Fans are very enthusiastic about it as the time tide to Alabama football is 90

Through August 29, Creg Stephenson will be counting down important numbers in Alabama football history. This is both a way to get ready for the 2025 football season and a way to remember the Crimson Tide’s first national title 100 years ago. The number might be linked to a year, a uniform number, or even a football score. We hope you have fun. Fans of Alabama like to say that they’ve never stormed the field after a win because they think that’s something that fans of weaker teams do when they don’t expect to win every week.

Never is a long time, though. Alabama did rush the field at least once, or at least they tried to, as people who have been around longer will remember. Not so well, though. After four years of losing in the Iron Bowl, Alabama beat Auburn 16–7 on December 1, 1990, at Birmingham’s Legion Field. The Crimson Tide were 0-3 to start Gene Stallings’ first season, but with this win, they now had a winning record. Alabama would go on to win three straight Iron Bowls and start a school-record-tying 28-game winning streak early the next season. In 1992, the Crimson Tide won their first national title in 13 years, thanks to a 13-0 record. Many Crimson Tide fans jumped out of the boxes in the south end zone (where the Alabama student section was) as the game’s final horn sounded in 1990 and ran for the field. They “were greeted by police and security personnel, some waving billy clubs,” Mike Bolton wrote in the Birmingham News the next day.

Eyewitness Jack Munch told The News that “every time the police tried to tackle one person, 10 would get by them”. They targeted the goal posts. Police attempted to arrest them, but mistakenly handcuffed and placed them near the goal post, near the end zone. Whisky bottles flew from stands. The police eventually snapped.” Fans were handcuffed and placed in the field by police. At least 12 were arrested and 15 detained for trespassing, unruly conduct, public intoxication, and police interference. Some reports say the 50-60 police and security officials at Legion Field ran out of handcuffs, preventing further fans from being arrested. Other field-stormers jumped the fence and returned to the crowd with help from spectators.

Fans at the 1990 Iron Bowl were admonished over the loudspeaker throughout the afternoon not to enter the field after the game, as is common at college football games. The police handled the melee well, according to Alabama sports director Hootie Ingram, who was in the locker room.
“I’m glad the Birmingham police did their job,” Ingram told the Birmingham News the following day. “People should have respect and patience for the security officers. I hope all our fans understand that something that might have seemed bad might have saved someone’s life.” Not everyone saw it that way. A group of six Alabama students arrested following the Iron Bowl obtained counsel with plans to sue the city of Birmingham for excessive force exhibited by police. Some two weeks later, on Dec. 17, the matter was settled. The city of Birmingham dismissed the charges against those fans who stormed the field in exchange for assurances they would forgo any legal action. In the 34 years since, Alabama fans have not attempted to rush the field. It’s a point of pride for the school and its supporters, and perhaps it should be. Every other SEC school other than Florida and Georgia has seen fans rush the field at least once in recent years (often after beating Alabama). Not even the SEC instituting an escalating series of fines for field-storming (as well as court-storming in basketball) in 2004 seems to have deterred the notion.

A number of sports directors in the SEC have spoken out about the problem. Some have said that a field-storming should cost their team a home game in the future. Greg Byrne of Alabama even said last year that rushing the field should lead to a quick forfeit. However, it looks like field-storming is here to stay, especially since so many young people these days record themselves on video to share on social media.

That is, not at Alabama. Monday, we’ll continue our countdown to kickoff with No. 89, a look back at Alabama’s historic rout. We might get paid if you buy something or sign up for an account after clicking on a link on our site. You agree to our User Agreement and our Privacy Policy when you use this site. This includes that we, social media partners, and other third-party partners may collect, record, and/or store your clicks, contacts, and personal information.