Hampden Park
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Hampden Park (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Scottish Gaelic: Pàirc Hampden) is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football team, as well as Queen’s Park FC, the original owners. Hampden Park is owned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and regularly hosts the latter stages of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The largest stadium by capacity when opened in 1903,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> an accolade the stadium held until 1950,<ref name="Sky News">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hampden Park is the 11th-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the second-largest football stadium in Scotland. The stadium retains all attendance records recorded in European football.<ref name="Sky News" />
A UEFA category four stadium,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hampden Park">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hampden Park has hosted six European finals including the 1960 European Cup final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt which, with a crowd of 127,621 in attendance, is the highest ever recorded attendance for a European Cup final.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The stadium houses the offices of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and has hosted three European Cup/Champions League finals, two Cup Winners' Cup finals and a UEFA Cup final. It has hosted other sporting events including the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games (also hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Scotland was one of the eleven host countries of the pan–European Euro 2020 tournament with the stadium hosting the round of 16 matches and will host matches of the upcoming Euro 2028, of which Scotland is again one of the host countries.
A stadium on the present site opened on 31 October 1903, with a capacity in excess of 100,000. This was increased between 1927 and 1937, reaching a peak of 150,000. The record attendance of 149,415, for Scotland v England in 1937, is the European record for an international football match. Tighter safety regulations meant that the capacity was reduced to 81,000 in 1977. The stadium has been fully renovated since then, with the most recent significant work being completed in 1999. Ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Hampden Park underwent modifications to the stadium to include a running track and other features required for hosting the games.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
Three HampdensEdit
Queen's Park, the oldest club in Scottish football, first played at a venue called Hampden Park on 25 October 1873.<ref name="museum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Inglis461">Template:Harv</ref>Template:Sfn That ground was overlooked by a nearby terrace named after Englishman John Hampden, who fought for the roundheads in the English Civil War.<ref name="Inglis461" />Template:Sfn It hosted the first Scottish Cup Final, played in 1874, and a Scotland v England match in 1878.<ref name="museum" />
The club moved to the second Hampden Park, 150 yards from the original, because the Cathcart District Railway planned a new line through the site of the ground's western terrace.Template:Sfn<ref name="SFA history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A lawn bowling club at the junction of Queen's Drive and Cathcart Road marks the site of the first Hampden.<ref name="Inglis461" /><ref>The First Hampden Project, The Hampden Collection. Retrieved 14 October 2021</ref> The second Hampden Park opened in October 1884.<ref name="Inglis461" />Template:Sfn It became a regular home to the Scottish Cup Final, but Celtic Park shared some of the big matches including the Scotland v England fixture in 1894.<ref name="Inglis461" />
In the late 1890s, Queen's Park requested more land for development of the second Hampden Park.Template:Sfn<ref name="museum" /> This was refused by the landlords, which led to the club seeking a new site.Template:Sfn<ref name="museum" /> Henry Erskine Gordon agreed to sell 12 acres of land off Somerville Drive to Queen's Park in November 1899.<ref name="qpfc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Sfn James Miller designed twin grandstands along the south side of the groundTemplate:Sfn with a pavilion wedged in between.<ref name="Inglis461" /><ref>Chapter XXXV.—Third and Greatest Hampden, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 – 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland</ref> The natural slopes were shaped to form banks of terracing, designed by Archibald Leitch.<ref name="Inglis461" /> Construction of the new ground took over three years to complete; during the process, a disaster occurred at Ibrox in which part of the wooden terraces collapsed.Template:Sfn In response, the terraces at Hampden were firmly set in the earthwork and innovative techniques were used to control spectators.Template:Sfn
