Was that Hampden's last hurrah?

[Peppino Impastato]

22 hours ago, GordonS said:

We don't know which option would lead to more money for football. Murrayfield is much bigger so could raise more in ticket sales, and Hampden could be facing some big maintenance costs, so it's entirely possible moving to Murrayfield would be the financially smarter option. But the SFA won't release any actual information, so we don't know.

Not over the long term

[Peppino Impastato]

16 hours ago, 7-2 said:

It'd also be nice to hold it in a city where the majority of football fans actually supported their own national team.

Exactly, get Edinburgh to f**k.  All Scotland games only in Glasgow or Dundee from now on.

[HibeeJibee]

How would Murrayfield work for November international break & League Cup Final, clashing with rugby's autumn internationals, or March international break directly following 6 Nations?

[qos_75]

21 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

How would Murrayfield work for November international break & League Cup Final, clashing with rugby's autumn internationals, or March international break directly following 6 Nations?

I don’t think that would be a huge problem. Ireland, Wales, France and to a lesser extent Italy all manage that fairly well. 

Saturday football internationals are becoming a lot less common than they used to be.

Edited February 1, 2018 by qos_75

[Gordopolis]

2 hours ago, SpoonTon said:

In what way does a 67,000 seater stadium suit our needs? I've seen some people talk up the atmosphere at Murrayfield, but that's when it's full. It would certainly do for big games - for an important qualifier or a competitive match against one of the big nations we could probably fill it. But for the majority of competitive matches, where attendances are usually between 30,000 and 45,000, where's the benefit of playing in a half empty stadium? Closing the top tier of a stadium makes for a really eerie atmosphere. I don't think that there's any benefit in that if you're looking to improve the atmosphere. And there aren't any smaller stadiums in the country big enough to host competitive matches. 

In terms of domestic cup semi-finals and finals, Murrayfield could possibly be filled for an Old Firm final - if you want that many OF fans travelling through to Edinburgh. Otherwise, what's the benefit in terms of the stadium? There are already complaints that Hampden is too big. So then we leave ourselves with stadiums of about 20,000 and 67,000 (all in Edinburgh unless two teams are travelling to a stadium in a field in the middle of Aberdeenshire). 

Then there's still the big gap between the stand and the pitch on three sides at Murrayfield. You could utilise the top tier at Murrayfield behind the goals for a better view, but there's still really only a benefit there if the crowd is near to capacity. 

In terms of travel, it's easier for people in the east of Scotland to get to Murrayfield, but not for people living in the west. I don't think there's any discernible benefit to any sort of majority of the population to move to Edinburgh (and has already been pointed out, would take all national games and cup semi-finals and finals to the east coast). 

Staying at Hampden would at least allow us to try to create a new longer-term vision for the national stadium. 

I genuinely read that as "not for normal people living in the west" 

Not sure what that says about me 

[forameus]

I feel comfortable in saying that anyone who doesn't live in the West of Scotland is a c**t and shouldn't support Scotland.

[Sergeant Wilson]

On 29/01/2018 at 17:26, Jimbo Jagsfan said:

 

What about the matches against Albania and Israel in Sept/Nov? Maybe a 20K seater would do for these. Will Aberdeen have the new stadium built?

It'll be finished by then, if we can avoid rain and cold weather.

[Silvio]

How many Saturday home games have we had in the last 2 campaigns? It seems the 'week of football' introduced has caused more midweek fixtures and more of a focus on travel/parking/public transport. 

I live in the West and have been in the supporters club since early 2000s. If it moves to Murrayfield I'm out as I can't be fucked travelling midweek. 

Is Edinburgh any easier to get to on a Monday night from Tayside, Angus or Aberdeen? 

[GordonS]

23 minutes ago, Silvio said:

Is Edinburgh any easier to get to on a Monday night from Tayside, Angus or Aberdeen? 

I'd say yes. For one, it's 20 miles closer. Travelling towards Glasgow in rush hour you hit the always-busy merge between the M80 and the M876, then have to go round Glasgow on the M73 and M74. It's so bad that coming from West Lothian I often divert right up through East Kilbride and come down through Castlemilk.

Going into Edinburgh at rush hour you're against the traffic and there's no real hold-ups, it's not so bad going over the bridge and then you have a choice of A90, A8 past the airport or M8. 

I also find it much, much quicker getting away from Murrayfield with a 67,000 crowd than Hampden with a 52,000 crowd.

[TonMan]

10 minutes ago, GordonS said:

I'd say yes. For one, it's 20 miles closer. Travelling towards Glasgow in rush hour you hit the always-busy merge between the M80 and the M876, then have to go round Glasgow on the M73 and M74. It's so bad that coming from West Lothian I often divert right up through East Kilbride and come down through Castlemilk.

