A new era of Wetumpka football begins this Friday, and its highly anticipated stadium will finally play host to its first regular season game.
Wetumpka is debuting its field, the City of Wetumpka Sports Complex Stadium, on Friday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. against rival Prattville to open the 2021 high school football season.
Here’s what to know ahead of game time.
The stadium’s address is 2350 Coosa River Parkway, Wetumpka, AL 36092.
The home and visiting parking lots and fans will be separated. Fans of Wetumpka will enter into the stadium off of Highway 111, the main entrance for home fans.
Visiting fans will enter the main entrance off the AL-14 bypass.
There will be no entering the stadium off of Northbridge Street near the cemetery. That entrance is strictly for emergency vehicles and fans cannot enter there or block that entrance.
There will be signs directing fans of either team where to go, but due to how the stadium is built,fans cannot park on whichever side they want and then crossover.
“The stadium is divided where nobody can cross over to the other side,” Mayor Jerry Willis said. “If you come in on the wrong side, you can’t cross over. We will have direction signs to follow. We want to make sure people are aware and conscious to look for the signs and follow the directions that will be posted.”
After Wetumpka made its first football state championship game appearance in 2017, Mayor Willis got in front of the team and told them he would build a palace.
In October of 2019, the project was officially approved and was set to debut at the beginning of the 2020 football season. Construction ended up being delayed from the anticipated August 2020 debut, but Willis made sure to keep the community excited about the stadium.
In November of 2020, the community was reminded of how special the stadium was going to be when Musco Lighting put on a light show to show off the stadium’s brand new lights. Those lights, along with the jumbotron, will be on full display Friday night.
“We are very excited about it because it’s something we’ve been waiting on for a long time,” Mayor Willis said. “Finishing touches have been put on and it should be a tremendous venue forus to host athletic programs. We are very excited about it.”
It’s only fitting that Wetumpka debuts its new stadium against one of its biggest rivals. The Indians host the Prattville Lions. The two teams have played 58 times all-time and 17 times since 2004.
The series is tied, 28-28-2, while Prattville has won each of the last two meetings. Prattville beatWetumpka, 40-10, last fall in the AHSAA Coaches Kickoff Classic at the Cramton Bowl.
Since the 2010 season, Prattville is 3-2 in games held at Wetumpka while the series is tied, 5-5,since then
