Well what do you think ? is 52,000 capacity enough, just asking as i can remember the days when we used to have 100,000 plus at games, personally i think the capacity should be increased to at least 75,000.

Views please.

Well, going by posts on other threads in here there's only me, you and about 4 others who think Scotland games even matter. So, aye, seems like it's plenty big enough for the 6 of us.

100,000?! What age are you?

52,000 is fine. It's more than enough for when we stink, and when we are good it ensures sell-outs and healthy TV viewing figures. The shape of the ground is more of a problem, but thats been covered in dozens of threads.

I said club but still go to Scotland games.

We should knock down three sides of the ground then and sell the land for housing.

You need to change your avatar.

Then move the National team into a hollow, soulless vacuum of a place? I'm sure that would suit a lot of folk just fine. But if 15% of tha population watch Scotland games (as has been claimed elsewhere on here) that is a HUGE amont of people to try and accomodate. 15% of China is 15 million people. Even in England it would be around 8 million. I think we do pretty well to sell out a 52,000 stadium, especially considering the nay-sayers that seem to be cropping up everywhere.

Why? Not trying to pick a fight, just curious.

Are you going tommorow? What club do you watch?

Fair point well made. No. I won't be going to the game tomorrow. I won't bullshit you with excuses about financial restraints but, if I'm brutally honest, that is the main reason.

The point I was trying to make wasn't about attending the game though, it was about generally getting behind the national team rather than wanting to see it lose all relevance.

And I was at Palmerston for the first time this season last Saturday.

No one as really said they want them to lose though, most who said club on the other thread have said they go to Scotland games on others.

I must have missed them then! It's not that people wnt them to lose that winds me up so much as people that claim the Scotland team is irrelevant. My point is that the national team is far more rellevant to me as a Scotsman than Rangers, Celtic, Queens or any club side. As somebody who was born in Dumfries (although raised around Kirkcudbright) I eventually saw the relevance of Queens to me.

How anyone can see the Scottish team as irrelevant to them just baffles me. Maybe I've just lost touch with footballing reality. I fhtat's true then just leave me where I am, where Scotland winning or losing actually means something.

I have always argued for a bigged Hampden but I think that Scotland supports by majority are fair weather so i can understand why people are happy with what they got!

i care

Glad it isn't just me. I realise I'm a bit of a hypocrite since I've only ever been to 1 Scotland game but I'm one of these mentalists who supports Scotland at football, rugby, 3-fingered tiddlywinks, whatever. Whether that makes me patriotic or stupid, I don't know. All I do know is that being Scottish is a huge part of who I am so, since I'm a football fan, the Scotland team is a massive part of me.

You've hit the nail on the head there.

5 years ago, it was more than enough. Now, it's probably not enough. I reckon they could probably increase the capacity to 60,000, maybe 65,000 without financially crippling themselves and still be able to sell out the stadium. Don't know the figures regarding how many applied for tickets through the ballot, but I would assume they could have sold 70,000 tickets for the Norway game.

Wont happen for a while though!

Didn't realise you were a QP fan mate

Im going today and have thought its too small for some time now. Mad scramble to get tickets for everybody, although I got mine from the SSC I was limited to one ticket only. I could easily done with more tickets.

I was hoping the stadium could have been expanded as part of the Commonwealth Games project but it doesn't look likely.

Anyway fingers crossed for an important victory.

hampden should be levelled, the NT moved to murrayfield and a totally new ground build which doesn't have a running track around it.

as far as i know hampden cant be expanded due to housing around the area but i may be wrong.

Big enough when i get tickets......not big enough today

I agree.

It's not even the running track, it's the cheap plastic seating, the lack of leg-room and the two-bit, tinny atmosphere. Hampden is the fourth best stadium in the country. There's no need for it, really.

It really was incredible so much money was pumped into it before, when Murrayfield (a first class stadium) lies empty most of the year, and the SRU are struggling to meet repayments on it.

It really sums up the stupidity and parocialism of some sporting bodies in this country that we have a shit football national stadium that is second class and a first class national rugby stadium that lies empty.

Madness.

make that 7

Should stay the same. When we do not so well crowds go down big time. When we do well what we have is enough.

I'll be the 8th official Scotland fan as well .

I'm a huge Scotland fan and want to see them do well all the time and like you if you qualify for stupid stuff like Rugby League World Cup where we'll probably get horsed every game, I'll still end up tuning in watching it, just daft like that as well and enjoy international tournaments.

As for Hampden, I think it's probably a fine size the way it is, It is unfortunate that the tickets sold out so quick but that's what we have to expect and the computrised draw from the SFA was the fairest way everyone from Scotland could get a chance on a ticket.
Maybe if they done away with the almost running track and brought the crowd closer to the pitch like Parkhead in all four sections, this surely could create a 10-15,000 more seats and probably a closed dome type atmosphere like Celtic have on European nights. If we added to 15,000 more seats.

Essentialy we are nation of Glory hunters just like everyone else and if we lose today, I doubt there will be 52,000 for the game against Iceland on a Wednesday night.

8. Mon scotlaaaand!!!!!!

The national stadium ought to be in our nations capital rather than a backward provincial town like Glasgow. The SFA should be talking to the SRU over a glass of Chardonnay and some prawn salad drizzled with a fine turnip dressing and making this happen.

As for Hampden being 'shit', it is a 5 star UEFA rated stadium, and Scotland has more of them compared to England. Edinburgh can keep its shitty rugby, and unsuccessful football teams. The national stadium should be kept in Glasgow.

Fcukin gutted to miss this game as it is the 1st home qualifier i have missed since Euro 96.Was a member of the travel club for years but decided not to renew one year as my mate could get me a ticket through his membership anyway but now with the sheer numbers of the travel club and the limited size of Hampden the SFA have limited travel club members to 1 ticket per member.We need to expand the stadium to meet public demand.

I don't necessarily think Hampden is "Shit". What I am saying is that the national team should be playing in a more noble city, befitting of a showpiece stadium such as Edinburgh. God only knows what travelling supporters make of our nations second city (ugly sister) as they make their way from the centre to the ground. Gurning locals vomiting and fighting over which particular brand of Christianity they pretend to subscribe to while unruly 8 year olds urinate on the concrete pavements and hurl abuse in a garbled language which loosely resembles English.

It's no more National Stadium than fly in the air. It's owned by Queens Park and the SFA only rent it.

The National Stadium should be in the Capital City, there's already a ground waiting to be used.

England & Wales get a place befitting international matches, we get a one stand wonder, and renovated craphole, that can only hold 52k (less hangers on). The money should have been pumped into Murrayfield to turn it into something capable of holding 80+k (currently it holds 68K)

on today's performance the fans will be leaving in droves, therefore the stadium is way too big. i want my ticket money back.

Err, you might want to redo your sums there..

15% of the Chinese population (1.3Bn) is 195 million.

I think you should be OK for quite a while

Um, aye. Realised my mistake around 11 this morning. Actually meant to type 150 million. Since nobody else picked up on it I'm hoping my point got over all the same.

Hardy fucking har.

You're in Murrayfield. Want a pie? a drink? Then go all the way down the stairs and OUTSIDE the stand to the caravans because MF had FUCKALL facilities built into the stands.

Yeah, go on, miss 20-30 minutes of the action whilst you traipse down the stairs...queue...and traipse back up again

Renovating Hampden the way they did was a major blunder. It's a horrible ground.