The Hampden Park is the spiritual home of the Scotland national football team. This UEFA graded “Five Star” stadium serves as the home ground for the Scottish football team and Queen’s Park FC despite their amateur status.
Located in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, the Hampden Park hosts semi-finals and finals of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup on a regular basis since its inception in 1903.
Hampden Park Stadium Capacity
The Hampden Park currently houses 52,000 fans and is seen as an ideal venue with its renovated supporter facilities, extended car parking and convenient access to the location.
Queen’s Park Football Club have moved to two different sites before settling to their current home “Third and Largest Hampden Park”.
History
The stadium at its current location was inaugurated on October 31, 1903 when Queen’s Park Football Club finally decided to move from the “Second Hampden” to the “Third and Largest Hampden”.
In 1925, Hampden Park was granted an unofficial status as Scotland team’s home ground. It has hosted the Scottish Cup Finals on a regular basis ever since, barring a few occasions due to the stadium renovations.
The Hampden Park was renowned as the largest football stadium in the world with a capacity of over 100,000 spectators and has witnessed numerous world record attendances.
Major Matches
The European Cup Final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt l was held at Hampden Park in May, 1960 with Real Madrid winning the match 7-3. It was one of the highest attended European Cup Final that set the attendance record with 1,27,621 spectators occupying the arena.
Four decades later, Real Madrid repeated the history with Zinedine Zidane scoring left-footed volley to clinch the Champions League at the same venue.
Hampden Park has also hosted the European Cup Final between Bayern Munich and Saint-Etienne in 1976.
Besides hosting Scotland’s Euro and FIFA World Cup qualifiers and friendly matches, it has also organised music concerts and other sporting events. It was re-configured for the 2014 Commonwealth Games as an athletics Stadium.
Controversies
In 2015, prior to the Scottish League Final between Celtic FC and Dundee United, the Hampden Park was severely criticized for unplayable conditions following its temporary status being changed as an athletics stadium during the Commonwealth Games.
Hampden Park is facing new troubles after many Scotland football team supporters threatened to stop using the stadium for international matches due to the poor atmosphere experienced during the qualifiers and also due to the business rate hikes.
The Scotland Football Association, meanwhile, is currently looking at whether or not to extend the current 20 years deal they have since 2000 with Queen’s Park to continue leasing Hampden Park for national team matches, which is to expire in 2020.
Recent Matches
In October 2017, Hampden Park hosted Scotland vs. Slovenia FIFA World Cup qualifier, in which Martin Skrtel’s late own kept the hopes alive for home team only to be shattered by a battling draw in the Slovenian capital.
The 2017 Scottish League Cup final was played at the Hampden Park and the match saw Celtic FC retaining the title for a record 17th time with a 2-0 win over Motherwell.
