On this day in sports history

BY COLIN “BIG C” MACGUIRE

The Greenville Standard

 

At one time, Alabama had four home stadiums; they were Cramton Bowl (Montgomery), Ladd Stadium (Mobile), Legion Field (Birmingham), Denny, now Bryant-Denny, in Tuscaloosa.

Today I will talk about Ladd Stadium in Mobile. It was named after prominent Banker Ernest F. Ladd. The first game played at Ladd was on Oct. 2, 1948. Alabama faced Vanderbilt and the game ended in a 14-14 tie. In 1949, the Tide lost to Vanderbilt 14-7.

The 1950’s was a bad decade for Alabama overall. It was bad one at Ladd also. The Tide’s record at Ladd was 3-6-1.

In 1952, Alabama beat #8 Maryland 27-7. In 1954, they beat Vanderbilt 28-14. In 1959, they beat Tulane 19-7 which was Coach Bryant’s 100th win.

The losses were to Vanderbilt, 22-27, in 1950; to LSU, 13-7, in 1951; to Tulane 27-7, in 1955; to Vanderbilt, 32-7, in 1956; to Tulane, 7-0, in 1957; to LSU, 13-3, in 1958. That was Coach Bryant’s first game as head coach at Alabama.

The record at Ladd after the 1958 game was 1-7-2. Going into the 1960’s it was 2-7-2. The 1960’s was a great decade for Alabama. It was at Ladd also. Alabama played Tulane in New Orleans in 1960 and 1962. There were no games in Mobile those years.

1961-Tulane 9-0. 1963-Tulane 28-0. 1964-Tulane 36-6. 1965-Tulane 27-0. After the 1965 season Tulane left the SEC. 1966-Southern Mississippi 34-0. 1967-Southern Mississippi 25-3. 1968-Southern Mississippi 17-14. The 1968 game was the last Alabama played in Mobile.

Alabama reeled off eight straight wins at Ladd to finish with a 10-7-2 record. I believe Alabama left Mobile because of the size of the stadium was 38-40,000 at most. Next Week Legion Field.