Crump Stadium Crump Stadium was a sports stadium in Memphis , Tennessee , built in 1934 and largely demolished in 2006 . It was built as a WPA project with a capacity of 7 , 500 . In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25 , 000 spectators . In 1948 and 1949 it staged the NCAA football Delta Bowl ; in 1950 the college football game between the University of Arkansas and the University of Texas at Austin was held there . Memphis State University ( now University of Memphis ) home football games were played there until the completion of Memphis Memorial Stadium ( now Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium ) in the mid - 1960s . The stadium was named for the late Memphis political boss E . H . Crump . It is now home to Central High School . History . The need for a large stadium in Memphis was first proposed by Clarence Saunders , founder of Piggly Wiggly and owner of the Clarence Saunders Tigers , a semi - professional football team . After success against other established teams , it was thought that Memphis would join the fledgling National Football League , but the Great Depression wiped out Saunders , and Memphis missed out on professional football for the first time . In early 1932 , plans for a large concrete stadium with a capacity of 25 , 000 persons was presented to the Mid - South Fair Association with the promise that if it were built , efforts would be made to land " big - time events of the tennis world " . On July 17 , 1932 , the Memphis Park Commission gave tentative approval for a 25 , 000 - seat stadium to be created at the Fairgrounds . Funds for the stadium were to be raised from the public through a " Buy a Barrel of Cement " project . However , that project was shelved in favor of a new field at Central High School . On August 20 , 1932 , plans for a new stadium for the City of Memphis were drawn up and approved by the city managers . Funding for this Depression - era project was achieved when , on December 16 , 1933 , a athletic field was approved by state and federal Civil Works Authority and construction was completed in 1934 . The stadium ' s original configuration was 7 , 000 seat capacity on wood bleachers 15 rows high with space for another 4 , 000 on temporary seating . The stadium was under the control of the City Board of Education , but was available to all levels of teams , from high school to professional On February 27 , 1934 , the school board voted to name the new stadium for congressman and former mayor E . H . Crump . Mr . Crump accepted the honor saying he was " pleased " but felt such honors were best served posthumously . The next day , final approval of $ 35 , 000 was granted by the Civil Works Authority and work on the project began . By August 1934 , the scope of the project had been increased to include a cinder running track and lighting consisting of six 80 ' towers each holding eight 1000 - watt lamps , enabling night football to be played . From the outset , day - night double headers were the norm at the stadium . Despite this type scheduling , the first year of operation ran a deficit , with maintenance and operating costs running from $ 2 , 100 to $ 2 , 200 and gate receipts and concessions totaling only $ 951 . After a 1936 game between Mississippi and Tennessee drew a record crowd of 11 , 000 , the city decided that it should aggressively market itself as " neutral ground " to the regional teams and promote bringing big games to Memphis . The decision was made to remove the wooden bleachers on the south side of the field , replace them with concrete 46 rows high and increase capacity to 15 , 000 . Control of the facility was transferred to the Park Commission on August 25 , 1936 , and $ 100 , 000 was allocated for the project . A news release from the WPA stated " California has its " Rose Bowl " , Louisiana has its " Sugar Bowl " and now Memphis . . . is to have its " Cotton Bowl . " The WPA provided $ 90 , 050 and the City of Memphis chipped in another $ 44 , 305 . City engineer Will Fowler was placed in charge of the project and stated at the time that he envisioned further expansion by creating a bowl which would seat 30 , 000 . Fowler would play an aggressive role in frequent upgrades to the facility over time . 1936 also saw the first intercollegiate football game featuring a Memphis team , Southwestern ( now Rhodes College ) , which at the time was acknowledged to be on the threshold of the " big time " . There were 40 games played at Crump Stadium that season At the same time Crump Stadium was being expanded , it was decided to create a new field at the fairgrounds . Funds were acquired from the WPA for this new lighted field which Mayor Watkins Overton said would help take pressure off Crump Stadium by giving events with smaller attendance a new venue . The wood bleachers from the south side of Crump Stadium were relocated to the fairgrounds and installed . That field was located in the area now paved as parking between Libertyland and the Mid - South Coliseum . State Teachers College and Southwestern shared this field beginning in 1937 with high school and junior high teams . Both State Teachers and Southwestern had been playing at Hodges Field . In 1937 , Southwestern moved five games to Crump Stadium , and State Teachers played two . Both squads played three games at the new fairgrounds facility . The first game played in Crump Stadium by State Teachers was against Tennessee Tech in November 1937 . The Teachers would spend the next 27 years at Crump Stadium . New dressing rooms were constructed under the south stands in 1938 . To reach the dressing rooms , teams had to go down steps leading to a tunnel underneath the cinder track and box seats to a second set of stairs which led back up to the entrance passage of the building where the teams turned left or right respectively . 1939 saw more expansion and renovation as the north side wooden bleachers were demolished and concrete stands were erected . The new north stands held just under 10 , 000 people and cost $ 186 , 000 . The north stands were 42 rows high as opposed to the south stands which were 46 rows high . In 1940 a 600 - seat section was added in the southwest corner along with a new separate entrance and toilet facilities for black s , allowing those citizens access to the stadium for the first time . Capacity was increased to just over 25 , 000 and the city was able to attract marquee match - ups from throughout the region . Match - ups between Tennessee , Mississippi , Mississippi State and Arkansas were frequent with even a Texas - Arkansas game played at Crump Stadium . Crump Stadium would remain in essentially that configuration until 1960 , when the City Commission recommended expanding the stadium again . This met with much controversy and opposition from the school board , which needed the land the stadium sat on for expansion of Central High School and to meet open space requirements . In November 1962 , the City Commission approved spending of $ 1 . 4 million to increase capacity to over 45 , 000 and a contract was awarded . But less than a year later , the project was halted in favor of a new stadium at the fairgrounds . After Memphis Memorial Stadium was built , control of the facility was transferred back to the Memphis City Schools . Closing , demolition and refurbishment . The Memphis school district closed Crump Stadium to competition after the 2004 high school football season . In the summer of 2006 the stadium underwent demolition and was replaced with a stadium more appropriately sized for high school football complete with a new track and other track and field amenities . The outer brick wall , original gates and entrances were retained and the name remains " Crump Stadium . " High school sporting competitions resumed in the fall of 2007 .