Early history

Veterans Memorial Stadium was originally dedicated in 1950 to the Troy State Teachers College students and Pike County residents who had died in World War II. The stadium solely consisted of a small, 5,000-seat grandstand on the west side of the running track, and was built into the natural slope of the ground. It has been expanded or renovated several times over the past few decades.

1998 expansion

In 1998, the stadium underwent a major renovation. A large upper deck was added on the west side of the stadium, increasing capacity from 12,000 seats to 17,500 seats. A new scoreboard with a small video board was also added.

Costs for the 1998 expansion of the stadium were financed in part by a substantial donation from HealthSouth founder Richard M. Scrushy. The playing field (but not the stadium) was renamed Richard M. Scrushy Field, but this became a public relations problem for Troy University when Scrushy was forced out of his position due to alleged financial misdeeds at HealthSouth in 2003; he was later tried for these, but acquitted. (Scrushy was later convicted of other unrelated crimes, along with former Alabama governor Don Siegelman.)

2003 expansion

Renovations were again carried out in 2003, just two seasons after the Trojans make the move to Division I-A (FBS). The old press box area, which had cut into the 1998 upper deck, was filled in with chair-back seats. A much larger, 6-story press box/box tower was built behind the newly-completed upper deck. The track was removed and the field was lowered, and permanent seating was placed over the old berm area behind the south grandstand. The east grandstand seating was completely demolished and rebuilt, adding a new lower deck and upper deck. As a result of the seat additions and renovations, the stadium's seating capacity expanded to 30,000. The stadium was now a flattened "U" shape. A large-screen end zone replay board was installed in 2003 in the North end zone, along with a state-of-the-art Danley sound system.

The natural grass surface was also removed in 2003, being replaced with AstroPlay synthetic grass. Troy was one of the first schools to feature the synthetic grass on a football field. The AstroPlay surface was then replaced by the ProGrass synthetic turf system in 2012.

Construction costs for the 2003 renovation/expansion were financed in part by the sale of naming rights to the video rental chain Movie Gallery. Because of this, Scrushy's name is no longer on the field. Movie Gallery's name was removed after the company filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations in 2010,^{[citation needed]} at which point the venue reverted to its original name.

2011 re-naming of field

After eight years of the field no longer having been named, the university decided to name the field Larry Blakeney Field. This naming was in honor of legendary and long-time coach Larry Blakeney, who was still coaching the Trojans football team at the time. The field remains Larry Blakeney Field to this day.

2012/2014 renovations

During this time, no major expansions were performed that would affect seating capacity. A few moderate renovations were performed, with the first being that the AstroPlay synthetic grass surface was replaced by the new ProGrass synthetic turf system in 2012.

In 2014, the next renovation was to add a 1,240-square-foot (115 m²) Daktronics 15HD LED video board in the eastern corner of the south end zone above the lower stands. In addition to this, new 300 feet (91 m) long Daktronics Slim-LED video ribbon boards were installed front of both the east and west upper decks. A new sound system was also installed.^{[citation needed]}

2017 expansion

On November 12, 2016 ground was broken on the $24-million North End zone Facility with a completion date for 2018. The facility will add 402 club-level seats and the plans call for a first-floor that houses a strength and conditioning area and nutrition station; a second-floor locker room, sports medicine facility, team lounge and "cool-down" plunge pool; and a third floor filled with coaches’ offices, meeting rooms, video services and a recruiting lounge. A 3,150-square-foot (293 m²) Daktronics 15HD LED video board is also being installed on the top of the facility, which will be the largest video board in the Sun Belt Conference, as well as one of the largest video boards among Group of Five programs.^[1]

Trojan Walk

Before each Troy home football game, hundreds of Troy fans and students line University Avenue on campus to cheer on the team as they march with the Sound of the South band and cheerleaders from the Quad to Tailgate Terrace, surrounded by fans who pat them on the back and shake their hands as they walk toward Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Trojan Fanfare

During the pre-game show at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the Sound of the South will perform what is known as the "Trojan Fanfare." It is a favorite among most fans and energizes the fanbase leading up to kickoff.

"Havoc!"

One of the more popular traditions of gameday, during the pre-game show the band marches onto the field to prepare for the football team to run out of the gates. The band falls silent, and the announcer then recites the phrase from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Fans in the stadium will yell out "Havoc!" in unison along with the announcer before the last line of the phrase:

And so, with mighty warriors clad in strongest armor
and well prepared to receive the lot dealt by fate
the contest is at hand.
And the commander's spirit, ranging for revenge
shall in a monarch's voice cry, 'Havoc!'
and let slip the dogs of war.

Trojan Warrior

Before every game and after every touchdown, the Trojan Warrior or Trojan Princess would blaze down the football field on a horse named "Big Red." This tradition is no longer used because the football field turf was changed from real grass to artificial grass.