Third Lanark A.C. took over the second Hampden Park in 1903 and renamed it Cathkin Park after their previous ground of the same name.<ref name="Inglis461" /> The club rebuilt the ground from scratch due to a failure to agree a fee for the whole stadium which resulted in Queen's Park removing the pavilion and other fittings (which they owned, while the ground itself was leased).<ref>Second Hampden Template:Webarchive, QPFC.com</ref><ref>Chapter XL.—Third Lanark F.C. and Hampden Park, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 – 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland</ref> During the first season following the move (1903–04, in which they finished as champions), Third Lanark played several of their home matches at the new Hampden while work was carried out on Cathkin Park.<ref name="museum" /><ref name="qpfc" /> Third Lanark went out of business in 1967 and Cathkin Park is now a public park with much of the original terracing still evident.<ref name="Inglis461" /><ref name="museum" />
In the stadium's first match on 31 October 1903 Queen's Park defeated Celtic 1–0 in the Scottish Football League,<ref name="Inglis461" /><ref name="SFA history" /><ref name="qpfc" />Template:Sfn<ref>Chapter XXXVI.—Opening New Hampden, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 – 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland</ref> having played eight of their first nine league matches away from home and the other at the old Cathkin Park<ref name="UD">Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005, Yore Publications, p152 Template:ISBN</ref> awaiting its opening.<ref>(Queen's Park) Season Results | Results For Season 1903/1904 in All Competitions, FitbaStats</ref> The first Scottish Cup Final played at the ground was an Old Firm match in 1904, attracting a record Scottish crowd of 64,672.Template:Sfn The first Scotland v England match at the ground was played in April 1906 with 102,741 people in attendance, which established Hampden as the primary home of the Scotland team.Template:Sfn Hampden Park was the biggest stadium in the world from the time of its opening until it was surpassed by the Maracanã in 1950.<ref name="SFA history" /> Along with Celtic Park and Ibrox, the city of Glasgow possessed the three largest football stadia in the world at the time Hampden opened.<ref name="Inglis461" />
Record attendancesEdit
Attendances continued to increase during the remainder of the 1900s, as 121,452 saw the 1908 Scotland v England match.Template:Sfn The two Old Firm matches played for the 1909 Scottish Cup Final attracted a total of 131,000.Template:Sfn After the second match there was a riot because there was confusion over what would happen next when the second match also ended in a draw.Template:Sfn The fans believed that the replay would be played to a conclusion and demanded that a period of extra time be played.Template:Sfn The Scottish Cup trophy was withheld as Hampden was not in a fit condition to host a second replay.Template:Sfn In response to the riot, the Scottish Football Association decided to stop using Hampden as the Scottish Cup Final venue.Template:Sfn
Queen's Park conducted extensive ground improvements after the 1909 riot.Template:Sfn A new world record of 127,307 were in attendance to see Scotland play England in 1912.Template:Sfn A fire in 1914 destroyed the pavilion, which was replaced by a four-storey structure with a press box on the roof.<ref name="Inglis461" /> The Scottish Cup Final returned to Hampden in 1920, when a large crowd of 95,000 saw Kilmarnock win the cup against Albion Rovers.Template:Sfn Record crowds attended the 1925 Scottish Cup Final, a 5–0 win for Celtic against Rangers,Template:Sfn and the 1927 Scotland v England match, England's first win in the stadium.Template:Sfn Hampden became the de facto sole venue of the Scottish Cup Final after 1925<ref name="Inglis461" /> and Queen's Park purchased more land in 1923 to bring the total to 33 acres.<ref name="Inglis461" /> 25,000 places were added to the terraces and rigid crush barriers were installed in 1927.<ref name="Inglis461" />
World record crowds attended Scotland matches against England in 1931 and 1933.Template:Sfn In 1933, Austria, who had beaten Scotland 5–0 in Vienna in 1931, became the first foreign national side to visit Hampden Park.Template:Sfn After intervention from the Glasgow Corporation in 1935 regarding public order and safety of the huge, ever-increasing crowds attending matches in the city, Queen's Park and Hampden defeated a rival bid from Rangers and Ibrox – which itself already had a capacity well over 100,000 – to enlarge the ground at the expense of the club, in exchange for becoming the official venue for the Scotland v England fixture and the Cup Final (and collect a designated portion of gate receipts from these matches), while the city would provide improvements in transport provision and other infrastructure to support the regular influx of spectators to the venue.