Hampden Park has it had its Day ?

[itzdrk]

I sat behind the goals some 16 years ago only once and I don't remember the view being that bad...until the second half started and Rangers scored 7

Edited April 25, 2016 by itzdrk

[HibeeJibee]

Would this combined football / rugby stadium have been in Edinburgh or Glasgow? You've hit your first hurdle. (Ideas of Stirling, Harthill, etc. are clearly daft).

 

Although club rugby and even pro-team crowds are meagre, internationals generally outstrip football.

Edited April 26, 2016 by HibeeJibee

[bridge of allan bairn]

And dead near to Bridge of Allan.Clearly, your main concern is the greater good.

I wondered when someone would notice that. To be fair even when I lived in Glasgow I felt the same way

[harry94]

Would this combined football / rugby stadium have been in Edinburgh or Glasgow? You've hit your first hurdle. (Ideas of Stirling, Harthill, etc. are clearly daft).

 

Although club rugby and even pro-team crowds are meagre, internationals generally outstrip football.

 

I also think that we've been put to shame by other countries ability at this. We could have joint our resources and built a really good facility. Even as it is, Murrayfield is pretty close to being a very good football stadium and if at renovation this was taken into account, it wouldn't have been that difficult to make some simple structural changes which would have it suited for both sports.

 

What's the problem with each potential location?

 

In terms of Glasgow V Edinburgh, I don't really see this as much of an issue. If parties agree with the general principle of a joint national stadium and government money is pledged for this purpose (which I think would have been popular with politicians since they are making money go a tad further), there would be pressure to agree on that.

 

What about the alternative 'clearly daft' locations? In areas like Bannockburn where travel times are under an hour to the centre of Glasgow, centre of Edinburgh and around an hour to the centre of Dundee, combined with motorway access and on the rail network, what would be the massive downside to this?

[Burnie_man]

What about the alternative 'clearly daft' locations? In areas like Bannockburn where travel times are under an hour to the centre of Glasgow, centre of Edinburgh and around an hour to the centre of Dundee, combined with motorway access and on the rail network, what would be the massive downside to this?

 

In the middle of nowhere, plus massive traffic jams getting in/out of the car parks.

 

Like it or not, football and rugby fans want to drink in pubs pre and post match, grab a chippy, walk to the stadium if they can.  None of that is possible if its plonked in a field near Stirling.

[harry94]

In the middle of nowhere, plus massive traffic jams getting in/out of the car parks.

 

Like it or not, football and rugby fans want to drink in pubs pre and post match, grab a chippy, walk to the stadium if they can.  None of that is possible if its plonked in a field near Stirling.

 

Facilities would inevitably pop up though to match the supply for food and drink.

 

When I was over in Dortmund for the Scotland game a couple of years back, I was pretty impressed with what was on offer in the actual stadium itself. There was what felt like a massive fan area which we were stewarded into without charge and drink supply was plentiful and very efficient. This was a permanent facility but there were other more temporary arrangements in place and several more areas that were serving (as well as inside the ground).

 

Permanent structures aren't necessary. I'm sure that events at Wembley are often accompanied with fan zones like I've described. There are plenty of ways to accommodate this and there is financial incentive to do so, it's likely that it'll be sorted one way or another.

 

With regards to the traffic situation, I think you'll find that if you're actually building a stadium with this in mind and have a motorway available, you'll see intelligent design. There are some very big stadiums that do very well in this regard (Reebok at Bolton is one example to think of). You're going to have a wait to get out but it'll be straight onto a motorway and on the way home. Hampden is an atrocious ground to get to and from by car.

[SpoonTon]

Facilities would inevitably pop up though to match the supply for food and drink.

 

When I was over in Dortmund for the Scotland game a couple of years back, I was pretty impressed with what was on offer in the actual stadium itself. There was what felt like a massive fan area which we were stewarded into without charge and drink supply was plentiful and very efficient. This was a permanent facility but there were other more temporary arrangements in place and several more areas that were serving (as well as inside the ground).

 

Permanent structures aren't necessary. I'm sure that events at Wembley are often accompanied with fan zones like I've described. There are plenty of ways to accommodate this and there is financial incentive to do so, it's likely that it'll be sorted one way or another.

 

With regards to the traffic situation, I think you'll find that if you're actually building a stadium with this in mind and have a motorway available, you'll see intelligent design. There are some very big stadiums that do very well in this regard (Reebok at Bolton is one example to think of). You're going to have a wait to get out but it'll be straight onto a motorway and on the way home. Hampden is an atrocious ground to get to and from by car.

 

How would you sort out any sort of suitable public transport to the stadium? 

[effeffsee_the2nd]

extra trains, large parking area for supporters busses, shuttle buses from nearest train station(s) and town centres.  still no rocket science involved

[SpoonTon]

extra trains, large parking area for supporters busses, shuttle buses from nearest train station(s) and town centres. still no rocket science involved

That's a pretty shitty arrangement. Especially for away fans.

[banana]

Build Nu Hampden on a giant sea-faring barge that can be located/reached anywhere on the coast. Problem solved.

