Hampden Park - Structure and Facilities

Structure and Facilities

Hampden is an all-seated bowl stadium, although the ground is split into four geographic sections, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands. Due to the dominance of the Old Firm within Scottish football and their regular qualification for cup matches played at Hampden, the East and West stands are commonly known as the Celtic and Rangers ends. The East Stand has 12,800 seats on a single tier of 53 rows. The two end stands are up to 140 metres away from the pitch, due to Hampden retaining its bowl shape after it was redeveloped. This distance is almost as great as if Hampden included an athletics track, which it presently does not, although the distance between the pitch and the two side stands is more comparable to a normal football stadium.

The South Stand is the main stand of the stadium, as it holds the technical areas, dressing rooms, indoor warm-up area, executive boxes, lounges and media facilities. It has been sponsored by BT Scotland since 1998. The South Stand is also the only part of the stadium split into two tiers, although there is also a small gallery above the North Stand that has 290 seats and access to lounges. The North Stand accommodates 9,100 spectators in 46 rows. The total capacity of the stadium is 52,063. This capacity will be temporarily reduced to 44,000 for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as the running track will raise the field level by 1.9 metres.

The redeveloped Hampden has held the top status with the various UEFA stadium categories, currently holding category four status. The Scottish Football Museum, which opened in 2001, is located within Hampden. Part of the museum is the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. A distinctive feature of the old Hampden, the press box which sat on the roof of the old South Stand, is also exhibited at the museum. The offices of the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League are all located within Hampden.

Lesser Hampden is a football stadium located immediately beside the western end of Hampden Park. The ground was constructed in the early 1920s after additional ground was purchased to expand the main stadium. Queen's Park proposed in 1990 to sell off Lesser Hampden to fund redevelopment works on the main stadium, but this was rejected by planners. It is presently used by Queen's Park for training, reserve team matches and youth football. Lesser Hampden will be used as a warm-up area during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.