Last Update:
November 27, 2024
Hampden Park is a modern all seated stadium. Although not particularly large for a national stadium, it still retains its charm and individual character which is enhanced by it’s completely enclosed oval shape. Three sides of the stadium are single tiered, but the South Stand on one side of it, has a small second tier, which slightly overhangs the lower one. Normally this may mean that the stadium would look imbalanced, but it has been well integrated with the rest of the stadium with oval stadium roof rising gently towards this stand. There are also two electric scoreboards which are suspended underneath the roofs at either end of the stadium. One unusual aspect of the stadium is that the team dugouts are actually situated six rows up on the South Stand. This is to allow team managers to get a better view of the game.
The Club have agreed to sell Hampden Park to the Scottish Football Association. As part of the deal the Club will move into the adjacent Lesser Hampden ground, which will be improved and have a capacity of around 1,700. This is expected to happen for the start of the 2020/21 season.
Only part of the BT Scotland South Stand is open for Queens Park games and normally segregation of fans is not enforced. Two turnstiles P & O which are open for each game are located to the left of the main entrance. If segregation is in force, then away fans use turnstiles I & J, which are located to the right of the main entrance.
The facilities within Hampden are great, plus the leg room and view of the playing action, are also both good. On the good-sized concourse there is a small club shop and refreshments on sale include; Hampden Scotch Pies (£2.30), Steak Pies (£2.90), Cheese and Onions Pies (£2.70), Hot Dogs (£5), Chips (£2.60) and Hot Drinks (£2.30). Apparently the Hampden Scotch Pie contains a slice of a Lorne Sausage. In addition, the Club also offers a matchday Special Pie (£3.90) which is a different offering each game but has included Chicken Curry Pies and Steak & Haggis Pies in the past.
Although a pleasant afternoon out, crowds of around the 5-600 mark, in a 52,500 seater stadium, does little for the atmosphere. In fact at times, you would be thinking that you were attending a reserve match, with the players’ voices echoing around the ground. Still the p.a. system stills booms around the stadium before the game and at half time, the electric scoreboards are in operation and there is still a game of football to be watched.
On my last visit against Albion Rovers, five minutes before kick off, there was a fair queue for refreshments. An Albion fan shouts to his friend in the queue; ‘Hurry up Willie, or else we’ll not get a seat!’. That brought a smile to my face considering that there were around 52,000 empty seats inside the stadium.
There is the Queens Park Social Club, in Somerville Drive (adjacent in office accommodation to the nearby Lesser Hampden ground), which allows in away fans. Beyond the East side of the stadium (and tucked behind a handy Greggs Bakery and a Bookies) is the Montford House pub, which is located on Curtis Avenue (just off Aikenhead Road). Over on the opposite West side of the Stadium near Mount Florida Station is the Mount Florida pub on Battlefield Road and nearby the Clockwork Beer Company on Cathcart Road. (going away from the city centre). The Clockwork is a spacious pub which brews its own beers and stocks a wide range of vintage whiskies.
If you require hotel accommodation in Glasgow then first try a hotel booking service provided by Booking.com. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will help towards the running costs of keeping this Guide going.
Leave the M74 at Junction 1A and take the A728 towards Polmadie/King’s Park/Hampden. At the T-junction with traffic lights, bear right onto Aikenhead Road. After about half a mile you will go through a set of double traffic lights with the Toryglen Football centre on the left. Carry-on, straight through these lights and the Aikenhead Road beers round to your right and Hampden Park. The main entrance is off Aikenhead Road on the right and this leads up to a large car park which is free, located behind the South Stand.
The nearest railway stations to Hampden Park are Mount Florida and Kings Park. Both are served by trains from Glasgow Central (journey time around 10-15 minutes) and are around a five minute walk away from the stadium.
Booking train tickets in advance will normally save you money! Find train times, prices and book tickets with Trainline. Visit the website below to see how much you can save on the price of your tickets:
Adults: £15
Concessions £5
Concessions apply to Over 65’s, Under 17’s Students and Unemployed.
The Club no longer produces a paper programme, but instead, have a digital version that can be downloaded from the Queen’s Park FC website. On the day of the game, a paper teamsheet is available in return for a charity donation to a local hospice.
Queens Park FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
Clyde and Albion Rovers.
44 wheelchair spaces are available within the South Stand, as well as provision for an accompanying carer. There are also 55 places for ambulant/blind persons (guide dogs are allowed). Disabled supporters and their carers are admitted free. Places do not normally have to be pre-booked but it would be of courtesy to the Club to do so by calling them on 01224-650423.
Record Attendance
For Hampden Park:
149,415 – Scotland v England, 1937.
This is the record for the largest attendance at a football match in Britain.
For Queens Park: 95,722 v Rangers (1930).
