Stoll Field / McLean Stadium Stoll Field / McLean Stadium was a multi - purpose stadium in Lexington , Kentucky , USA . It was the home of the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team . The field has been in use since 1880 , but the concrete stands were opened in October 1916 , and closed following the 1972 season , and was replaced by Commonwealth Stadium . Memorial Coliseum is located across the street from the site . It is the site of the first football game played in the South . A historic marker was erected in 2008 and reads - Side 1 - " " STOLL FIELD : In 1880 the first college football game ever played in the South was held here at what was eventually named Stoll Field . It was dedicated in 1916 at the Kentucky vs . Vanderbilt game and was named in honor of alumnus and long - term Board of Trustees member Judge Richard C . Stoll . The field was the setting of early football games and an integral part of student life . " Side 2 - " MCLEAN STADIUM This field , which once pastured President Patterson ’ s cows , was used for military training during World War I and in 1924 it held McLean Stadium . It was named for Price McLean , an engineering student who was fatally injured in a football game in 1923 . McLean Stadium was the site of Kentucky football games until they were moved to Commonwealth Stadium in 1973 . " McLean Stadium was the site of the first football game of the newly formed Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) on September 30 , 1933 , in which Kentucky defeated 7−0 . The stadium was a two - sided concrete structure , with bleachers in both endzones . It was named for Judge Richard C . Stoll , a prominent alumnus . In November 1924 , the grandstands were renamed McLean Stadium in honor of Price Innes McLean , a former center for the Wildcats who had died from injuries sustained in the 1923 Kentucky - Cincinnati game . The stadium was the home of the Wildcats during the Bear Bryant era ( 1946 – 1953 ) , which included the team ' s first bowl appearance ( in the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl ) , and the first SEC football championship ( in 1950 ) . Bryant ' s coaching tenure at the predominantly basketball - savvy school is regarded as the best era in UK ' s football history , as they only have had one SEC championship ( 1976 ) and 11 bowl appearances ( following the 1976 , 1983 , 1984 , 1993 , 1998 , 1999 , and 2006 through 2010 seasons ) . ( Indeed , the 1977 season — a season in which they were ineligible for the conference championship and postseason play due to probation — was the only other season in which the team ever posted ten wins , and the Wildcats had never won three consecutive bowl games until 2008 . ) The stadium ' s downfall was due to its age and low seating capacity by SEC standards . Bryant , by now head coach at Alabama , refused to schedule Kentucky until a new , larger capacity stadium was built . As a result , Alabama did not play Kentucky for 25 years . The location of McLean Stadium , bound by Rose Street , Euclid Avenue ( now Avenue of Champions ) , Lexington Avenue and Patterson Drive , did not have any room for expansion . Therefore , the school decided to build Commonwealth Stadium , located on a former farming center on campus . The last game played at the stadium was on November 11 , 1972 , with the Wildcats beating Vanderbilt 14 - 13 . The stadium was razed during the 1970s , the south end being replaced with the Singletary Center for the Arts . A field was installed in the north end , perpendicular to the old end zone , and is named Stoll Field . It is still the practice field for the UK marching band , and is also used for intramural activities .