<ref name="ssh2020" >How Hampden Park became the largest football ground in the world, Douglas Norman, Scottish Sport History, 9 November 2020</ref> This work increased the official theoretical capacity of the ground to 183,388 in 1937, but the SFA were only allowed to issue 150,000 tickets for games.Template:Sfn The 1937 Scotland v England match had an official attendance of 149,415, but at least 20,000 more people entered the ground without tickets.Template:Sfn<ref>Scotland 3 England 1 Template:Webarchive Archived on 22 March 2021, The Blizzard, 1 June 2015</ref> A week later the 1937 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Aberdeen drew an official crowd of 147,365, with 20,000 more people locked outside;Template:Sfn this stood as a world record for a club match until 1963.<ref name="ssh2020" /> The 1938 and 1939 cup finals were contested by provincial sides and did not test the new capacity, but the England match of 1939 attracted 149,269.<ref name="ssh2020" />
WartimeEdit
During the Second World War, matches at heavily attended grounds were initially prohibited due to the fear of aerial bombing by the Luftwaffe.Template:Sfn Scottish national league and cup competitions were suspended for the duration of the war, but regional league and cup competitions were established in their place.Template:Sfn Attendance was initially restricted to 50 percent of capacity; therefore, when 75,000 attended a wartime cup final in May 1940, it was the maximum permitted.Template:Sfn The Parashots, a forerunner of the Home Guard, set up a command post at Lesser Hampden in 1940.Template:Sfn A government official presented an order demanding that both the Hampden and Lesser Hampden pitches be ploughed and used to plant vegetables, but the Queen's Park committee chose to ignore the order and the government did not pursue it.Template:Sfn Wartime internationals were played at Hampden, and 91,000 saw Scotland beat England 5–4 on 18 April 1942.Template:Sfn
Post-warEdit
After the Second World War ended in 1945, Hampden started to host Scotland matches more frequently.Template:Sfn Before then, Hampden had only hosted 15 matches against England and one match each against Austria and Czechoslovakia.Template:Sfn During the post-war attendance boom, Hampden was the only stadium big enough to host the crowds who wanted to see the team.Template:Sfn Matches that would have ordinarily attracted a crowd of 40,000 were being attended by nearly 100,000.Template:Sfn A fire on 25 December 1945 destroyed the stadium press box and damaged offices.Template:Sfn The press box was replaced with a plainer two-storey structure that overhung the pitch.<ref name="Inglis462">Template:Harvnb</ref> The Hampden fixture list was also expanded by the new Scottish League Cup competition.Template:Sfn In 1947, Rangers defeated Aberdeen in the first League Cup Final,Template:Sfn a year after a 135,000 crowd watched the last edition of its wartime predecessor, the Southern League Cup, played between the same teams.<ref>Aberdeen Win Deserved, The Glasgow Herald, 13 May 1945</ref> The capacity of the ground was officially cut to 135,000 following the Burnden Park disaster in Bolton in March 1946,<ref name="Inglis462" /> but before that reduction was confirmed, 139,468 watched the Scotland v England Victory International on 13 April of that year.<ref name="ssh2020" />
The re-entry of the Home Nations into FIFA in 1947 was marked by a match between a Great Britain and a Rest of Europe select on 10 May 1947.Template:Sfn Great Britain won 6–1 and 130,000 people attended.Template:Sfn Unusually, a league match between Third Lanark and Hibernian was played immediately afterwards at Hampden because Cathkin Park was undergoing repair work.Template:Sfn The first FIFA World Cup qualification match played at Hampden was a 2–0 win for Scotland against Wales on 9 November 1949; this match was also part of the 1950 British Home Championship.Template:Sfn The win appeared to guarantee Scotland qualification for the 1950 FIFA World Cup because the top two finishers in the Championship were offered places in the tournament, but the SFA decreed that they would only send a team if they were British champions.Template:Sfn Scotland only needed a draw against England at Hampden to meet that condition but lost 1–0.Template:Sfn<ref>Official Blundering Leads To Scottish Defeat, The Glasgow Herald, 17 April 1950</ref><ref>Scots May Yet Take Part In World Cup Series | Strong Pressure On Selectors To Change Decision, The Scotsman, 17 April 1950, via London Hearts Supports Club</ref>
The Coronation Cup, a competition to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, was held in Glasgow during May 1953.Template:Sfn Four major clubs from each of Scotland and England were invited, with the Old Firm clubs playing their matches at Hampden.Template:Sfn Celtic and Hibernian progressed to the final, and a crowd of 117,060 saw Celtic win 2–0.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Scotland hosted the Magical Magyars of Hungary in December 1954 in front of 113,506 fans.Template:Sfn The Scots put up a good fight against one of the most outstanding teams in the world at the time, but eventually lost 4–2.Template:Sfn Scotland qualified for the 1958 FIFA World Cup by defeating Spain, including Luis Suarez, Ladislao Kubala and Alfredo Di Stéfano, at Hampden.Template:Sfn
