Hampden Park

Key information about Hampden Park

Hampden Park was built in 1903 and is now the official home of the Scottish national team and also Queen’s Park FC who play their football down in League Two. The ground is located in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow in Scotland and is something of a Wembley for Scottish people.

Currently, Hampden Park has a capacity of 51,866 but that number has fluctuated dramatically over the years. It is also surrounded by a running track and has a pitch size of 105m x 70m with natural grass on the surface and undersoil heating installed.

The record attendance stands at an incredible 149,547 for the clash between Scotland and England from 17 April 1937.

A history of Hampden Park

Needless to say, Hampden Park is one of the most historic stadiums out there, host to many iconic moments, huge championships and even bigger clashes. The stadium was built in 1903 but historically speaking, there have been three Hampden Park grounds over the course of the years gone by.

Queen’s Park FC, the oldest club in Scotland, have played at the first Hampden Park since 1873 and have resided there for the following ten years. The second one opened in 1884 and was merely 150 yards away from the first one. It was around that time that Hampden Park first became the regular host of the Scottish Cup Final alongside the Celtic Park.

In the late 1890s, the club wanted to expand further and since the landlords refused to give them more land, they embarked on a search for a different area where they could erect the third stadium. After they finally secured the land from Henry Erskine Gordon, it took them three years to construct it – with the disaster at Ibrox happening in-between. which also influenced the changes made to the wooden terraces – and it was finally ready in 1903.

When it officially opened on 31 October, it was the biggest stadium in the world with a capacity in excess of 100,000, which would then be surpassed by Maracana in 1950. The first game played was between Queen’s Park FC and Celtic, with the home team winning 1-0.

There were, of course, numerous changes made to the ground over the years and in 1937, when they also constructed a new North Stand, they recorded their biggest attendance which stood at 149,547 for the international clash between Scotland and England. Around that time, Hampden Park would actually have an official capacity of 183,724 but that number was decreased to 150,000 during actual games.

Over the following years, Hampden Park would host many high-profile events, such as European Cup finals and the Cup Winners’ Cup final, but in the 1980s, questions were raised over its future. The ground needed a revamp so it finally got one with the works starting in 1991 and finishing in 1999, transforming it into an all-seater along the way.

Hampden Park hosted its first Champions League final in 2002 when Real Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 and five years later, in 2007, also the UEFA Cup final between Sevilla and Espanyol, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Before the outbreak, it was also chosen as one of the venues for Euro 2020, which will now be moved to next year instead.

Tickets to watch Scotland at Hampden Park

All the tickets to watch Scotland play at Hampden Park can be found on the national team’s official website. Along the regular tickets, they also offer a membership which can grant you discounts. The membership for adults costs £50.

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