Average Attendance
2017-2018: 688 (League One)
2016-2017: 645 (League One)
2015-2016: 518 (League Two)
For all those ground enthusiasts out there, then make sure you take a peak at the old lesser Hampden, behind the West Stand. This is a small old ground, that has quite a quaint looking stand at one side of the pitch. In the past it has been used by Queens Park reserves, as well as for the odd first team outing.
The stadium is also the home of the Scottish Football Museum, which opened it’s doors in May 2001. I was thoroughly impressed not only with the standard of museum, but also the vast array of items that can be seen. From a ticket from the first ever Football International held in Glasgow in 1872, to an exhibition of football related ‘toys’. The current Scottish Cup is also available to view within the museum. What I particularly liked was the emphasis on the fans involvement in the Clubs, from the first fanzines to the Tartan Army. The museum is a must for any true football supporter.
The museum is open daily from 10.00am to 5pm (Sunday’s 11am-5pm, Last admittance all days – 4.15pm). Entrance costs £5.50 for adults and £2.75 for concessions. Tours of the stadium are also available on non matchdays for an additional charge of £3 adults, £1.75 concessions. Alternatively if you wish you can just book a tour of the stadium which costs £6 adults, £3 concessions. If you have an enquiry you can ring the museum on 0141-616-6139. Queens Park offer on matchdays a joint ‘museum entry and matchday’ ticket for just £10.
If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going.
Official Web Site: www.queensparkfc.co.uk
Unofficial Web Site:
If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, then please e-mail me at: [email protected] and I’ll update the guide.
Ground Layout
Queen's Park v Stenhousemuir
Scottish Football League Division 2
Saturday 4th January 2020, 3pm
Derek Hall (Neutral)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting Hampden Park?
I completed the English 92 several years ago, although I have to start filling-in the spaces as new grounds have opened and some clubs (such as my hometown club, Hartlepool United) are no longer in the league. In all, I have been to more than 130 English grounds. In Scotland, I did 'the 42' several years ago – but then thought it would be a good idea for my wife to do them too. She has done 35 up-to-now – and one of the reasons we now prefer Scottish games, to many of those in England is that the travel (from Hartlepool to Scotland) is usually quite pleasant on the eye. And with me being disabled, it is almost invariably much easier for us to get parked. (We will both be 66 this year).
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
From England, simply head up the M6/A74(M)/M74 and turn-off (as this guide states) at Junction 1A. The rest is easy.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
The Queen's Park social club, at Lesser Hampden, was very clean and very friendly. (This is behind the West Stand of Hampden).
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of Hampden Park?
We've both been to Hampden several times before to watch Scotland and domestic cup finals. It is a nice, compact stadium which is at its best when the pipes and drums are on parade. However, whilst watching Queen's Park, it's a bit like being at the cinema (according to my wife) when the scoreboards are booming-out their messages.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
We enjoyed the game we watched. The fact that there were only 800+ people there was a different adventure to being enthralled when the place is packed. But well worth the effort!
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
"Nae botha". Large car park. Few people. Straight out.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
The Queen's Park experience is NOT to be missed. Make sure you see The Spiders at Hampden, before the end of this season. Then plan to go back again, for next season, when hopefully the new chapter begins, at Lesser Hampden. Please also take the time to trundle the few hundred yards north, to visit Cathkin Park (the former home of Third Lanark FC – which was my history-master's favourite team), as that ground was the second Hampden (in the history of QPFC). And can I just add that a visit to their souvenir stall is a must – not least because of the free brochures they have, detailing the history of their fantastic football club.
Queen's Park v Elgin City
Scottish League Division Two
Saturday 24th August 2019, 3pm
Andrew Weston (Queen's Park, but essentially neutral)
Queens Park v Connah's Quay Nomads
Scottish Challenge Cup, Quarter Final
Friday 16th November 2018, 7.45pm
Arthur Morris (Neutral)
Queen’s Park v Dunfermline Athletic
Scottish Cup 3rd Round
Saturday 18th November 2017
James Baxter (Neutral fan)
I look forward to every game I see in the UK because there aren’t many of them. I live in Slovakia and only visit the UK twice a year at most. But November 18th was the middle of a long weekend. Moreover, an old friend had long ago booked a train ticket to Glasgow, hoping for a good Scottish Cup tie in the area, so I decided to head over and join him. I’d never been to Hampden Park before and Queen’s Park vs Dunfermline looked a good fixture. If nothing else, there was a fine history behind it, Queen’s having won more Scottish Cups than any other non-Old Firm club, and Dunfermline having won the competition twice in the 1960s. Yet this was the first time the two had ever been drawn together.
