Sirrine Stadium was used by Furman from partway through the 1936 season until 1980; it replaced Manly Field and was replaced by Paladin Stadium.

Overall, NC State had a record of 3-0-2 at this field, going 1-0-2 when the Wolfpack and Purple Hurricanes were Southern Conference mates and winning both non-conferance games on the grounds. One game was canceled in 1952 when the Southern Conference's schedule was rearranged after Clemson and Maryland were barred from league competition for participating in bowl games.

  * Non-conference games

Sirrine Stadium opened part-way through the 1936 season, and it could not have opened at a better time: the Purple Hurricanes were in the midst of a highly successful season under fifth year head coach Dizzy McLeod. Thanks to that success, demand for Furman tickets had never been higher, especially with this being their first season in the Southern Conference. Though President Bennette Geer opposed opening a new stadium in light of financial hardships from the Great Depression, talks among influential alumni in 1934 culminated in a vote to build a new stadium, contingent on a Public Works Administration assistance. The movement was largely spearheaded and designed by alumnus Joseph Emory Sirrine, whose architecture firm designed the stadium from the ground up. Construction on the $108,000 (about $2.5 million in 2025) stadium -- of which Furman contributed $68,000 -- began in March 1936 and was completed, after a late-game rain delay, in late October 1936 [1].

The 15,000-person plant was dedicated on November 14th when Furman hosted South Carolina, but held its first action two weeks earlier, when the Paladins hosted Davidson. As a writer for Greenville News explained, "Furman officials... decided to transfer the game from the war-torn sward of Manly Field to the new plant on Cleveland Street when indications developed that the old sports camp would not accomodate the spectacle." Though it was their third home game of the season, it was their first against a major opponent. The stadium was said to be so well-designed and sized that seats were not re-assigned during the transition from the old stadium to the new [2].

The athletic plant has never been permanently enlarged. Lights and a loudspeaker system were added in 1937; in 1948, glass panes were added to the press box (which was previously open air), and in 1966 a new electric scoreboard was installed at the south end of the stadium. In 1984, both the press box and scoreboard were improved once again, alongside renovations to the site electrical system and fieldhouses, thanks to a $111,000 (just over $340,000 in 2025) investment from the school district and the semi-pro Carolina Cowboys*, who installed pro-stye goalposts. New lights were installed in 1997, as well as yet another scoreboard [3].

Furman officials sold the field to the school district in 1981 for $625,000 (about $2.2 million in 2025) after they left for the newly-constructed Paladin Stadium. Located on the grounds of their new campus (which opened in 1961), the move had been two decades in the making, and had been widely anticipated by future NC State head coach Dick Sheridan, who, in the words of one columnist, would no longer have to "explain to recruits why his team plays football miles from campus in a stadium where white shacks serve as dressing rooms." Furman's exodus left Greenville High School as the stadium's only permanent tenant, a distinction which they hold to this day.

As the stadium aged, its condition worsened to the point that one alumnus called the condition "deplorable" -- "I thought this stadium was eventually going to just rot and fall down," said Jerry Howard, former Red Raider and then-head of the Greenville Area Development Corporation. In the summer of 2001, the Red Raiders of Greenville High organized "Sirrine 2000," a campaign designed to help revitalize Sirrine Stadium, explaining that the staid venue "has proudly aged its way through generations of high school events." After raising $1,275,000 (just under $2.3 million in 2025) in donations, including a $300k disbursement from the school district, the overhaul was underway, with efforts focused on revamping the concession stands, adding a second level to the press box (since named for TD Bank), replacing bench seating, making a new entrance to the ticket office, improving lighting, and improving locker room and restroom facilities.

Work began in March 2002 and was finished by August, when the grounds were rededicated; the field was named for Thomas "Nap" Vandiver, a prominent banker for Carolina First who was involved in the fundraising efforts before his passing in April 2002. In 2025, the school board voted to upfit the surfaces of all Greenville-area schools with artificial turf by 2025, replacing the plant's grass surface for the first time [4].

* The Carolina Cowboys fielded a team for two years in 1984 and 1985, playing the first season as a member of the Interstate Football League. After making a 5-6 record, the team left for the Georgia Football League, probably hoping to cut back on travel expenses -- IFL opponents were located in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Despite making the GFL playoffs with a 7-5 record (two wins via forfeit), owner Kirt Thomas disbanded the team the morning of the semi-final game against Forest Park, selling the equipment in an effort to recoup some financials.

Pictures of Sirrine Stadium