page_title: Sanford Stadium
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Sanford Stadium / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sanford at night
context_page_description: Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is known for its numerous expansions over the years that have been carefully planned to fit with the existing "look" of the stadium. The view of Georgia's campus and rolling hills from the open west end-zone has led many to refer to Sanford Stadium as college football's "most beautiful on-campus stadium", while the surrounding pageantry has made it noteworthy as one of college football's "best, loudest, and most intimidating atmospheres". Games played there are said to be played "between the hedges" due to the field being surrounded by privet hedges, which have been a part of the design of the stadium since it opened in 1929. The current hedges were planted in 1996 after the originals were taken out to accommodate soccer tournament for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
  The stadium is the 11th largest stadium in the United States and the 17th-largest such stadium in the world.
context_section_description: The stadium is named for Dr. Steadman Vincent Sanford, an early major force behind UGA athletics. Sanford arrived at the University of Georgia as an English instructor in 1903. He later became the faculty representative to the athletics committee and would eventually become president of the University and Chancellor of the entire University System of Georgia. In 1911, he moved the university's football venue from its first location, Herty Field, to a location at the center of campus which was named Sanford Field in his honor.
  In those early years of football, Georgia played a series of controversial games against in-state rival Georgia Tech. Sanford Field was too small to accommodate the large crowds, forcing Georgia to travel to Tech's Grant Field in Atlanta every year. Sanford wanted Georgia to have a venue that would equal Tech's, and the "final straw" came in 1927 when UGA's undefeated (9–0) team traveled to Tech and lost 12–0. It was alleged that Tech watered the field all night to slow UGA's running backs. Afterwards, Sanford vowed to "build a stadium bigger than Tech", and play the game at Athens every other year.
  To fund his vision, Sanford had an idea that members of the athletic association would sign notes guaranteeing a bank loan to fund the stadium construction. Those guarantors would be granted lifetime seats. The response was overwhelming, and in 1928 a loan of $150,000 supported by fans and alumni allowed construction to begin on a stadium whose total cost was $360,000.
  Near the existing Sanford Field was a low area between the historic North Campus and the Science Campus (to the south) with a small creek (Tanyard Creek) running through it, creating a clearly preferable choice for the location of the new stadium. This natural valley containing Tanyard Creek would result in reduced costs, as stands could be built on the rising sides of the hill, while the creek could be enclosed in a concrete culvert, on top of which the field would be constructed. The architect for the stadium was TC Atwood of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where North Carolina's Kenan Memorial Stadium had just been completed with a similar design. The 30,000-seat stadium was built in large part with convict labor, as were many public works projects of that era.
  While the location was, then as now, preferable for construction, the result is an uphill walk in any direction leaving the stadium.
  The stadium was completed on time, and UGA convinced perennial powerhouse Yale, which has historically maintained close ties with UGA, to be their first opponent in the new stadium. (This also was Yale's first ever football game played in the South.) On October 12, 1929, a capacity crowd of over 30,000 paid $3 per ticket to watch the Bulldogs, under coach Harry Mehre, beat Yale 15–0 in Sanford Stadium's dedication game. The crowd was at the time the largest to witness a college football game in the South, and governors from all nine southern states also were in attendance. Yale donated its half of the game receipts to UGA to help pay off the construction loans, which would subsequently be completely repaid in just five years. Dr. Sanford also was at this game, and attended many Georgia games at the stadium named in his honor until his death on September 15, 1945.
  Sanford Stadium's hedges have encircled the field since the stadium's first game against Yale in 1929. The idea to put hedges around the field came from the Business Manager of the UGA Athletic Department, Charlie Martin. Martin claimed to have received inspiration for the idea during a visit to the Rose Bowl, where he saw the hedge of roses in that stadium. Roses were not a suitable choice for the climate in Athens, so privet hedges were used instead. Six other SEC stadiums have copied UGA and now have hedges, making this feature no longer unique to UGA, but Georgia has the only one that completely surrounds the playing field.
  There is a disagreement as to the exact type of hedge planted at Sanford Stadium. The UGA Media Guide claims that the hedge is an "English privet hedge". A county exten
caption: Georgia fans "light up" Sanford Stadium with their cell phones at night during a game against Mississippi State in 2017.
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