Football is coming home... but we’re not talking about England and the World Cup, but rather the far more important teams that make up the SWAC.
The conference announced this week that after several years away from Birmingham, the league’s annual football championship game is returning to venerable Legion Field starting this season on December 1st.
“I’m grateful to Mayor Randall Woodfin and City of Birmingham on this renewed partnership to bring the SWAC football and basketball championships back to the Magic City,” interim SWAC commissioner Edgar Gantt said in a statement. “Birmingham is a city rich in sports tradition, particularly with SWAC football, and the city has made many improvements to its sports infrastructure here in Birmingham. This next year will play an important part as the SWAC prepares for its centennial celebration.”
Legion Field was the home of the SWAC Football Championship from its inception in 1999 through the 2012 campaign. According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, there was some thought to ending the game altogether after the 2017 edition, but pushback from schools have kept it around for the foreseeable future.
Now the game will return to its original location not too far from the league headquarters in the city. The winner of the SWAC title game will continue to move on to face the MEAC champion in the Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta two weeks later.