The national stadium of Scotland bears the name of an English politician John Hampden and is actually the third venue to be called Hampden Park in Glasgow. The Scottish FA has agreed a deal with Queen’s Park Football Club for the use of Hampden Park as the club’s registered home ground for season 2023-24.

Scotland National Teams to utilise state-of-the-art facilities

Scotland National Teams will use Lesser Hampden as a training facility in addition to Oriam, Scotland's National Performance Centre in Edinburgh, as part of the arrangement. Following the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert on July 23, the national stadium playing surface will be fully renovated. After the 150th Heritage International against England on September 12, the playing surface will be available in Queen’s Park.

Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive, said: We are pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement with Queen’s Park, who will use the national stadium for the forthcoming season. As part of the agreement, our Scotland National Teams will be able to utilise the world-class facilities at Lesser Hampden. Steve Clarke and the men’s national team have already spoken highly of Lesser Hampden, having used it as a training base for the back-to-back wins against Cyprus and Spain in the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers, and hopefully it can continue to play a part in our success. These matches are of great interest, as is the case with betting on other sporting events.

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Hampden Park to redevelop

For a stunning 47 years Hampden Park has remained the world’s largest ground (until Maracana rose in 1950), mostly thanks to major enlargements in 1927-1937. At the latter date it could take up to 183,388 people, but for safety reasons was restricted to ‘only’ 150,000. Of course most fans were seated on wooden benches or standing and the terracing was set on land slopes, but it was still remarkable. The very same year it was sold out for another Scotland-England match that still holds the European attendance record for international teams’ clashes.

Interesting temporary redevelopment came in 2014, when the stadium was once more converted into a multi-use one by adding a temporary platform with running track for the duration of 2014 Commonwealth Games. Using the occasion the venue was upgraded with new facilities for the disabled. In 2015 it was awarded a place on the UEFA Euro 2020 host list.

The venue, which currently has a capacity of 51,866, will be expanded. It is expected to have 65,000 seats, making it the largest in Scotland, surpassing Celtic Park with 60,000. This will be made possible by the redevelopment of the stands - their greater tilt and movement towards the pitch. Some sources also report the likely separation of standing areas. By 2022, all sections of the arena in the UK had to be seated, but relevant regulatory changes already allow standing seating under certain conditions. Holmes Miller's proposal, however, specifies that all areas will be seated.

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