Campaign launched to safeguard site of first home of Scotland’s national football team

Part of site of First Hampden in Glasgow is up for rent and campaigners want to turn it into a community hub

Fans of Scotland’s national football team may not have had many reasons to celebrate in recent years, but that hasn’t 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 and promptly won every game they played there.

Now, a campaign has been launched 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.

Before becoming the national ground, First Hampden was home to Queen’s 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 “Scotch professors” went on to export the invention around the country and the world, including to nations such as Brazil that dominate the international game today.

“There are all these little pieces of social history and I think there’s more to be uncovered,” Cameron says. “When you start talking to people about the site, there are so many stories and connections that come out – but a lot of people don’t know it is even here, which I hope will start to change as we do this work.”

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

“[First Hampden] is arguably the world’s most important football heritage site,” Brown says. “And you can just come and stand on it – you don’t need to go to a museum and pay an entry fee. You can come and stand on [what was] the pitch and say: ‘This is where Scotland played.’

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, an arm’s-length company owned by the council.

They said there was no intention to sell for redevelopment and that bids would be assessed “on their individual merits, including but not limited to community benefits, heritage consideration, deliverability and financial value”.

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.