Lesser Hampden
| Lesser | |
 | |
  Lesser Hampden Location in Glasgow | |
| Coordinates | 55°49′32.15″N 4°15′19.70″W / 55.8255972°N 4.2554722°WCoordinates: 55°49′32.15″N 4°15′19.70″W / 55.8255972°N 4.2554722°W |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 12,000 (on opening) |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1923 |
| Opened | 1924 |
| Tenants | |
| Queen's Park F.C. youth | |
Lesser Hampden is a football stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, which is located immediately beside the western end of Hampden Park stadium.
In 1923, Queen's Park were looking for an alternative venue for their reserves and youth teams.[1] The club purchased a farm on the west side of Hampden Park and built a pitch and stands.[1] When it opened in 1924, Lesser Hampden had a capacity of 12,000.[1] To reduce costs, the original farmhouse building was retained and was converted into a pavilion and dressing room.[1] This farmhouse, which dates back to the 19th century, is believed by football historians to be the oldest existing football stadium building in the world.[1][2][3] The changing rooms were closed in 2013 for safety reasons.[3]
During World War II, Lesser Hampden was commandeered by the British Government to serve as a base for the Home Guard.[1] There were proposals to convert the site back to agriculture if there were food shortages, but the ground was returned to the football club at the end of the war in 1945.[1]
During the 1970s, several Queen's Park first team games were played at the stadium. During the redevelopment of the main Hampden Park stadium in the 1990s, the club played Scottish Football League matches at this ground.[1] In 2002, it was discovered that Lesser Hampden was tainted with toxic chromium,[4] a byproduct from an old chemicals plant located in nearby Rutherglen. This was cleaned up at a cost of around £40,000.[1] The ground served as a staging area for pre-game tailgate parties hosted by the Scottish Claymores American football team when they played at Hampden Park.
Lesser Hampden is now tightly hemmed in by surrounding housing and commercial developments. It has some areas of terracing, floodlights and a small covered grandstand adjacent to the original farmhouse building. The natural grass pitch was replaced with a 3rd generation astro-grass pitch, and was used as a warm-up area for athletes competing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as the track and field events were held at Hampden Park.[5]
In September 2018 it was announced that Queen's Park would return to Lesser Hampden to play first team matches on a permanent basis after agreeing to sell Hampden Park itself to the Scottish FA, who had been leasing the larger ground as the base for the national team.[6]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Halliday, Stephen (23 December 2005). "Lesser Hampden - Living in the Shadow". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ↑ "Queen's Park to build solid new foundations". Scottish Football League. 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- 1 2 "Queen's Park lose unique record". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ↑ "Toxic waste found near Hampden". BBC News. BBC. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ↑ Barnes, John (4 October 2012). "Hampden will be closed to football for Glasgow 2014 preparations". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ↑ "Hampden v Murrayfield: Scottish FA opt to keep games in Glasgow". Retrieved 11 September 2018.