in 1967, with the first game played against Central Cabarrus High School. Bailey Memorial Stadium is widely considered one of the more scenic stadiums among North Carolina high schools, nestled within a hardwood forest that is ablaze with color in the late fall. The horseshoe stadium features 5,000 fixed seats, most with aluminum seating, and a grassy horseshoe that can accommodate an additional 8,000 fans, for a total capacity of 13,000, a capacity that has been reached on occasion, usually in the annual "Battle of the Bell" game. Graduation was held in the Bailey Memorial Stadium each year, weather permitting, through 2002. In 2003, graduation for Concord High School, as well as all other Cabarrus County schools, was moved to the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, and has been held at the Center each year since. Two major additions have been made to the 1967 high school building in the nearly four decades since. The school remains at this location on Burrage Road. The enrollment at Concord High School in the 2007–08 school year is 1,194 students in grades 9–12. The Concord City Schools (CCS) continued in operation until its merger with the Cabarrus County Schools on July 1, 1983. Athletics The first year of interscholastic sports at Concord High was the 1915–1916 school year. Concord's first football game was played on November 5, 1915, against Salisbury High at the Rowan County fairgrounds in Salisbury, and resulted in a 13–12 Concord win. Under the guidance of Coach Robert S. Haltiwanger, Concord would go on to defeat Salisbury a second time, playing at Locke Mill Park in Concord, and finish its initial gridiron campaign at 2–0. Coach Haltiwanger would later become teacher, coach and principal at Hanes High School in Winston-Salem, NC. The school's athletic teams are known as the "Spiders." The nickname, unique to North Carolina high schools, was a tribute to longtime principal and CCS superintendent Dr. A.S. Webb. The athletic stadium at the 1924 Concord High School campus was named Webb Field in his honor, and Concord teams playing at Webb Field were said to be bringing opponents "into the spider's 'Webb.'" The nickname stuck—it was first found in print for the 1927 season, and Concord High athletic teams have been the "Spiders" ever since. Webb Field was renovated and "rededicated" for the season football opener in September 1935 against Charlotte Central, which Concord won in a 49–12