Calls to save cradle of modern football as fears mount over original Hampden site
Trust backs plans to safeguard future of Glasgow site
It is the long lost mecca of Scottish football which played host to some of the earliest games by the men’s national team, including a resounding 7-2 victory over the Auld Enemy which saw striker John McDougall net the first ever hat-trick in international football.
Now, ahead of Scotland’s first foray to a World Cup in nearly three decades and heightened interest in the national side, a leading conservation charity has backed calls for the site of the first ever Hampden Park to be saved.
While Scotland play at a venue of the same name in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, it is actually the third iteration of Hampden over the past 152 years. The original site, in the nearby Crosshill region of the city’s south side, hosted at least 11 Scotland games. It also served as the venue for the inaugural Scottish Cup Final in 1874, when the ground’s owners, Queen's Park defeated Clydesdale by two goals to nil.
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Such a storied history means the original Hampden - the first enclosed stadium with turnstiles in the UK - occupies a special place in the history of Scottish, and indeed, world football. An archaeological excavation at the site discovered the remains of what has been described as the first purpose-built international football stadium, and it is considered the template for the countless pitches and stadia that followed it worldwide.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) said the stadium is the place where “modern football as we know it was created.” The site of the original ground was long a source of debate among the game’s aficionados, but it was only eight years ago that the discovery of a Victorian map from the former Cathcart District Railway Logs in the National Records of Scotland confirmed its Kingsley Avenue location.
Since 1905, the grounds have been leased by the Hampden Bowling Club, but with the club winding up in February next year, there has been a considerable level of community and public concern that the site will be lost and subject to development.
The heritage group, Football’s Square Mile, and the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust have been working together to devise a feasibility study that can design a viable future for the site, a proposal that has been backed by the trust.
Philip Long, chief executive of the NTS, said the success of Steve Clarke’s team ought to spur on efforts to safeguard the original home of the national team.
“Scotland's recent win was a glorious moment in the game's history, so let’s not sully that by the potential obliteration of the very first Hampden Park,” he said. “The site is intrinsic to the development of the game of football as we know it, making a vital contribution to Scotland’s culture and modern identity.
“A place of such significance needs to be protected and respected. It is vital that our country’s cultural history is preserved, and we continue to tell the stories that have made Scotland the place it is today.”
He added: “We urge all parties concerned, as well as Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government, to come together to find a way forward that will ensure this pivotal site is saved and its historic role shared and celebrated.”
It comes as the Scottish Football Association announced the first ever “naming partner” for the modern-day national stadium, with a “multi-million-pound, long-term partnership” struck with Barclays.
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