Hampden Park
Hampden Park has been hosting Scotland internationals and cup finals for 100 years. It was the biggest ground in the world from 1903 to 1950 and it holds the British attendance record. But the Scottish Football Association says it is considering moving cup matches and internationals to other stadiums. Hampden is owned by League One side Queen’s Park, Scotland’s oldest club and the only amateurs in the senior leagues. They play their home matches at Hampden – to crowds of 500, in a venue that can hold 51,800 – and lease it to the SFA for internationals, the finals and semi-finals of the two cups and for other revenue-generating opportunities, including other sports events and concerts.
The stadium is operated by a subsidiary of the SFA and also contains the SFA and SPFL’s offices, as well as the Scottish Football Museum. While it is undoubtedly an important place, Hampden’s bowl layout is broadly unpopular and can make it hard to generate an atmosphere, and there have recently been problems with the pitch.
This story is from the January 2018 edition of When Saturday Comes.
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This story is from the January 2018 edition of When Saturday Comes.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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