1960s and 1970sEdit
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Hampden hosted the 1960 European Cup Final; Real Madrid defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 7–3 with 130,000 people in attendance.Template:Sfn<ref name="herald">Template:Cite news</ref> Floodlights were installed at Hampden in 1961 and were inaugurated with a friendly match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers.Template:Sfn The ground then also hosted the 1962 and 1966 finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup.Template:Sfn The attendances for each of these finals was less than 50,000,Template:Sfn and the SFA did not offer to host another European final until the 1976 European Cup Final, in which Bayern Munich defeated St Etienne.<ref name="lemonde" />Template:Sfn<ref name="posts" /> St Etienne believed that two of their efforts which hit the square crossbar and rebounded into play would have resulted in goals if it had been round,<ref name="lemonde" /><ref name="posts">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="st etienne" /> and the French club subsequently bought the goalposts and displayed them in their museum.<ref name="lemonde" /><ref name="posts" /><ref name="st etienne">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
After Celtic won the 1967 European Cup Final, the home leg of their Intercontinental Cup tie against Racing Club was held at Hampden.Template:Sfn Celtic won 1–0 at Hampden, but lost the tie after a play-off in Montevideo.Template:Sfn In 1970, Celtic played in the semi-finals of the European Cup against English league champions, Leeds United.Template:Sfn Celtic chose to move their home leg of the tie from their Celtic Park home to Hampden, which had a far greater capacity.Template:Sfn A crowd of 136,505, a record for any match in UEFA competition, saw Celtic win 2–1 (3–1 on aggregate) to advance to the 1970 European Cup Final.Template:Sfn Celtic also played European Cup ties against AjaxTemplate:Sfn and RosenborgTemplate:Sfn at Hampden during the 1970s.
A fire was deliberately started in the south stand in October 1968, destroying offices, 1,400 seats and one of the team dressing rooms.<ref name="Inglis462" />Template:Sfn The fire caused the 1968–69 Scottish League Cup Final to be postponed until April.Template:Sfn By 1970 Hampden was starting to age as a stadium.Template:Sfn Wembley had been revamped for the 1966 World Cup, while other major stadia were being constructed for tournaments.Template:Sfn Public safety was emphasized after the Ibrox disaster of January 1971, when 66 spectators were crushed to death.Template:Sfn A benefit match was played at Hampden, while the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 compelled stadium authorities to obtain licences from local officials, impose crowd segregation and restrict attendances.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Pittodrie and Ibrox were converted into all-seater stadiums, while Hampden's capacity was reduced to 81,000.<ref name="Inglis462" />Template:Sfn
Scotland secured qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup at Hampden, with a 2–1 victory over Czechoslovakia.Template:Sfn Kenny Dalglish scored the winning goal against England in 1976 by nutmegging Ray Clemence.Template:Sfn In 1977, Scotland again won against Czechoslovakia to move towards qualification for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.Template:Sfn Scotland played a friendly match against world champions Argentina in 1979; the talented, 18-year-old Diego Maradona scored a goal in a 3–1 win for the visitors.Template:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1990s re–developmentEdit
During the late 1970s, it became apparent that the facilities at Hampden were in need of renewal.<ref name="tory plan" /><ref name="roar" /> As an amateur club, Queen's Park could not possibly fund the works,<ref name="Inglis462" /> while Glasgow District Council withdrew funding and the UK Government decided not to fund it either.<ref name="tory plan">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="roar" /> Queen's Park considered selling Hampden,<ref name="Inglis462" /> but a public appeal and minor repair work kept the stadium open during the 1980s.<ref name="tory plan" /> The riot after the 1980 Scottish Cup Final prompted reforms, as alcohol was banned from football stadia in Scotland.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The first phase of the redevelopment involved the demolition of the North Stand, the concreting of all terraces and the building of a block of turnstiles around the upper section of the East Terrace.<ref name="Inglis463">Template:Harvnb</ref> This work, begun in October 1981 and completed in 1986, reduced the capacity to 74,370 and cost £3 million.<ref name="Inglis463" /> A second phase had been planned to begin in 1988, but the release of the Taylor Report caused the plans to be redrawn and the proposed costs escalated to £25 million.<ref name="Inglis463" /> Scotland hosted the 1989 FIFA Under-16 World Cup, with the Scots contesting the final against Saudi Arabia at Hampden.Template:Sfn In 1987, the square goalposts that had been used since the stadium opened were banned by FIFA.<ref name="lemonde">Template:Cite news</ref>