I stayed the Friday night in Edinburgh and took an early morning train over to Glasgow Central. It was an easy, quick journey, and very pleasant with the sun coming up. I met my friend on the concourse, and we went for breakfast at a wonderful Victorian bar called the Horse Shoe, just around the corner from the station, in Drury Street. It was quiet in there when we arrived, but filling up nicely by the time we left, at about 11am. We then took a brown and yellow train from Glasgow Central to Crosshill, as I’d been given perfect directions from there to Cathkin Park.
Crosshill is the station before Mount Florida (the nearest to Hampden), and it’s just 200 yards or so down the hill from there to the entrance to Cathkin Park, the old Third Lanark ground. If you really strain your eyes from the top of the hill by the station, you can just see the black plaque that marks the entrance to the park. Anyone visiting Hampden for the first time should make time for Cathkin. You can walk the full circumference of the old ground, and the terracing is largely intact on three sides. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric place. If you leave at the far end from where you came in, there’s a flight of steps onto Prospecthill Road. From there, you can look down onto the roof struts of Hampden Park’s North Stand. We then walked round Hampden before heading to the Clockwork, a friendly microbrew pub with some fantastic real ale on offer. There were a few Dunfermline fans in there.
Cathkin Park
Being a Queen’s Park game, it was quiet outside Hampden. There was a decent buzz on the concourse inside though, and there are some fantastic photos to look at, including action shots from old Scotland vs England games, exterior views of the ground from times gone by etc. It was hard to tell who was supporting who, given the lack of formal segregation and the fact that everyone in club colours was in black and white. It was all very good-natured, and the stewards and Queen’s Park staff were really welcoming. As for the inside, Hampden is an unusual ground these days, with its oval shape. You can see why people would complain about being stuck behind the goals, as there must be some awful viewing angles. And yet, even in a crowd of just 1,117, you never forget you’re at one of the game’s most iconic venues. I loved the place.
It was a fine cup-tie. Dunfermline always looked the more accomplished side, yet it took them until ten minutes before the end to definitely seal their win. There were a couple of good chances each in a goalless first-half. Dunfermline then scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the second, only for Queen’s to quickly halve the deficit. There was then a really exciting spell, with Queen’s twice going close to an equaliser. The visitors‘ third goal put an end to that, then they rubbed it in by making it 1-4 before the end. The number 11’s, David Galt for Queen’s and Joe Cardle for Dunfermline, were the outstanding individuals. Although there was no official segregation, at least not that I was aware of, it appears that Queen’s fans gather more towards the centre of the Main Stand, with visitors to the side, nearest the West Stand, or Rangers End. The 50,000 empty seats bothered me far less than I’d expected. In fact, the only disappointment was that Queen’s played in a depressing black and grey kit, rather than their famous thin hoops.
Getting away is obviously no problem with such a small crowd. Still, we decided to take our time heading back to the city centre, and went for another pint and some fish and chips in the Clockwork. Overall it was an excellent day. Every football fan should make time for a visit to Hampden Park.
Queens Park v Raith Rovers
Scottish Football League One
Saturday 16th September 2017, 3pm
Phil Graham (Raith Rovers fan)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting Hampden Park?
A chance to see Raith Rovers again and to tick off another of the Scottish SPFL 42.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
I took a train from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street. Then a five minute walk to Glasgow Central Station. Then a ten minute journey to Mount Florida. Hampden Park is only a five minute walk from there.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
I went straight into the ground as I arrived about ten minutes before Kick Off. I didn't see many Queen's Park fans to be fair. As is usual though with big stadiums there was the standard pat-down search before entering the stadium although this was restricted to the away fans only.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of Hampden Park Stadium?
Raith fans were segregated which was quite frankly ridiculous for a crowd of 850. It was was strange being in a huge stadium with such a small crowd. I had a good view of the pitch despite being in the left hand corner of the ground. I wouldn't want to be behind the goals for a big game though due to the huge distance the seats are from the pitch.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
As previously mentioned, The stewarding was completely pointless for such a small attendance. Although they were friendly enough even helping some Raith fans put up their banners. The stadium food was overpriced as is usual at most grounds these days. £5.50 a Burger £2.60 a Coke £3.50 Chips & Curry Sauce (very small portions). No programmes on sale as they are online available in digital format on Club website. As for the game its self Raith cruised to a 5-0 win without ever really breaking a sweat. Two goals in first seven minutes effectively killing the game off.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
Easy to exit the stadium and on the 17:04 train back to Glasgow.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Another good win for Raith Rovers. I've seen them twice this season and both times they've won 5-0! Hampden Park though is not a ground I would rush back too. No atmosphere, Expensive food and no matchday programme make for a rather underwhelming matchday experience.
Final Score: Queens Park 0 Raith Rovers 5
Attendance: 853