New plan to boost Hampden
A BLUEPRINT to rejuvenate Hampden by creating jobs and investment through a community-led football hub will be presented to the SFA on Tuesday. The board of the governing body are scheduled to decide next week on whether to remain at Hampden or move Scotland internationals and showpiece cup games to Murrayfield. Both Hampden Park Limited and the Scottish Rugby Union will present their final pitches before the SFA board make their decision. With Hampden’s future
hanging in the balance, Sportsmail understands architects Keppie Design have enlisted the support of entrepreneur Marie Macklin as part of plans to breathe new life into the home of Scottish football after the Euro 2020 finals.
Macklin, a former major shareholder in Kilmarnock FC, is currently working on the £65million regeneration of the former Johnnie Walker bottling plant in her Ayrshire hometown.
The HALO Scotland project is expected to generate 1,400 jobs and £200m for the Scottish economy.
Now the high-profile businesswoman has been asked to produce a similar proposal to save Hampden — one that will attract private and public investment to the traditional home of Scottish football. Hampden Park Ltd hope Macklin’s track record of working with government agencies and private enterprises could be key to unlocking the investment Hampden needs to survive.
Neither Macklin nor HALO Projects would comment when approached by Sportsmail. But, outlining her support for the SFA staying put at Hampden on Twitter last week, she wrote: ‘Not just about income to the SFA, though important. Let’s start talking history, teams, memories, you can’t buy that. Hampden is the beating heart of the community, creating economic value to many.’
In a letter to SFA president Alan McRae last week, Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken warned that a move away from the iconic venue would be ‘devastating’ for the local economy and create a ‘historic stain’ on Scottish football.
Neither the Scottish Government nor the city council have offered public money to improve or maintain Hampden.
However, the council are prepared to grant permission for safe-standing areas and fan zones to boost matchday experience for supporters.
The SFA want ownership of Hampden as a prerequisite of retaining Scotland internationals and showpiece cup games in Glasgow. Vice president Rod Petrie is conducting negotiations with Queen’s Park over a price.
Scotland’s oldest club want £6m to hand over the keys in the form of £3m up front and ten instalments of £300,000 and are refusing to budge. The SFA want to pay only £2m. Failure to reach agreement before Tuesday could see a decision delayed another month at least.
Murrayfield’s 67,000 capacity offers the SFA the ability to sell more tickets with none of the maintenance and overheads.
But council leader Aitken warned last week: ‘The SFA have a clear moral responsibility to Mount Florida and King’s Park.
‘To abandon those communities would be devastating and to do so immediately after the last UEFA Euro 2020 match would be a tragic irony, creating a historic stain on Scottish football I believe would be impossible to erase.’