Hampden Park has been the home of Scottish football [soccer] since the beginning of the 20th century. Built in 1903, the first match was played on October 31, 1903 before 44,530 people with the home team, Queen's Park beating Glasgow Celtic 1-0.
By December 1903, work was complete and the stadium had a capacity of 80,000.
Work continued and by 1910 the official capacity of the ground had reached an astonishing 125,000 due to the increasing popularity of soccer in Scotland. Still, this wasn't enough and additional standing and seating space was constructed in 1927 raising the capacity to 150,000 - making a full Hampden bigger than all but 4 cities in Scotland!
Still, work continued until a record crowd or 183,724 was drawn in 1937 with the completion of the new North stand.
By the 1960's, Hampden was beginning to age but it still hosted some magical games including the famous Europen Cup Final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt before 135,000 people. Domestic cup finals and International matches continued to be played at the stadium but by this stage the ground was falling into disrepair.
In the 1990's, the task of reconstructing Hampden to its former glory began. The old terracing was replaced with 34,000 seats, a new cantilever roof was installed along with supurb hospitality and function suites.
The newly refurbished stadium was completed in May 1999 with a full-seated capacity of 52,000.
How to get to Hampden Park
- By Train
- To get to Hampden, go to Glasgow Central train station and take the
Cathcart Circle train to Mount Florida Station.
The stadium is a short (5 minute) walk from Mount Florida Station.
- By Car
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Travelling westbound along the A8 (M8).
Take the Coatbridge, M73 turn off (Junction 8).
Take the first left onto the M73 southbound towards the M74 (Carlisle/Glasgow South)
Take the M74 Glasgow South turn off (Junction 2 Right Hand lanes) westbound towards Glasgow
Travel to the end of the M74 and turn left onto Fullerton Road southbound towards Cambuslang.
Take the right turn at the second roundabout onto Cambuslang Road towards Rutherglen.
Straight on through the next roundabout and turn right at the traffic lights onto A724 Cambuslang Road westbound.
Follow the road round and take the left fork onto B768 Rutherglen Main Street westbound.
Follow the road straight through next set of traffic lights. You should now be on Rutherglen Main Street.
Straight through the next set of traffic lights towards Toryglen (still on the B768).
Follow the road round and carry on towards the next set of traffic lights (You should be able to see Hampden to your left with Asda on your right).
Carry on straight through these lights and up over the hill, Prospecthill Road (Keeping Hampden on your left).
Turn left at the next set of traffic lights onto Cathcart Road.
Follow the road round taking the left fork onto Carmunock Road, then take the immediate left turn into the Hampden Car Park.