The price tag was rather hefty, considering that the original price to build the stadium was a mere $360,000. The 1991 project cost the University Athletic Association $3.7 million and enclosed the West end. In 1940, lights were added to the field level paving the way to the first Sanford Stadium night game, a 7-7 tie between Georgia and Kentucky on October 26, 1940.Įventually, the East end of the stadium was enclosed, more lights added, and the capacity increased to 82,122. Through the years, the stadium has experienced various expansion projects. Georgia won the now famous game when a young sophomore end from Macon, Vernon 'Catfish' Smith, scored all 15 of the Bulldogs' points. An overflow crowd of 30,000 saw the stadium's first game on October 12, 1929, when Yale University made its only trip South. Sanford, former president of the University and Chancellor of the University system, Georgia's Sanford Stadium celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2004. With a $25 million expansion completed in 2003 and another $8 million in 2004, Sanford Stadium added a second upper deck on the north side and 27 new north side SkySuites bringing the new stadium capacity to 92,746-the fifth largest on-campus stadium in the country. Sanford Stadium is widely known as the greatest spectator stadium in the South and surrounded by its famous hedges, Georgia's home field is one of the legendary facilities in college football.

IA by John Darryl Winston