Going into Edinburgh at rush hour you're against the traffic and there's no real hold-ups, it's not so bad going over the bridge and then you have a choice of A90, A8 past the airport or M8. 

I also find it much, much quicker getting away from Murrayfield with a 67,000 crowd than Hampden with a 52,000 crowd.

It's certainly closer, but whether it's close enough to actually make a significant difference to fans who'd maybe go to a game but aren't really sure if they want to is another question. It's probably far, far better for fans coming from Tayside, right enough, although don't know how important it'll be for people travelling from Aberdeen.

[LinkinFighter]

Would the police allow an old firm cup final at Murrayfield?

[St Innes]

1 hour ago, TonMan said:

It's certainly closer, but whether it's close enough to actually make a significant difference to fans who'd maybe go to a game but aren't really sure if they want to is another question. It's probably far, far better for fans coming from Tayside, right enough, although don't know how important it'll be for people travelling from Aberdeen.

You can get a train back after the game to the NE from a midweek game. That is not possible from Hamden.

[jamamafegan]

Would the police allow an old firm cup final at Murrayfield?

Why would they not? In case they fight each other on the way to the game?

Not everyone else’s fault they can’t behave like human beings. Let them destroy each other and show them up as the scum they are.

[forameus]

11 hours ago, Silvio said:

How many Saturday home games have we had in the last 2 campaigns? It seems the 'week of football' introduced has caused more midweek fixtures and more of a focus on travel/parking/public transport. 

I live in the West and have been in the supporters club since early 2000s. If it moves to Murrayfield I'm out as I can't be fucked travelling midweek. 

Is Edinburgh any easier to get to on a Monday night from Tayside, Angus or Aberdeen? 

That's it for me.  If we move to Murrayfield permanently, that'll probably be what punts me out of the SSC and probably from attending most of the games.  The trudge back from Hampden isn't ideal, but once the crowds thin a little on the walk it's not too bad, and the train back is always pretty quiet by that time.  The thought of replacing that by cramming on to a train with twice the number of people it should have at Haymarket, and then probably have to change somewhere on the way (doubt they'll be running a nice direct to Milngavie train at that time of night) is horrible.  

I know that's the reality for a lot of people, but purely selfishly that'd be it for me if we went to Murrayfield.  I know.  You're all devastated for me.

9 hours ago, jamamafegan said:

Why would they not? In case they fight each other on the way to the game?

Not everyone else’s fault they can’t behave like human beings. Let them destroy each other and show them up as the scum they are.

 

I'd actually be quite interested to see what would happen.  Imagine the Police wouldn't like it, but as long as they only turn their anger on each other, I'm cool with it.

[Scary Bear]

I'd actually be quite interested to see what would happen.  Imagine the Police wouldn't like it, but as long as they only turn their anger on each other, I'm cool with it.

The flipside is that for every you there’s a me. No danger I’m dragging my arse through to Hampden for midweek games but if the same games were at Murrayfield then I’d probably go to quite a few of them.

[forameus]

1 minute ago, Scary Bear said:

 

The flipside is that for every you there’s a me. No danger I’m dragging my arse through to Hampden for midweek games but if the same games were at Murrayfield then I’d probably go to quite a few of them.

 

Yeah, completely get that.  Can only talk from my selfish perspective.  

It'd probably be too much to ask of the SFA that they'd be canvassing the opinions to see just how many there would be on each side though, right?

[Scary Bear]

Yeah, completely get that.  Can only talk from my selfish perspective.  
It'd probably be too much to ask of the SFA that they'd be canvassing the opinions to see just how many there would be on each side though, right?

Probably.

Possibly part of the SRU’s pitch to the SFA?

[SpoonTon]

9 minutes ago, Scary Bear said:

 

The flipside is that for every you there’s a me. No danger I’m dragging my arse through to Hampden for midweek games but if the same games were at Murrayfield then I’d probably go to quite a few of them.

 

That's what I was trying to say as well. Hampden is much, much easier for me to get to than Murrayfield but there's those like you where it's the other way around. I don't think there is any basis for changing in that respect. The travel argument is pretty much down to where you're coming from, and I think that balances itself out. 

If the decision was being made purely on that basis, then a rotation between Ibrox/CP and Murrayfield would have been the fairer option. 

[Scary Bear]

I’d imagine the SFA are just fannying about. It’ll remain Hampden. They are way too conservative to consider a move to Murrayfield.

[Silvio]

Surely the SFA must know the postcodes of all SSC members and could tell us the breakdown by North, South, East, West.

Obviously that doesn't take into account those that buy whilst not being in the SSC.

I suspect it will show no bias either way, and they won't reveal it as that could potentially remove the 'easier to get to' argument and hence weaken their hand against Queens Park and Glasgow City Council. Which, in my opinion, is the whole point of this charade.