TAT: Will the Golden Boot Series Return to Fayetteville?

This article originally appeared in the November 26, 2012 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

     For the first time since 1992, the annual Battle for the Golden Boot game between Arkansas and LSU was played in Fayetteville Friday.

     When the 2012 schedule was released and the LSU game was set for Fayetteville, UA Athletic Director Jeff Long said that it was on a one-time basis and future home sites for the LSU game were yet to be determined.

     Kevin Trainor, associate athletic director for public relations, reiterated this, saying the venues for Razorback home football games were decided “year-to-year.”

     The decision for this year’s LSU game being in Fayetteville fell back to several reasons, Trainor said.

     “With two road games before (playing LSU) and a short week, it was best to have it in Fayetteville,” Trainor said.

     Having the game in Fayetteville also allowed more fans to come to the game, as Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium has a capacity of 72,000, compared to 54,120 in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium.

     Despite the disappointing season, several fans were still excited for the Battle for the Golden Boot, including Nicole Allbritton, Arkansas Alumni Association assistant director for communication.

     “I think it’s a great idea that (the LSU game) was moved up here,” Allbritton said. “Even though it happens during Thanksgiving, people still reschedule their Thanksgiving plans around this game.”

     Graham Stewart, the executive director of the Alumni Association, was glad the game was in Fayetteville because “otherwise, I’d have to drive to Little Rock the day after Thanksgiving.”

     However, he thinks the “passionate fans in Little Rock” will result in the game not permanently being played in Fayetteville. Allbritton agreed and predicted that the game will be played in both Fayetteville and Little Rock in the future.

     “I think it’ll be rotating,” Allbritton said. “I don’t think we’ll get lucky enough to have it (in Fayetteville) every year.”

     With the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri into the Southeastern Conference, there have been rumors that Texas A&M could replace Arkansas as LSU’s final regular season game.

     Instead, Missouri would become Arkansas’ new post-Thanksgiving opponent. Allbritton doesn’t want this to happen because it would ruin a tradition.

     “Every year Thanksgiving rolls around and everyone is saying, ‘Who is going to win the Golden Boot this year?’” Allbritton said. “I would hate to lose that traditional game.”

     Next year, the game is set to return to Baton Rouge, La., for LSU’s turn as the home team. The 2014 season is still up in the air, though.

     The SEC Commissioner is still coordinating the new schedules for all of the conference members. An announcement on the date of the LSU game won’t be made until the SEC releases all of the schedules and an announcement of the venue for the LSU game will be made following that.