After the cancellation of the annual Scotland v England fixture in 1989, questions were raised as to whether Scottish football required a separate national stadium.<ref name="Inglis463" /> Rangers proposed Ibrox as an alternative venue, while Murrayfield was about to be redeveloped without public funding.<ref name="roar" /><ref name="Inglis463" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> None of these arguments impressed the National Stadium committee, which consisted of the SFA, Scottish Football League and Queen's Park.<ref name="Inglis463" /> The West Terrace was converted to seating in 1991 for only £700,000, but this left two terraces and therefore disqualified Hampden from hosting FIFA World Cup qualification matches.<ref name="Inglis463" />
The UK Government eventually provided a grant of £3.5 million in 1992, which allowed work to begin on a £12 million project to convert Hampden into an all-seater stadium.<ref name="tory plan" /><ref name="Inglis463" />Template:Sfn The last match played in front of the sloping terraces was the 1992 Scottish League Cup Final.Template:Sfn Within a year, the east and north parts of the ground had been converted from terracing to seats, and the partially rebuilt Hampden was re-opened for a friendly match between Scotland and Netherlands on 23 March 1994.<ref name="Inglis463" /> It was then also used for the later stages of the 1993–94 Scottish Cup competition.Template:Sfn As the capacity of the old South Stand had been limited to 4,500, the total capacity of Hampden had been reduced to approximately 37,000.<ref name="Inglis463" /> With Celtic Park also undergoing extensive redevelopment to become all-seater, Celtic spent the 1994–95 season groundsharing at Hampden, at a cost of £500,000 rent.<ref name="Inglis434">Template:Harvnb</ref>
The final stage of the renovation began in November 1997, with its £59 million cost funded by the National Lottery.<ref name="roar" /><ref name="herald" />Template:Sfn There was a cost overrun<ref name="roar" /> and a fraud squad investigated alleged financial irregularities.<ref name="rugby">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The South Stand was replaced and the stadium was re-opened for the 1999 Scottish Cup Final.Template:Sfn The ground now has a capacity of Template:SPFL-stadiums.<ref name="capacity" /> Queen's Park retained ownership of the ground, with the SFA holding a lease that ran until 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Recent historyEdit
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Real Madrid were again victorious when Hampden Park hosted the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, defeating Bayer Leverkusen, with Zinedine Zidane scoring the winning goal with a left-foot volley.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn Hampden then hosted the 2007 UEFA Cup Final<ref name="SFA history" /> and was one of the venues for football at the 2012 Summer Olympics,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> hosting three matches in the men's tournament and five in the women's tournament. One of the matches was delayed after the North Korean team protested against the flag of South Korea being used mistakenly to represent their players.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later in 2012, a Scotland women's national football team game was played at Hampden for the first time, when it hosted the first leg of a European Championship qualifying playoff against Spain.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Hampden was temporarily converted into an athletics stadium for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.<ref name="2014 CG">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It hosted its last international game before the conversion work on 15 November 2013 and Queen's Park temporarily played their home games at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Due to the works being carried out at the Olympic Stadium, the 2014 London Grand Prix was renamed the Glasgow Grand Prix and hosted by Hampden.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The conversion works involved the removal of eight rows of seating, which reduced the capacity to 44,000.<ref name="conversion">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hampden was converted back into a football stadium after the Commonwealth Games.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
SFA ownershipEdit
