Braly Municipal Stadium

Tom Braly Municipal Stadium is a 14,215-seat stadium in Florence, Alabama. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the University of North Alabama Lions and the Florence High School Falcons. It also hosted the NCAA Division II Football Championship games from 1986–2013, which were broadcast on ESPN. UNA holds a 252-114-8 record at Braly Stadium. It has also hosted 30 of UNA's 47 Division II Playoff games.[1]

Braly Municipal Stadium

Location	521 N Royal Ave. Florence, AL
Coordinates	34°48′36″N 87°40′22″W
Owner	City of Florence
Operator	City of Florence
Capacity	14,215[1]
Surface	ProGrass[1]
Opened	1949
Tenants
North Alabama Lions (NCAA Division I FCS) Florence High School Falcons

Name

The stadium is a block east of the university campus and adjacent to the Florence Middle School.[2] The middle school was formerly Coffee High School, but was transformed in 2004 when Florence's two public high schools merged. Braly is named for Thomas Braly, Jr., a Coffee High School coach who was principal of the school from 1945 until his death in 1963.[1]

Facilities

Seating capacity has increased by 6,200 seats since 1980 (5,000 in 1980 and 1,200 in 1998). The original playing surface featured a sand foundation that enabled the field to withstand six inches (152 mm) of rain at one time without altering the footing;[3] however, that surface was replaced with ProGrass synthetic turf during the summer of 2010.

Other renovations include a $175,000 scoreboard with a message center installed in 1995 and a 1998 renovation that doubled the working press area as well as provided additional restrooms and viewing booths for game administration. The 1995 scoreboard was replaced in 2010 with a $57,000 LED based scoreboard along with a new elevator to the press box and a resealing of the running track around the field.[4]

The new three-level press box consists of a first level that seats up to 50 sportswriters. The second level has areas for coaching staffs from competing schools, the public address announcer, the clock operator, the stadium manager, and also provides space for radio crews from both home and visiting teams. The third floor is used by television and film crews.

References

1. "Braly Stadium". The Official Athletics Site of the University of North Alabama Lions. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
2. "Florence Middle School". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
3. "Braly Stadium". d2championship.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
4. "New Board Ready for Friday's Jamboree". timesdaily.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.