Hampden Park in Glasgow is the primary home stadium for the Scotland national football team. This has been the case since 1906, soon after it opened. The present site of Hampden Park is the third location to bear that name and both the previous locations also hosted Scotland games. Scotland have also played many of their home games in other stadiums throughout their history, both in friendly matches and for competitive tournaments.
Scotland hosted the first official international match, a goalless draw against England on 30 November 1872, at the Hamilton Crescent cricket ground in Glasgow. [1] This venue was used for four Scotland matches between then and 1876. The next venue to be used was the first Hampden Park, home of Queen's Park. It hosted the first ever Scottish Cup Final in 1874 and a Scotland v England match in 1878. [2] Queen's Park left this site in 1883 because of a proposal to extend the Cathcart District Railway line through the site. [2]
Queen's Park then moved to a second Hampden Park, which hosted internationals between 1885 and 1890. [3] The first match hosted outside Glasgow was at Hibernian Park in Edinburgh on 10 March 1888. [4] This started a trend of smaller venues outside Glasgow being used for some of the less attractive fixtures, particularly against Wales. The more attractive match against rivals England was always played in Glasgow, which had the largest stadiums. During the 1890s and early 1900s most of the Scotland fixtures were played either at Celtic Park or Ibrox Park, as Rangers and Celtic competed to host the lucrative match against England. [5] The present site of Ibrox Park was opened in 1899 and it hosted a Scotland match for the first time in 1902, but a collapse in the wooden terracing resulted in the first Ibrox disaster, during which 25 fatalities and nearly 600 injuries were suffered. [5] [6]
The loss of Scotland games to the other venues in Glasgow forced Queen's Park to consider increasing the capacity of the second Hampden. [3] In the late 1890s, Queen's Park requested more land for development, but this was refused by the landlords. The club acquired a new site, the present site of Hampden Park, from Henry Erskine Gordon in 1899. The third Hampden opened in October 1903, while the second Hampden was taken over by Third Lanark and renamed Cathkin Park. [2] The third Hampden hosted its first international in 1906. It expanded to the point where it set world record attendances between the 1900s and 1930s. [3] [7] Even as late as 1970, Hampden set a record attendance for a UEFA competition match, the 1969–70 European Cup semi-final second leg between Celtic and Leeds United. [3]
Hampden continued to be the main home stadium for the Scotland national team until the early 1990s. It then required significant redevelopment to become an all-seater stadium, meeting the requirements of the Taylor Report. Ibrox Park and Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen had both been largely redeveloped before then and hosted some of the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.
Hampden re-opened in 1994 and was used for the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying matches. It then had to be closed again as the main (south) stand was replaced and a variety of venues were used for 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying matches, including Ibrox, Pittodrie, Celtic Park, Rugby Park in Kilmarnock and Tynecastle in Edinburgh. [8] The fully redeveloped Hampden was re-opened in 1999 and hosted the later Euro 2000 qualifiers, including the first leg of the play-off against England. [8] Hampden has hosted the clear majority of Scotland matches since 1999 and almost all competitive games. Some friendlies have been moved to smaller venues outside Glasgow, usually either Pittodrie or Easter Road in Edinburgh. Hampden was closed for a year due to its use as an athletics stadium in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. [9] [10]
The lease that the SFA held on Hampden was due to expire in 2020, [11] and this led to Celtic (Celtic Park), Rangers (Ibrox) and the Scottish Rugby Union (Murrayfield) making offers to become the regular home of the Scotland team. [11] In September 2018, the SFA instead announced an agreement to purchase Hampden from Queen's Park. [12] This deal was completed in August 2020. [13] A year later, Hampden also became the regular home venue for the Scotland women's national team. [14]
Rangers Football Club is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. Although not its official name, the club is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fourth-oldest football club in Scotland, Rangers was founded by four teenage boys as they walked through West End Park in March 1872 where they discussed the idea of forming a football club, and played its first match against the now defunct Callander at the Fleshers' Haugh area of Glasgow Green in May of the same year. Rangers' home ground, Ibrox Stadium, designed by stadium architect Archibald Leitch and opened in 1929, is a Category B listed building and the third-largest football stadium in Scotland. The club has always played in royal blue shirts.
Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the oldest association football club in Scotland, having been founded in 1867, and is the 10th oldest in the world.
Celtic Park is a football stadium, currently the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also known as Parkhead or Paradise.
