{"id":1366,"date":"2011-12-21T19:40:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-21T19:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stadiumguide.nl\/?p=1366"},"modified":"2017-03-21T21:32:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T21:32:11","slug":"hampdenpark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stadiumguide.com\/hampdenpark\/","title":{"rendered":"Hampden Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hampden<\/p>\n

Key facts<\/h3>\n

Club: Queens Park FC | Opening: 1903 | Capacity: 52,000 seats<\/p>\n

History and description<\/h3>\n

Hampden Park was built in the early 1900s the provide then top-club Queens Park with a larger home. It officially opened on the 31st of October 1903 with a match between Queens Park and Celtic (1-0).<\/p>\n

The stadium was bowl-shaped, with one covered main stand and vast terraces on all other sides. It then counted as the largest in the world and broke several attendance records.<\/p>\n

Hampden Park opened a new North Stand in 1937, and in the same year recorded its highest attendance when 149,415 fans came to see an international between Scotland and England. A week later, the Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Aberdeen drew an almost similar crowd.<\/p>\n

The official capacity of the stadium at that time amounted to 183,724, however this was limited to about 150,000 for actual matches.<\/p>\n

In 1960, Hampden Park hosted the European Cup final<\/a> between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt (7-3), which 130,000 people attended.<\/p>\n

Two years later, the stadium hosted the first ever Cup Winners’ Cup final between Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and Fiorentina (1-1), which it once again hosted in 1966 (Borussia Dortmund vs Liverpool).<\/p>\n

In 1976, Hampden Park would host another European Cup final, this time between FC Bayern and Saint-\u00c9tienne (1-0), however by then the stadium had already severely aged and lacked the facilities of many modern arenas of the time.<\/p>\n

By the 1980s, capacity had fallen to below 80,000, and serious questions were raised whether Hampden Park had a viable future. It was finally decided to extensively redevelop the stadium, which meant almost completely rebuilding.<\/p>\n

Works started in 1991 and were finally completed in 1999. The Scottish Cup Final of that year was the first match played at the new all-seater stadium.<\/p>\n

In 2002, Hampden Park hosted its first Champions League final with Real Madrid beating Bayer Leverkusen (2-1). In 2007, the stadium hosted the UEFA Cup final<\/a> between Sevilla and Espanyol (2-2).<\/p>\n

Hampden Park also serves as the Scottish national stadium, hosting all of Scotland’s home games, and is furthermore the annual venue of the Scottish Cup final. It was furthermore selected as one of the playing venues of the 2020 European Championships<\/a>, hosting three first round group games and a round of 16 match.<\/p>\n\n\n \t\t\n\t\t\t\t