[Hampden Diehard]

I was going by this:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4462407.stm

 

 

Adding the first phase £12M and second phase £59M quoted here comes to £71M:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampden_Park#Redevelopment

The original £12m was clocked up nearly ten years before the recent rejig and replaced the terracing.  Harsh to add the two together.

[Hampden Diehard]

The views from behind the goals at Hampden are terrible. Tool my kids to the Scottish cup final last year and my kids couldn't even tell who the players were. ..simply not good enough. It should be near Stirling as it has great motorway and rail links and is fairer and more central for everyone . Less than an hour from Glasgow Edinburgh Perth and Dundee and closer for Aberdeen and Inverness

Yip, that old chestnut.  Can you see Stirling railway station coping with tens of thousands of fitba fans......and then transporting them to wherever the ground is?  And is the motorway link better than Glasgow's?  Again, you will be punting tens of thousands of people in thousands of cars and buses to wherever they build the ground - it won't be adjacent to the motorway.  Think T in the Park and the utter shambles that is.  One of Hampden's pluses is that there are lots of different ways to get near there.  That won't be the case if a ground is built in a field near Stirling.

 

The bottom line is, it's a nightmare to get away from ANY ground when there is a crowd of 50,000 or more.  Everyone wants to leave at the same time.

 

On the views at Hampden, fair enough.  But have you seen the plans for redevelopment at Barca?  Binoculars required for that!

[Hampden Diehard]

That's a pretty shitty arrangement. Especially for away fans.

Actually it works well at the likes of Moenchengladbach, but then the Germans actually want to contribute to the enjoyment of the day.

[Burnie_man]

Facilities would inevitably pop up though to match the supply for food and drink.

 

When I was over in Dortmund for the Scotland game a couple of years back, I was pretty impressed with what was on offer in the actual stadium itself. There was what felt like a massive fan area which we were stewarded into without charge and drink supply was plentiful and very efficient. This was a permanent facility but there were other more temporary arrangements in place and several more areas that were serving (as well as inside the ground).

 

Permanent structures aren't necessary. I'm sure that events at Wembley are often accompanied with fan zones like I've described. There are plenty of ways to accommodate this and there is financial incentive to do so, it's likely that it'll be sorted one way or another.

 

With regards to the traffic situation, I think you'll find that if you're actually building a stadium with this in mind and have a motorway available, you'll see intelligent design. There are some very big stadiums that do very well in this regard (Reebok at Bolton is one example to think of). You're going to have a wait to get out but it'll be straight onto a motorway and on the way home. Hampden is an atrocious ground to get to and from by car.

 

I’ve been to Dortmund twice for Scotland games, it’s a short metro ride from the city centre, it’s not in a field in the middle of nowhere. The majority of Scotland fans drank in the town centre before heading out to the stadium, the temporary facilities that popped up near the stadium struggled to cope with the few fans that decided to head there early for a drink (out of a plastic cup). It can’t be used as an example of how an out of town stadium can work.

 

Did you go to Faro for the Gibraltar game? Now there was a stadium in the middle of nowhere. Nice and convenient if you arrived via the motorway, but 7 miles out of Faro centre and fans had to organise buses to get them there and back. A small fanzone that was overwhelmed and couldn’t cope (hour long queues), and no alternatives. That was with 12,000 fans, imagine trying to cater for 50,000!

 

Wait till you get to Malta, another stadium in the middle of nowhere, at least it’s only a 25 minute taxi ride to get to the stadium from most areas (if the roads are quiet……….)

 

It’s not going to happen anyway, the cost of a new build stadium with added alterations to road and rail infrastructure to accommodate would be astronomical.

 

As much as Hampden has its flaws, it can be redeveloped into a modern arena for much less outlay and the majority of football fans will be content with that, or as has been suggested, bite the bullet and use Murrayfield, with a little renovation it would be a great arena for football (might not be as popular).

Edited April 27, 2016 by Burnie_man

[SpoonTon]

Knock Hampden down and rebuild it. Absolutely dreadful stadium.

A few folk have mentioned Murrayfield. It's a cracking stadium, but it would possibly look even worse having our football team playing there, given the usual three quarters empty Hampden attendances for internationals.

Lastly, seen someone on this thread suggest Hampden is better located and has better transport links than Wembley or The Millenium Stadium. This is utter bollocks.

 

 

When has Hampden ever been three quarters empty for an international?

[thisGRAEME]

Hampden isn't perfect, but there's what, four train stations within 20 minutes or so? About a million bus routes to the city centre? The transport links stuff is nonsense, peddled by savages from the north that don't understand a timetable.

[banana]

peddled by savages from the north that don't understand a timetable.

 

 

It's also fairly walkable to the city centre, an option for afternoon games at least.

[Arch Stanton]

When has Hampden ever been three quarters empty for an international?

Ever you ask? Fewer than 8000 for a Home International against N.Ireland in the late 60s despite Denis Law playing for us and George Best for them.

 

Capacity at the time was still around 150,000

[Sergeant Wilson]

It's also fairly walkable to the city centre, an option for afternoon games at least.

It's the same distance at night.

[banana]

It's the same distance at night.

 

Agreed