With their lease on Hampden due to expire in 2020, the SFA canvassed opinion from its member clubs about where Scotland games should be played.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In September 2018, the SFA announced an agreement to purchase Hampden from Queen's Park.<ref name="sfa purchase">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As part of the deal, Lesser Hampden was redeveloped and became the home stadium for Queen's Park.<ref name="sfa purchase" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of August 2020, the SFA had taken ownership of Hampden and a new facility was under construction at Lesser Hampden.<ref name="sfaown">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Queen's Park played their last match at Hampden on 20 March 2021, as their lease expired at the end of that month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Queen's Park are due to move back into Hampden for the 2023–24 season, having agreed a deal with the SFA to rent the stadium while allowing the Scotland national teams to use Lesser Hampden as a training pitch.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
UEFA Euro 2020Edit
In September 2014, Hampden was one of 13 venues chosen to host matches in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It held three group games and one round of sixteen match, with attendances restricted to 25% of its capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Date | Time | Team #1 | Score | Team #2 | Round | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 June 2021 | 14:00 | Template:Fb | 0–2 | Template:Fb | Group D | 9,847 |
| 18 June 2021 | 17:00 | Template:Fb | 1–1 | 5,607 | ||
| 22 June 2021 | 20:00 | 3–1 | Template:Fb | 9,896 | ||
| 29 June 2021 | 20:00 | Template:Fb | 1–2 (a.e.t) | Template:Fb | Round of 16 | 9,221 |
World Cup bid and Euro 2028Edit
Architects drew up plans in 2020 for a major redevelopment of Hampden, but this was contingent on a 2030 World Cup bid that did not materialise.<ref name="leaks" /> The SFA instead entered a five-nation bid to host some UEFA Euro 2028 games at Hampden,<ref name="leaks">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which was successful.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In July 2023, the SFA registered its interest in hosting a European club final at Hampden in either 2026 or 2027.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Hampden RoarEdit
The football match crowd at Hampden were renowned for creating the Hampden Roar and trying to terrify opposing teams. The stadium's capacity exceeded 100,000 from the early 1900s until the 1980s and the Roar could be heard whenever Scotland scored an important goal.<ref name="roar" /> After the renovation of the stadium and the reduced capacities, the roar has become more muted.<ref name="roar" />
The Hampden Roar was first noticed in a game against England in 1929.Template:Sfn Scotland, who had played the second half with ten players due to an injury to Alex Jackson, equalised in the final minute with a goal from Alec Cheyne direct from a corner kick.Template:Sfn The roar that followed the goal was so loud that Jackson, who was a mile away in the Glasgow Victoria Infirmary, could tell that Scotland had scored.Template:Sfn
The phrase Hampden Roar is also used as rhyming slang;<ref name="roar">Template:Cite news</ref> People from Glasgow may ask "What's the Hampden?" ("What's the score?", idiom for "What's happening / what's going on?").<ref name="roar" /><ref>what's the score?, Cambridge Dictionary</ref>
In April 2018, the stadium operating company commissioned a study into the noise levels produced at Hampden during an Old Firm match.<ref name="115 db">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This found a peak noise level of 115 decibels, after goals were scored, and 109 decibels when the teams first came onto the field.<ref name="115 db" /> These findings were much higher than those recorded in a 2014 study of Premier League grounds (maximum of 84 decibels), but well short of the world record set by a National Football League match at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (142 decibels).<ref name="115 db" />
Structure and facilitiesEdit
Hampden is an all-seated bowl stadium, although the ground is split into four geographic sections, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands.<ref name="stadium plan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Due to the dominance of the Old Firm within Scottish football and their regular qualification for cup matches played at Hampden, the East and West stands are commonly known as the Celtic and Rangers ends.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The East Stand has 12,800 seats on a single tier of 53 rows.<ref name="Inglis463" /> The two end stands are up to 140 metres away from the pitch, due to Hampden retaining its bowl shape after it was redeveloped.<ref name="Inglis464" /> This distance is almost as great as if Hampden included an athletics track, although the distance between the pitch and the two side stands is more comparable to a normal football stadium.<ref name="Inglis464" />
