American Legion Memorial Stadium is a venue in Charlotte, North Carolina that has been used for many years for semi-pro and high school football.

Overall, NC State had a record of 5-6 at this field, with all 11 games coming as neutral site conference matchups, though some consider the venue to be a "home" field for Davidson.

  * Non-conference games

Like many of the other similarly-named stadiums from this time, American Legion Memorial Stadium was a joint effort organized between Charlotte's American Legion Post No. 9 and the local government in the form of a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. Local efforts were spearheaded by Charlotteans Ernest Grady, Thomas Bird, Paul Younts, and Henry Trace, all World War I veterans who wanted to pay homage to their fallen comrades. With the help of a $25,000 donation from the Legionnaires, ground broke for the construction of American Legion Memorial Stadium in 1934, and the stadium opened in 1936 [1]. The first event it hosted was the 9/26/1936 North Carolina vs Wake Forest game, just over 3 weeks after work was complete. The match, which UNC won 14-7, was said to kick off major football in the state for the season. It continued to host a number of college football games annually through 1940s and into the early 1950s, but around that time period began to host largely smaller college or HBCU games. As remembered by Jack Claiborne:

"Behind the Armory Auditorium sprawled the American Legion Memorial Stadium. In the 1940s and '50s, the stadium was home to fifty or sixty football games a year. Each fall it welcomed the season with a lush green gridiron that by late October was worn to light brown and by Thanksgiving had become a mud pit. In addition to games by the six local high schools, the stadium hosted home games for Davidson College and Johnson C. Smith University. Each year [from 1939-1944] N.C. State played Clemson there and each Thanksgiving [seven times from 1940-1947] Wake Forest played South Carolina. Later the stadium welcomed games by a variety of semi-pro and professional teams [2].

Though it has never been the home location for any team, it has been used extensively for football over the years. Johnson C. Smith University, an HBCU in Charlotte, hosted games in the venue from the 1940s until as recently as 2014, and the venue sporadically hosted NFL exhibition games in the 1960s. It has also hosted bevy of semi-pro teams, including the Charlotte Clippers (Dixie League, 1941-49), the Charlotte Hornets (World Football League, 1974-75), the Carolina Chargers (American Football Association, 1979-1981). Additionally, the stadium hosted the 2005 and 2006 editions of the Pioneer Bowl.

The field's only current football action is at the high school level. Though Memorial Stadium did host the Shrine Bowl, a high school all-star game which pits the best players in North and South Carolina against each other, from 1937-2000, the event has since elected to move to South Carolina, first Rock Hill and later Spartanburg. The venue continues to host High School Football Kickoff Night, an annual season-opening event featuring Charlotte-area teams, as well as periodic regular season or high school playoff games as needed. The venue currently is home to the Charlotte Independence of the United Soccer League and the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacross [3].

The venue is otherwise used as a community gathering place, with periodic events taking place, ranging from marching band competitions, to 4th of July celebrations, to wrestling events. One such example of the latter is when the stadium bore witness to Ric Flair's infamous helicopter arrival in 1986. One of the first events held at American Legion Memorial Stadium was a stop on President Roosevelt's 1936 re-election campaign. Despite a persistent rain and over an hours' delay, the drenched spectators waited on anyways. Just as he mounted the stage, the clouds finally parted, letting through the sun; finally, he mounted the stage. As recalled by Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Claiborne:

"My friends..." he began in that warm, soothing voice people had often heard on the radio. Then abruptly he stopped. “Look,” he exclaimed, gesturing toward the far end of the stadium. "I see a rainbow in the sky!" Sure enough, arching across the heavens were bands of red, green, blue and gold, just the promise to offset the gloom of an otherwise inclement afternoon. The crowd roared its approval. Drawing on Twenty-Third psalm references to "green pastures" and "still waters," Roosevelt talked of restoring the South's soul through a variety of programs for soil and water conservation and price supports for cotton, tobacco, and other crops that would produce a living wage [2].

When the field opened in 1936, it had a capacity of about 14-15,000 [4]. After some discussion of its inadequate size in 1947 -- especially in regards to hosting the popular Shrine Bowl -- plans emerged to add an additional 6,000 seats; the plans fizzled out, however, and instead, funds were used to build a new press box, add gates and turnstiles, and resurface the field [5]. With backing from the Shriners, the seating was increased by about 3,500 in 1953 [1], and was renovated again in 1960, when the seating capacity was expanded to 19,543. It was expanded by another 5,000 seats in early 1968 to about 25,000, but received no additional major renovations for serveral years thereafter [6].

Despite serious inquiries to complete the horseshoe and add an upper deck around the stadium to increase the capacity to about 55-60,000, with especial interest in 1974 and 1983 (this time with the addition of a dome, earning the plan the monicker of "Carodome" for Carolina), price tags increased and public support waned. In fact, in 1985, it was even suggested that the stadium be torn down for the expansion of neighboring Central Piedmont Community College [7].

The stadium continued degrading until 2009, when bleachers at the east end of the stands fell after a storm drain collapsed beneath the stadium. The stadium reopened in 2010 with a grass berm in place of the bleachers, reducing the capacity to 21,000 (including the berm) or 17,000 seats. The stadium remained relatively unmodified from late 2019 until mid-2021, when the stadium reopened with a near-complete facelift and a reduced capacity of 10,500, including about 9,500 fixed seats. The renovation was done to help secure the aforementioned Charlotte Independence [8].

Pictures of American Legion Memorial Stadium