Campaign to recognise Glasgow as the home of football kicks off
GLASGOW once had the world’s three largest football stadiums and now, nearly 150 years after Scotland beat England 5-1, Unesco Heritage hopes to get the city’s role in the creation of modern football recognised.
Campaigners want Glasgow to be recognised for creating the modern game, citing the legacy of football pioneers the Scotch Professors who travelled around the world showing people their new rules – including passing and running.
The city already boasts an outdoor “museum”, Football’s Square Mile, which contains the birthplaces of Queen’s Park, Celtic and Third Lanark, the site of Rangers’ first game, and the final resting place of several Scotch Professors as well as “First Hampden”.
The Football’s Square Mile Alliance has now been formed to push for a number of historic points in Glasgow to be recognised as being crucial to the formation of the modern game and it wants the Square Mile museum to be named a dedicated Unesco World Heritage Site.
On March 11, 1882, Scotland recorded a 5-1 victory over England in front of 15,000 spectators at the first Hampden Park, 140 years ago.
This game is immortalised in a 100ft mural on the back of the First
Hampden Pavilion at Hampden Bowling Club, which features Charles Campbell, Queen’s Park captain and future Scottish Football Association president, and Andrew Watson, the first black international player and captain.
But it is thought it will take another decade before Unesco World Heritage Status is achieved.
Football’s Square Mile Alliance consists of a growing group of organisations supporting the Unesco World Heritage Status campaign, including The Hampden Collection and the Association of Tartan Army Clubs.
Queen’s Park Football Club, Archaeology Scotland, Society for American Soccer History, Hampden Bowling Club, Glasgow Football Tour,
and Friends of Cathcart Cemetery are also involved.
The Hampden Collection, a group dedicated to the preservation of Scottish footballing heritage, has set a 10-year goal to reach Unesco World Heritage Status and aims to complete the mission by the 150th anniversary of this historic match.
Graeme Brown, founder of the Hampden Collection, said: “Next year we celebrate the 150th birthday of the Scottish Football Association, the first unified national football association on
the planet, and the 150th anniversary of the opening of the First Hampden Park.
“The First Hampden Park set the template for every football ground ever built. There are more anniversaries in the following years, including the 150th year of the Scottish Cup and the 150th anniversaries of incredible victories over our closest neighbours.
“Our mission is to celebrate these in style and ensure everyone learns about our mission to make Football’s Square Mile a Unesco World Heritage Site.”
Tom Mccabe, president of the
Society of American Soccer History, said: “Scotch Professors brought the modern game to North America in the 1870s. Scottish influencers made their mark in American soccer as players, referees, and organisers of clubs and leagues.
“We heartily support the mission to make Football’s Square Mile a Unesco World Heritage Site and the true home of world football.
“American soccer, nae global soccer, would have been a poor show had it not been for the Scotch Professors.”
Scotch Professors brought the modern game to North America in the 1870s