuns No. 1 Alabama to secure biggest win in program history on day of upsets |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/05/sport/vanderbilt-biggest-win-in-program-history-spt-intl/index.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=CNN |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gerson |first=Aria |title=Inside Vanderbilt football goalposts march to river: Obstacles, honky-tonks and a police escort |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2024/10/09/vanderbilt-football-goal-post-river-alabama-nashville-broadway/75514929007/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}}</ref>