Venues
The Glasgow bid consisted of a mix of new and refurbished venues, linked by enhanced roads and public transport network, as well as an athlete's village, built specifically for the games and situated adjacent to key venues.
Hampden Park, Scotland's National Football Stadium, would be the main venue for athletics and for the closing ceremony, while Celtic Park would be used for the opening ceremony. [4]
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, on the north bank of the River Clyde, would provide several multipurpose arena style venues as well as the planned Scottish National Arena for events such as gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, and judo as well as hosting associated entertainments events for the duration of the games.
Kelvingrove Park, in the city's West End, already has five bowling greens installed for competitive use. A comprehensive upgrade and refurbishment of the park is underway, and the park is also capable of holding events such as triathlon and hockey, although Glasgow Green could be a possible alternative venue for the latter events. Kelvingrove Park is situated close to the SECC and is adjacent to the Kelvin Hall, which could also potentially host several indoor events. Ibrox Stadium is the planned venue for the rugby sevens tournament. The shooting competition will likely take place at another outdoor venue in the city, such as Pollok Park or the military Dechmont ranges in Cambuslang. If rowing was included as an event, it would likely be held at Strathclyde Park, which hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Rowing Championships.
A new Indoor Arena and Velodrome Complex is planned for Parkhead in the East End of the city, the velodrome itself will be opposite Celtic Park, which will be used for the opening ceremony. These venues would be built regardless of the outcome of Glasgow's bid, and would become the headquarters of sportscotland and Scottish Cycling, and could be expected to host events such as netball, squash, badminton and table tennis, as well as track cycling. Adjacent to this, a potential site for an athletes' village has also been identified in Dalmarnock. The village would be purpose-built to house 6,000 athletes and officials in 2,500 residential units and leave a legacy of regeneration in this deprived district of the city. Nearby Tollcross Park Aquatics Centre, which already has one Olympic standard 50 metre swimming pool, would be extensively upgraded, and a second 50-metre pool would be added for the Games' aquatic events.
The Glasgow 2014 Bid Committee issued a list of 17 sports that they planned to host:
The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have agreed to underwrite the costs of staging the Games. This will be on the basis of an 80/20 split, with an estimated 20% split costing the city £288m to stage the event. 80% of the costs will be covered by the Executive with new money committed to the sports and major events budget.
£1 billion will be spent on enhancements to the city's transport infrastructure by 2014, including completion of major motorway links, like the M74 and East End Regeneration Route, the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, improved city centre rail links as a result of the Glasgow Crossrail scheme, light rapid transport to key facilities such as the SECC and possible refurbishment and extension of the Glasgow Subway as well as improvements to the River Clyde including new bridges and river-based transport.
The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, was an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The event was to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coincide with the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth, and Manchester was selected for the 2002 Games ahead of London using a recycled part of the project, which lost the 2000 Summer Olympics and Paralympics to Sydney, Australia. The 2002 Commonwealth Games was, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing the London 1948 Summer Olympics in terms of teams and athletes participating. The 2002 Commonwealth Games had the largest number of events of any Commonwealth Games in history, featuring 281 events across 17 sports.
Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). It took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. In 2009 Glasgow was awarded the title UNESCO Creative City of Music in recognition of its vibrant live music scene and its distinguished heritage. Glasgow has three major universities, each involved in creative and literary arts, and the city has the largest public reference library in Europe in the form of the Mitchell Library. Scotland's largest newspapers and national television and radio companies are based in the city.
The SEC Armadillo is an auditorium located near the River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of three venues on the Scottish Event Campus, which includes the SEC Centre and the OVO Hydro.
Sport plays an important role in the culture of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. Association football is particularly popular: Glasgow is known for the fierce Old Firm rivalry between Scotland's most successful clubs, Celtic and Rangers. The national stadium, Hampden Park, is located in the city and stages most home matches of the Scotland national team, as well as the finals of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) are both also based at Hampden. The world's first official international match took place in Glasgow in 1872.
The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland.
Bidding for the 2014 Commonwealth Games began from 24 February 2006 until the winner was announced on 9 November 2007. Glasgow won the race and was selected by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) at a meeting in Sri Lanka to host the games. The vote was 47 votes for Glasgow and 24 for Abuja. The decision was announced by Mike Fennell, the Chairman of the CGF.
The Abuja bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was an unsuccessful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games by the city of Abuja, Nigeria. The bidding race was won by the Glasgow 2014 bid after a 47–24 vote by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly on 9 November 2007 in Sri Lanka.
The Halifax bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was a withdrawn bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games by Halifax Regional Municipality, the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The United Kingdom was awarded a number of major international sporting events during the 2010s leading to an idea of a 'Golden Decade' in British sport. The idea of the golden decade has been discussed in many newspapers and has been mentioned by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Coe.
The 20 km long Clyde Waterfront Regeneration, launched in 2003, embraced a section of the River Clyde in Scotland that runs from Glasgow Green in the city's center to Dumbarton down river. This scene focussed on earlier initiatives underway from the 1980s, and as a separate marketing tool, with several local authorities involved, came to an end in 2014.
Hambantota 2018 was an unsuccessful bid to stage the 2018 Commonwealth Games by the city of Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The right to host the Games was won by the Gold Coast 2018 bid after a 43-27 vote by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly on 11 November 2011 in Saint Kitts.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 8 August 2022. It was the third and seventh time England and the United Kingdom hosted the Commonwealth Games, respectively.
This article lists the Venues of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The opening ceremony for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland, between 21:00 and 23:40 BST, on 23 July 2014.
The city of Durban, South Africa was initially elected as the host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games on 2 September 2015, at a General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand. It was reported in February 2017 however, Durban may be unable to host the games due to financial constraints. On 13 March 2017, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) stripped Durban of their rights to host. On 21 December 2017, Birmingham was awarded for the 2022 Games as Durban's replacement host. Louise Martin, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, made the official announcement at a press conference at the Arena Academy in Birmingham.
Bridget Mary McConnell, Baroness McConnell of Glenscorrodale, is a retired Scottish cultural administrator. Prior to retirement she served as the chief executive officer of Glasgow Life, the charity responsible for delivering culture and sport in Glasgow. McConnell was instrumental in Glasgow’s successful bid for and subsequent hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, serving as a member of the organising committee and as the Director of Ceremonies and Culture, while overseeing infrastructure required for the games. McConnell was responsible for a major overhaul of the city’s sports, leisure, arts and cultural facilities. McConnell is the wife of former First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell. In 2006, she was voted #15 in The Scotsman’s power 100 list.
There have been concerns and controversies about the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Birmingham, England.
An extensive bidding process for the 2026 Commonwealth Games began in 2018, and ended in 2022 with the announcement of the state of Victoria, Australia being the host. The host city was to be announced in 2019 in Rwanda, but was cancelled over lack of interest. The winning bid was announced by Dame Louise Martin, head of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
Glasgow, Scotland