{"id":924369,"date":"2026-10-11T15:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T15:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/924369\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T15:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T15:24:12","slug":"campaign-launched-to-safeguard-site-of-first-home-of-scotlands-national-football-team-glasgow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/924369\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign launched to safeguard site of first home of Scotland\u2019s national football team | Glasgow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans of Scotland\u2019s national football team may not have had many reasons to celebrate in recent years, but that hasn\u2019t always been the case. Almost 150 years ago, in 1878, the team moved into their first home in a Glasgow ground known as First Hampden<\/a> and promptly won every game they played there.<\/p>\n

As well as being celebrated as Scotland\u2019s \u201ctartan fortress\u201d, First Hampden, about half a mile from where Hampden Park sits today in south Glasgow, is widely considered the world\u2019s first purpose-built international football stadium. Many features now commonplace in grounds around the world \u2013 including season tickets, turnstiles and pavilions \u2013 have long been thought to have originated there.<\/p>\n

Now, a campaign has been launched<\/a> to safeguard the site and turn it into a community hub and heritage space after it was put on the market when the previous tenant, a bowling club, closed its doors earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see it become a multifunctional community space,\u201d says Calum Cameron, 37, one of the founding members of First Hampden community interest company (CIC). \u201cSomewhere vibrant and usable for the community but that also upholds and develops this amazing footballing history through storytelling and heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the First Hampden campaign at the site. Photograph: First Hampden CIC<\/p>\n

Before becoming the national ground, First Hampden was home to Queen\u2019s Park FC, who are also credited with inventing many features of the modern game, including the passing style of play, as opposed to a more rugby-like kick-and-charge approach that was common at the time. A key generation of players nicknamed the \u201cScotch professors\u201d<\/a> went on to export the invention around the country and the world, including to nations such as Brazil that dominate the international game today.<\/p>\n

A striking black-and-white mural on the back of what was previously Hampden Bowling Club on the site commemorates a famous 5-1 victory over England in 1882 and depicts the then national team captain, Andrew Watson, the first Black international footballer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are all these little pieces of social history and I think there\u2019s more to be uncovered,\u201d Cameron says. \u201cWhen you start talking to people about the site, there are so many stories and connections that come out \u2013 but a lot of people don\u2019t know it is even here, which I hope will start to change as we do this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, there is little visible evidence of the original structure, but a 2021 excavation by Historic Environment Scotland uncovered remains of the pavilion, earning one part of the site, which now exists as a small public park, protected status<\/a> as a national monument. The section up for rent, comprising the former bowling club building and lawn, sits on the other side of a fence and is not covered by the protection.<\/p>\n

The footprint of First Hampden is one of 21 historic footballing sites in the south of Glasgow that have been curated into Football\u2019s Square Mile<\/a>, a project set up to promote and celebrate the nation\u2019s footballing heritage. While the legends of First Hampden have been passed down in folklore for generations, it was Football\u2019s Square Mile\u2019s engagement director, Graeme Brown, who proved its existence once and for all in 2017, through archival railway maps.<\/p>\n

The footprint of First Hampden is one of 21 historic footballing sites in the south of Glasgow that have been curated into Football\u2019s Square Mile. Photograph: George McLaughlin \/First Hampden CIC<\/p>\n

\u201c[First Hampden] is arguably the world\u2019s most important football heritage site,\u201d Brown says. \u201cAnd you can just come and stand on it \u2013 you don\u2019t need to go to a museum and pay an entry fee. You can come and stand on [what was] the pitch and say: \u2018This is where Scotland played.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always makes me tingle to walk around this area. You can kind of feel the ghosts of First Hampden all around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attempts by First Hampden CIC to acquire the site have so far been unsuccessful, with a request for a community asset transfer rejected by the owners, City Property Glasgow<\/a>, an arm\u2019s-length company owned by the council.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the company said it was \u201cobliged to obtain commercially reasonable terms for the sale and lease of our assets\u201d and that the site was considered to have income-generating potential.<\/p>\n

A mural at the site of First Hampden in Glasgow. Photograph: First Hampden CIC<\/p>\n

They said there was no intention to sell for redevelopment and that bids would be assessed \u201con their individual merits, including but not limited to community benefits, heritage consideration, deliverability and financial value\u201d.<\/p>\n

First Hampden CIC is exploring other options, Cameron says, including a full feasibility study and community consultation for its plans, and submitting an official bid through the lease process. So far, almost 1,000 people have signed up online<\/a> to show their support.<\/p>\n

Cameron has become a bigger football fan since living in the area and learning more about its rich footballing history. But he says the campaign is about more than just sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordable, accessible public spaces are becoming fewer and further between in Glasgow and in general, and this is another that\u2019s at risk of being lost,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need places where people can come together. The city\u2019s slogan is \u2018people make Glasgow\u2019, so let\u2019s give those people places to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fans of Scotland\u2019s national football team may not have had many reasons to celebrate in recent years, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":924370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-924369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}