First Hampden Up for Rent as Campaign to Protect Scotland's First Home Grows
Part of First Hampden in south Glasgow has been put on the market, and the campaign to safeguard it has intensified.
The listing covers the portion with the former bowling club building and lawn. It followed the closure of the bowling club tenant earlier this year. The section now advertised for rent sits about half a mile from the current Hampden Park. Scotland moved into First Hampden in 1878 as its first home. Scotland never lost there.
First Hampden was home to Queen's Park FC before it became Scotland's national ground. Queen's Park, formed in 1867 as Scotland's first senior club, operated the ground from 1873 to 1883. The club officially opened the park on 25 October 1873 with a 7-0 Scottish Cup win over Dumbreck, a week after Renton beat Kilmarnock 2-0 there in what is recorded as the first Scottish Cup match at the ground. The name Hampden comes from Hampden Terrace, the nearest block of buildings to the park. The ground hosted the first two Scottish Cup finals. In 1878 Queen's Park purchased Caledonian Cricket Club's Pavilion for the site and built grandstands, offices and turnstiles and enclosed the ground Football's Square Mile. That enclosure, like fencing a field and adding entry gates and a clubhouse, helped shape how later stadiums were built.
The ground is widely considered the world's first purpose-built international football stadium The Guardian. Season tickets, turnstiles and pavilions are thought to have originated there. Scotland played six games at the ground, winning all six, scoring 36 goals and conceding 8, including a 9-0 win over Wales. The 5-1 victory over England in 1882 is commemorated by a mural on the rear of the former Hampden Bowling Club. The mural was created by artist Ashley Rawson. Scotland's captain in that match was Andrew Watson, the first Black international footballer.
Only part of the footprint is secured. The section that survives as a small public park has protected status as a national monument, a legal tag that limits change because of historic value. The section now up for rent is not covered by that designation. A 2021 excavation by Historic Environment Scotland uncovered remains of the pavilion. The Hampden Bowling Club pavilion is thought to be the same modified structure as the original First Hampden pavilion. The footprint is one of 21 historic footballing sites in south Glasgow curated into Football's Square Mile. Queen's Park left First Hampden in May 1883 because of the new Cathcart District Railway, played for 12 months at Clydesdale's Titwood Ground, then opened Second Hampden Park in October 1884.
The campaign to save the site has been running since 2016 and now plans to turn it into a community hub and heritage space, a shared local base that explains the history. More than 700 people have backed the effort. Scottish Green MSP Holly Bruce has backed the campaign, and the Scottish Greens have called for the historic site to remain open and accessible Scottish Greens. A National Trust organisation has publicly called for Original Hampden to be saved.
The broader context here is the split nature of the asset and what that means for reuse. One parcel carries national monument protection and archaeological confirmation, the other carries a building of probable historic fabric but no statutory shield and a fresh vacancy. Campaigners fear the original ground could be turned into flats or a car park if the grounds become free for commercial use. A community hub and heritage use would keep interpretation and access together, while a commercial letting would separate them.
