A Hampden home fit for football heroes

By the middle of the 1880s Queen's Park could draw in 10,000 spectators to watch a 'friendly'.
Recognising that a purpose built stadia for supporters was the way ahead, plans were soon put in place for a new stadium to accommodate the huge interest the public was taking in the round ball game.
After leaving our original Hampden ground which incidentally had turnstiles at entry gates already in place - the first of its kind at any sporting venue, Queen's Park moved into an all-purpose built stadium near Crosshill in 1884.
This new venue, which retained the original name - Hampden Park (later this was to become home to Third Lanark and its name was changed to Cathkin Park) remained a major sporting venue for nearly 20 years.
As popularity in the game took immense strides, Queen's Park members' thoughts turned once again towards accommodating a public turning out in great numbers to watch the game.
By 1900 plans were put in place, starting with the purchase of 12 acres of farmland at Mount Florida. The intention was to build a brand new stadium that would offer comfortable surroundings in a pleasant environment. This, the present day Hampden Park, was finally completed three years later and officially opened on October 31, 1903.
More innovations followed - a press box in 1906 and, towards the end of the 1920s, crush barriers had been introduced as well as a tannoy system and a car park outside the ground.
Other firsts followed including the world's first all-ticket match - a game against the 'Auld Enemy' in 1937.
Our magnificent home ground still hosts Scotland internationals, and is still selected by European football's ruling bodies to stage their showpiece games.
Contrary to popular myth, Queen's Park still own Hampden, although its day-to-day running is carried out by a separate umbrella body. And, pop concerts and European finals excepting, Queen's still play their home games at the national stadium.
The club's plans took another step forward with the next stage of the Lesser Hampden development. The grass was replaced with a state-of-the art astroturf surface, allowing more of our teams to train there, and giving us a better platform to develop our blossoming links with schools football.