Riggs Field was used by Clemson's football team from 1915-1941; it replaced Bowman Field and was replaced by Memorial Stadium.

Overall, NC State had a record of 0-2 at this field, playing both games played prior to the rankings era.

  * Non-conference games

Clemson's Riggs Field opened in 1915 and became their first purpose-built home for athletic use -- previous athletic efforts had taken place at Bowman Field, a flat part of campus used mainly for drill practice. The main reason for the move was for space reasons: "For nineteen years athletics have been cramped here by a lack of space on which to expand, and the opening of this magnificent field should... inject new hopes and inspirations for athletic achievement." Dug into the ground at the location of the former college dumping grounds, the plant covered a massive expanse of land measuring over 1,000 feet long and five hundred feet wide. In its initial configuration, it held not only the football field, but also a cinder track which encircled the field, as well as space for four possible baseball diamonds and several tennis courts.

Work began in June 1914 with college president and soon-to-be namesake Dr. Walter M. Riggs, as well as every member of the senior class, participated in a groundbreaking ceremony during the 1914 commencement. The field opened on October 2nd, 1915 to a 6-6 tie against Davidson after over a years' worth of work. Though a more formal athletic field than its predecessor, it was still fairly spartan in nature, with wooden bleachers constructed to accomodate seating; work, including permanent concrete stands, was evidently delayed due to impacts from the First World War. It was hoped that eventually, the concrete grandstands could be poured on top of the slope remaining from excavation. Initial work cost $10,000 (about $312,000 in 2024), all donated by trustees [1].

In the meantime, the field was outfitted with temporary wooden bleachers which were moved to and from the field as needed. It's not clear exactly how many were there on a given week when it opened, but by 1921 the venue was outfitted with about 1,000 permanent seats consisting of concrete runners dug into the ground with wooden planks across them, putting capacity around 2,500 total spots; work was done on a voluntary basis by juniors and seniors. Concurrent with that renovation, the field was reoriented to run north-to-south rather than east-west layout it had when originally constructed; it was also shifted as far east as possible. The following season, this number was nearly doubled, to 4,676, by adding bleachers to nearly every side of the field ahead of the highly-anticipated Clemson-Centre College match, the college's first homecoming game.

The arrival of Bud Saunders in 1923 proved to push the athletic envelope further. Evidently, the cinder track had not yet been constructed as originally envisioned; under his watch, it was completed, though rebuilt the following year because of the sharp turns required to fit the track in the existing footprint. In 1924, the mishmash of wooden stands and concrete runners was done away with in favor of an entirely concrete venue seating 10,000 persons, plus another 3,000 spots from temporary bleachers. The field was again reoriented to run east-west as concrete stands were extended westward, using the existing eastern stands as the basis of the new horseshoe layout [2].

Besides the installation of a new press box in 1929 and the replacement of the wood on the seats in 1934, permanent football improvements after this date are scant. As far as I've been able to determine, Riggs Field lived out the remainder of its gridiron days sans major upgrades, gradually becoming one of the region's smaller major football fields. Intercollegiate football left unceremoniously after the 1941 season; lights, however, were added at some point prior to 1946 (probably 1941 -- see images below -- though I've been unable to find a confirmation of this), probably in order to extend practices later into the night. It remained a practice football field through 1959 (though superstitious Frank Howard sometimes returned to the field throughout his career), as well as the college's primary baseball venue (through 1969) and outdoor track facility (through 1972) before both relocated to more remote parts of campus. From there, it saw use largely as an intramural field [3]. It's not clear when, or if, the old concrete bleachers were removed at this time.

Soccer was also played on Riggs Field starting with the program's resurrection in 1967; tennis was also prominent, taking over the space abandoned by the baseball team in 1970. The time for both sports at the space proved to be shortlived, though: both also moved to new pastures starting from 1970 to 1973. Like its predecessor, Riggs Field was fading into increasing athletic obscurity. Besides intramurals, its one salvation was Dixie Day, which began as a sorority recruitment event started in 1966 and quickly devolved into an event full of unabashed alcoholic debauchery, if write-ups from The Tiger are to believed. Athletics were nominally involved in a field-day type capacity pitting different Greek organizations against each other.

This changed rapidly in 1980, when athletic leadership elected to consolidate the soccer, field hockey, and intramural fields in order to create football parking for IPTAY members; improved proximity to students was also loosely claimed as a factor. The former bowl was smoothed and graded to remove the crowned surface at the top, and the sloped hills turned into concrete block retaining walls. Athletic Director Bill McClellan drew the ire of soccer coach I. M. Ibrahim and many of the soccer-loving students after promising the move to Riggs would yield a vastly improved stadium but not following through with his promise: after five years of playing on "temporary" wooden bleachers and a muddy and uncomforable field (decried to be "about as smooth as a cobblestone road"), Ibrahim was at his wits' end. "If we don't have a new field next year," he opined, "I'm not going to coach soccer at Clemson" [4] [5].

Administration acquiesced to Ibrahim's demands and in 1987 the soccer team dedicated a revamped stadium, replete with a new scoreboard, lights, a dressing room, and permanent metal bleachers. Constructed at a cost of $1 million (nearly $3 million in 2024), it was ironically funded entirely using disbursements from IPTAY; the very group which had leveled their old field for a parking lot. In addition to the amenities, the work added about 3,400 new seats, pushing the venue's capacity to about 6,500 persons. Football of the other kind also sporadically used the stadium: the 2002 and 2003 Spring Games were relocated to their old stomping grounds due to Memorial Stadium renovations and turf installation, respectively. In order to make the game work, goal posts had to be borrowed from the practice fields, while the scoreboard displayed shots and corner kicks for downs and yards to gain. Speaking on the games, assistant AD John Seketa noted that "Today's the first time a lot of fans have probably ever been here," before hoping that "Now maybe they'll come back next year for soccer" [6].

Additional renovations took place in 2011, when the area received a new entrance plaza, seating behind one endzone, and a multi-purpose room under the bleachers at a cost of $6.1 million (about $8.4 million in 2024). The university also elected to dedicate the upgraded venue Ibrahim Stadium in honor of their irascible but developmental soccer coach. The following year, the field received a new scoreboard -- except, it wasn't new: it was half of the scoreboard replaced in Memorial Stadium that summer; the other half went to the baseball stadium. In 2015, the field surface, consisting of poor-draining native grass, was torn up and a drainage system installed; the field was re-planted with a sand-based Bermudagrass field [7].

Pictures of Riggs Field