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of 50,817. The stadium was designed by renowned football stadium architect Archibald Leitch, with renovations to the stadium between 1978 and 1981, as well as 1990 and 1991, being designed by The Miller Partnership and Gareth Hutchison respectively.
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football team. Hampden Park is owned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and regularly hosts the latter stages of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. A UEFA category four stadium, Hampden Park has hosted six European finals including the 1960 European Cup final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt which, with a crowd of 127,621 in attendance, is the highest ever recorded attendance for a European Cup final.
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish Football League (SFL) in 1890. Third Lanark played in the top division of the SFL for the majority of the club's existence, and won the league championship in 1903–04. The club also won the Scottish Cup twice, in 1889 and 1905. Third Lanark went out of business in 1967, as a result of mismanagement, six years after having finished in third place in the SFL. Third Lanark's former ground, Cathkin Park in Crosshill, is still partially standing and is used for minor league football.
Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the football clubs Queen's Park and Third Lanark. The site of the original Hampden Park is just to the west.
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs in Scotland. The competition was first held in 1873–74. Entry is open to all 122 clubs with full membership of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), along with up to eight other clubs who are associate members. The competition is called Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons.
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.
This article lists Scottish football attendance records under the categories listed below. The highest ever attendance for a UEFA competition match was in the 1969–70 European Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium. A record 136,505 people attended the match between Celtic and Leeds United. The attendance of 149,415 for the Scotland vs. England international match of 1937 at Hampden Park is also a European record. The attendance of 147,365 for the 1937 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Aberdeen at Hampden Park is a European record for a club match. Rangers' record attendance of 118,567 at Ibrox is a British record for a league match.
The 2007–08 Scottish Cup was the 123rd season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The winners were Rangers, who defeated Queen of the South in the final.
The 2008–09 Scottish Cup was the 124th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The winners were Rangers, who defeated Falkirk in the 2009 final on 30 May 2009.
The 2000 Scottish Cup Final was the final match of the 1999–2000 Scottish Cup. It was played on 27 May 2000 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, and was the final of the 115th Scottish Cup. The final was contested by Scottish Premier League clubs Aberdeen and Rangers. Rangers won the match 4–0. The match was the last in the career of Aberdeen goalkeeper Jim Leighton. He was injured after two minutes and was unable to play on. With no goalkeeper on the substitutes bench, striker Robbie Winters played in goal for Aberdeen.
Cathkin Park was a football ground in the Crosshill area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was the home ground of Third Lanark from their foundation in 1872 until they moved to New Cathkin Park in 1903. It also hosted Scottish Cup final matches and the Scotland national team.
Meadowside was a football ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was the home ground of Partick Thistle from 1897 until 1908.
Ibrox Park was a football ground in Ibrox, Scotland. It was the home ground of Rangers from 1887 until they moved to the adjacent second Ibrox in 1899. The ground staged the Scottish Cup Final four times and also three Scotland international matches.
The Original Glasgow derby is the name for the old rivalry between crosstown Scottish football clubs Queen's Park and Rangers, both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are two of the most successful in the Scottish Cup, and the rivalry between them was one of the more intense in the early years of Scottish football, before being overtaken by the Old Firm rivalry from the 1900s onwards. The highest Scottish Cup attendance figure for the fixture was recorded on 18 January 1930 at Hampden Park for the first round, when 95,722 fans attended. The two clubs met in the top flight for last time during 1957–58, the final season before Queen's Park's relegation. The club retained their amateur status from their foundation in 1867 until 2019, which meant it was extremely difficult to compete at the highest level and the intensity of the derby dramatically declined after 1958 as the Spiders never returned to the top tier.
The 2021 Scottish Cup Final was the 136th final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2020–21 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match was played on 22 May 2021 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. St Johnstone completed the historic cup double by winning it.
The 2022–23 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup was the 20th edition of the Scottish Women's Premier League's league cup competition, which began in 2002. It was sponsored by Sky Sports and officially known as the Sky Sports Scottish Women's Premier League Cup. The competition was contested by all 16 teams of the two divisions of the Scottish Women's Premier League.
Over the 150-year history of football in Scotland, most teams have occupied several grounds as their home; this has occasionally involved a relocation to another community altogether. Grounds which have been in continuous use for several decades have been extensively redeveloped, particularly since the 1990s, with a few exceptions. This article and the accompanying tables focus on those Scottish Football League / Scottish Professional Football League clubs which have moved to a different stadium, including temporarily, since the 1980s when this became more frequent.