The South Stand is the main stand of the stadium, as it holds the technical areas, dressing rooms, indoor warm-up area, executive boxes,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> lounges<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and media facilities. It has been sponsored by BT Scotland since 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The South Stand is also the only part of the stadium split into two tiers, although there is also a small gallery above the North Stand that has 290 seats and access to lounges.<ref name="stadium plan" /><ref name="Inglis464">Template:Harvnb</ref> The North Stand accommodates 9,100 spectators in 46 rows.<ref name="Inglis464" /> The total capacity of the stadium is Template:SPFL-stadiums.<ref name="capacity" /><ref name="museum" /> The capacity was temporarily reduced to 44,000 for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as the running track raised the field level by 1.9 metres.<ref name="2014 CG" />
The redeveloped Hampden has held the top status with the various UEFA stadium categories,<ref name="SFA history" /> holding category four status. The Scottish Football Museum, which opened in 2001, is located within Hampden.<ref name="sfm">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="museum most important">Template:Cite news</ref> Part of the museum is the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.<ref name="sfm" /> A distinctive feature of the old Hampden, the press box which sat on the roof of the old South Stand,<ref name="compact temple">Template:Cite news</ref> is also exhibited at the museum.<ref name="museum most important" /> The offices of the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Professional Football League are located within Hampden.Template:Sfn
Lesser Hampden is a football stadium located immediately beside the western end of Hampden Park. The ground was constructed in the early 1920s after additional ground was purchased to expand the main stadium.<ref name="Inglis461" />Template:Sfn Queen's Park proposed in 1990 to sell off Lesser Hampden to fund redevelopment works on the main stadium, but this was rejected by planners.<ref name="Inglis463" /> Lesser Hampden was refurbished for use as a warm-up area during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.<ref name="2014 CG" /> When the SFA took ownership of Hampden, new stands were constructed at Lesser Hampden for it to be used again as a football stadium.<ref name="sfaown" />
Other usesEdit
Sports other than footballEdit
Hampden Park has held four full rugby union international matches. The first was in 1906, when the Scottish Rugby Union chose to play their match against the touring South Africans at Hampden because no rugby ground could satisfy the demand to see the visitors.Template:Sfn A crowd of over 30,000 saw Scotland win 6–0.Template:Sfn The redeveloped Hampden served as one of the 1999 Rugby World Cup venues, over 90 years later.Template:Sfn<ref name="rugby" /> Scotland played Romania in a friendly match before the tournament and South Africa played Uruguay in a tournament pool match.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The only rugby union international played at Hampden since then was in November 2004, between Scotland and Australia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Hampden also hosted a club rugby union match between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby on 22 December 2024, the first leg of their tie in the United Rugby Championship and 1872 Cup. Glasgow triumphed 33-14 in front of 27,538 fans, a Warriors home record.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Hampden hosted the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association championships during the 1920s and 1930s, with the original Meadowbank Stadium used as an alternative venue.Template:Sfn Eric Liddell won the 110, 220 and 440 yard dashes in the 1924 championship.Template:Sfn His last competition in Britain was the 1925 championship, when he won the 220 yards race for a record fifth time.Template:Sfn Hampden was temporarily converted to stage the athletics events for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.<ref name="2014 CG" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was also used for the closing ceremony.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Suzanne Lenglen, the French professional tennis player, played an exhibition match against Vivian Dewhurst at Hampden in 1927.Template:Sfn A crowd of 10,000 saw that match and another between male players Howard Kinsey and Karel Koželuh.Template:Sfn
During the Second World War, American armed forces based in Scotland played games of softball, baseball and American football at Hampden.Template:Sfn American football returned to Hampden in 1998, when the NFL Europe team Scottish Claymores shared home games between Hampden and Murrayfield. World Bowl XI was held at Hampden in 2003, but after the 2004 season the Claymores folded and were replaced by the Hamburg Sea Devils.
