Greenback High School's football team broke in its brand-new, $7.6 million athletic stadium last Friday with a 24-6 win over Tellico Plains — a team that had shut out the Cherokees the previous season. The victory, under second-year head coach Richie Wilhite, came just hours after county and city leaders cut the ribbon on a facility that took six months to build and years of political wrangling to fund.
The win and the ceremony were detailed by The Daily Times, which reported that Andrew Disney cut the ribbon for the new stadium on August 21 and was joined by the football team, the school board and Loudon County commissioners. Disney used the occasion to thank a long list of collaborators — the city of Greenback, Cope Architecture, Loudon County commissioners, the Loudon County Board of Education, Merit Construction, and Greenback Mayor Dwayne Birchfield — for their cooperation on the project. Andy Disney told the crowd the stadium is meant for the whole community to enjoy, adding that leaders must plan ahead for growth.
Merit Construction broke ground on the project in February, and the finished facility seats 1,600 spectators — a massive jump from Cooper Field, Greenback's former home at 400 Chilhowee Avenue, which held just 1,050 fans and had no running track, dedicated soccer setup, or video scoreboard, according to Stadium Connection. The new venue includes an all-turf field, a modern scoreboard with a graphics screen, new lights capable of light shows, flagpoles, and a new concession stand.
A Project That Outgrew Its Original Plan
What started as a simple field returfing turned into something much bigger. Loudon County Commissioner Van Shaver reported in December 2025 that school board leadership shifted from demolishing and rebuilding the original stadium to instead constructing an entirely new stadium with a track on donated land, while preserving the old field — a pivot Shaver detailed in a social media post outlining the facility's features. Phillip Carter said the project underwent a complete design change, calling it an opportunity to create a focal point for a small community. The Daily Times reports the stadium project expanded from that initial field returfing plan into the larger complex that includes a still-unfinished track.
The city of Greenback donated land adjacent to the school's former stadium site to make the expanded footprint possible. Once complete, the track is expected to give Greenback residents — especially older community members who struggle with the area's hilly walking routes — a flat place to walk, and it will host greenback soccer teams, youth sports and other school activities alongside the football program.
Finishing Touches Still to Come
The facility isn't entirely done. The Daily Times reports the project will include additional finishing touches, with completion of the track and other remaining elements expected in about a month and a half. In the meantime, Greenback Public School Principal Matthew Brookshire issued guidance ahead of the opening game noting that temporary fencing was installed to manage crowds because the new venue still lacks a permanent perimeter fence around the field, according to a notice posted by Loudon County Schools. School officials asked attendees for patience with new traffic and parking routines, and Greenback school plans to keep one stadium gate open at all times.
The stadium project also faced opposition during its approval process. During county commission workshops, Tellico Village resident Richard Anklin publicly criticized the $7.6 million stadium allocation as overly expensive, drawing pushback from 3rd District Commissioner Bill Satterfield, who represented the Greenback area and strongly advocated for the upgrades, according to a social media post from Van Shaver.
A $115 Million Tax Fight Behind the Scenes
The stadium is one piece of a much larger, $115 million countywide school construction package that the Loudon County Commission approved in a contentious 6-4 vote in June 2024, raising the property tax rate from $1.51 to $1.76 per $100 of assessed value, as reported by WBIR. Loudon County Mayor Rollen “Buddy” Bradshaw signed the increase into law days later, on June 27, 2024, declining requests from opposing commissioners to veto it and fixing the county rate at $1.7683 per $100 of property value, per a Facebook post relaying reporting from the Loudon County News-Herald. That same night, the neighboring Lenoir City Council voted to lower its own municipal property tax rate by 5%, an effort city leadership said was meant to cushion residents from the overall hike, WBIR reported. The Loudon County Planning Commission formally reviewed and approved the site plan for the relocated stadium and new track in June 2025, addressing public questions about the field's new location.
A Program Built for the Moment
Greenback's football history gives the new stadium some weight to live up to. Competing in TSSAA Class 1A, the program has won two state championships, in 1987 and 2017, and finished as state runner-up three times, in 2015, 2016 and 2019, according to TSSAAsports.com. The school itself dates back to 1921, when it was founded on Chilhowee Avenue; it operated there for nearly a century before relocating to its current Morganton Road campus in 2015, after which the historic 1920s building was demolished.
Wilhite said his players had worked since May to prepare for the season, and he told The Daily Times that the community's turnout for the opener meant a great deal to the team. He called the new stadium the team's house. County leaders and the school board have said the investment reflects a recognition of the need to support Greenback students while preparing for growth across the county. The game itself was photographed by Bryan Lynn, and the season opener — and the stadium built to host it — was documented in the article authored by Anna Rieffer for The Daily Times.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)