Photo by Robert Jordan
Every year, sports fans across the globe flock to stadiums to experience the high and lows, thrills and spills and sights and sounds different stadia across the world brings.
For those visiting (or even those living in Mississippi) a trip to Oxford’s Vaught–Hemingway Stadium is a must even if there is no game on.
The stadium is the home of the University of Mississippi Rebels college football team and is a sight to behold whether you are sports fan or not.
Located on the southeast side of the University of Mississippi’s campus, the stadium and is unmistakeable and visible all over the campus.
The state does not have a professional sports team (the Mississippi Braves in the Minor League Baseball are semi-professional) with many punters getting in on the online casino action with sites such as Novibet, but that does not mean they cannot still get behind the Rebels and a trip to the Vaught-Hemingway is a real treat.
Named after Johnny Vaught (head football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1947 to 1970) and Judge William Hemingway, the stadium has become the state’s largest capacity sports venue boasting an attendance of just over 64,000 spectators on game day.
To put that into contrast, that would make it the third largest soccer stadium in England behind only Wembley Stadium and Old Trafford (the home of Manchester United).
Well worth a visit on size alone then but there is plenty of history behind the iconic stadium.
Ground was first broken in 1912 and on the 1st October 1925, the stadium officially opened with a still impressive 24,000 capacity at the time.
That is how the stadium stayed until 1949 when the first of ten expansions took place eventually taking the overall capacity to 64,038.
However, in September 2016 in a game against Alabama, a record of attendance of 66,176 crammed into the ground (unfortunately, they witnessed the Rebels lose a tight game 43-48).
The Vaught–Hemingway Stadium was really brought up to date in 2004 with an indoor practice facility and in 2008 the fourth largest score board in college football was installed costing a heavyweight $6 million.
The wide-open seating ensures views are excellent no matter where you sit in the stand and the stadium received Trip Advisors Certificate of Excellent after receiving rave reviews from the general public about their experience at the stadium.
There have also been numerous successes to.
The late 1950’s and early 60’s saw three national championships arrive in 1959, 60 and 62 with Johnny Vaught the man at the helm of the Rebels.
Although less success has followed since, the Rebels remain an imposing force in college football and in 1998, the field of play was named in honor of Dr. Jerry Hollingsworth to make the official title of the stadium as the aught-Hemingway Stadium at Hollingsworth Field.
No trip to Oxford would be complete with a visit to the Rebels so next time you plan on coming over, make sure you tie it in with a game, you will not be disappointed.