Hampden was the home of the Glasgow Tigers speedway team from 1969 until 1972.Template:Sfn Poor crowds, escalating costs and the refusal of the city council to allow music to be played at events contributed to the team moving to Cliftonhill, in Coatbridge.Template:Sfn Glasgow Tigers' Svein Kaasa was killed during a race at Hampden Park on 29 September 1972.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The redeveloped Hampden was the venue for a boxing card headlined by former world champion Mike Tyson in June 2000.Template:Sfn<ref name="lamont">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tyson knocked down Lou Savarese after just 12 seconds of the fight, which the referee stopped after 38 seconds.Template:Sfn<ref name="tyson">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The fight ended in farce as the referee, who had been attempting to separate the two fighters, was also knocked down by Tyson.<ref name="tyson" /><ref name="ref">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The disappointed crowd booed Tyson out of the ring,Template:Sfn<ref name="lamont" /> while former fighters Jim Watt and Barry McGuigan criticised his actions.<ref name="tyson" /> After the fight, Tyson claimed that he wanted to eat the children of world champion Lennox Lewis, which also drew criticism.<ref name="ref" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Uses other than sportEdit
The 50th anniversary Conventicle of the Boys' Brigade, which had been founded in Glasgow by William Alexander Smith, was staged at Hampden in 1933.Template:Sfn 130,000 people were inside the ground, while another 100,000 stood outside singing Psalms.Template:Sfn American evangelical Christian missionary Billy Graham had an "All Scotland Crusade" during the spring of 1955.Template:Sfn The major outdoor event of the tour was at Hampden, where a crowd of 100,000 heard him speak.Template:Sfn
ConcertsEdit
Genesis and Paul Young performed in the first concert at Hampden, in 1987.Template:Sfn The Rolling Stones played there in 1990, during their Urban Jungle Tour.Template:Sfn Since the redevelopment of Hampden was completed in 1999, many acts have performed there, including The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, Eagles, Oasis, George Michael, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Diamond, Take That, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Pink, Paul McCartney, Rihanna,<ref name="rihanna">Template:Cite news</ref> The Stone Roses,<ref name="stone">Template:Cite news</ref> Gerry Cinnamon<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Beyoncé. The damage caused to the Hampden pitch by a U2 concert in August 2009 forced a Queen's Park league match to be postponed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ed Sheeran was the first act in history to perform at the Hampden three times on a single tour.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
RecordsEdit
The highest attendance recorded at Hampden for a football match was 149,415, for a 1937 British Home Championship tie between Scotland and England.<ref name="SFA history" /><ref name="herald" />Template:Sfn This is still a European record for an international match.<ref name="SFA history" /><ref name="herald" />Template:Sfn The 1937 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Aberdeen drew an official crowd of 147,365, a world record for a club match, with 20,000 more people locked outside.<ref name="SFA history" />Template:Sfn<ref name="ssh2020" /> Hampden set world attendance records that year which have only been surpassed by the Maracanã,Template:Sfn and it still holds all the major European records.<ref name="SFA history" />Template:Sfn The European Cup match between Celtic and Leeds United in 1970 was attended by 136,505, which is a UEFA competition record.<ref name="SFA history" />Template:Sfn
Since the redevelopment of Hampden was completed in 1999, the capacity for sporting events is now limited to Template:SPFL-stadiums. Attendances for concerts can be higher than this as people are allowed onto the pitch area. In 2009, more people attended concerts at Hampden than football matches.<ref name="herald" /> While Queen's Park played at the ground, Hampden regularly had crowds of below 1,000 for their matches in the lower divisions of the Scottish football league system.Template:Sfn<ref name="ground guide" />
TransportEdit
The nearest railway stations are Mount Florida and King's Park.<ref name="ground guide">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="public transport">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Both stations are served by trains from Glasgow Central on the Cathcart Circle Lines.<ref name="ground guide" /> First Glasgow operate several bus routes in the area surrounding Hampden.<ref name="public transport" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There is a stadium car park immediately behind the south stand, but for major events this is only available to permit holders.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Template:Reflist Sources