DARK BLUEPRINT
Petrie insists revamp of Hampden will proceed after Euros as SFA eye joint UK bid to host 2030 World Cup
PRESIDENT Rod Petrie insists the redevelopment of Hampden remains high on the SFA’s agenda and will be tied in with the proposed joint UK and Irish bid to host the 2030 World Cup. The governing body are set to take full ownership of the national stadium next August after striking a £5million purchase agreement with Queen’s Park that was part-funded by businessmen Lord Willie Haughey and Sir Tom Hunter.
The stadium will first host four Euro 2020 finals matches next summer and Petrie maintains the improvements undertaken for that tournament will not be the end of the Hampden project.
Speaking in Nicosia yesterday before Scotland’s 2-1 qualifying win in Cyprus, Petrie insists the World Cup bid — which will see Scotland join forces with England, Wales, Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland with the aim to stage the centennial tournament — offers a golden chance to bring the stadium to world-class standard.
‘Hampden will be European class next summer in time for Euro 2020 and we are in discussions with the other home associations regarding a World Cup 2030 bid.
‘That gives us a ten-year timeline in terms of Hampden, potentially, hosting World Cup finals matches.
‘We would all want a stadium that is appropriate to the premier competition in the world.
‘A lot of work needs to be done. We take over the stadium in August next year and, once we have ownership, it’s a bit of a game-changer.
‘We have access 365 days a year and we can do the sort of things people do at other stadiums and enhance the revenue of Scottish football.
‘We are not sitting here with a grand plan as it were but there are people working to produce the right vision for Hampden going forward. Being part of World Cup 2030 is a big incentive and target to aim for.’
Petrie concedes that while the Glasgow ground has been deemed worthy of host city status by UEFA, it offers a poor spectator experience in many of its 52,000 seats.
Having helped oversee the revamp of Easter Road during his tenure as the figurehead of the Hibs board, Petrie insists he is aware of the ambivalence felt towards Hampden by many supporters.
‘I’m not sitting here saying it’s perfect,’ he said. ‘We might wish it was different but decisions in the past have delivered what it is.
‘We have been putting in the big screens, sky boxes and digital turnstile access to ensure the stadium competes with the 11 other that have been chosen for Euro 2020.
‘We are very well aware that the stadium does not score very highly in terms of supporter experience.
‘Part of the reason is the 21 degree rake as opposed to 34 degree rake at Easter Road or Tynecastle, stadia that score much higher in terms of supporter satisfaction.
‘You need to have a stadium that’s atmospheric when it’s not full but is really going to rock when it’s full. That’s the challenge for us.
‘An empty stadium is really no use to anybody.’
Finance is the obvious obstacle to this proposed field of dreams.
While Haughey and Hunter have been generous to this point, Petrie admits the SFA board will need to be proactive in generating its own fresh revenue streams.
‘There was a long process in terms of deciding on whether to stay at Hampden or hire Murrayfield and we made a decision that I think has been widely seen as the right thing.
‘You have to look at the creativity of the people on the board which was very strong that the Hampden option had to be a game-changer.
‘Continuing to operate the way we have been for the next 20 years was an easy tick of the pen but I was around in 1999/2000 when the monies were required from the Millennium Commission and I was surprised at that point there wasn’t a change of the structure because it was obvious that was needed.
‘We’ve now got that change so we need to see what we can do, obviously generating money from qualification and doing great things on the football field would be a strong contributor to that but we need to be more creative and see if there are other ways to bring funding.’
Much will hinge on the viability of the World Cup bid.
The home nations hope that their pitch will be strong enough to make it the sole UEFA nominee.
A strong South American bid from Argentina and Uruguay, the latter country having hosted the first tournament back in 1930, has already been announced, while Morocco want to take the tournament to Africa for only the second time.
Petrie flew into Larnaca on Friday evening after attending a UEFA summit and, although he remains reluctant to raise his notoriously low profile, he is determined to exert quiet influence at Hampden.
While his immediate predecessors Alan McRae and Campbell Ogilvie both seemed content to treat the presidential position as ceremonial, Petrie promises to bring more substance to the role.
He’s ready to sink his teeth into the effort to bring the World Cup to Scotland.
‘It’s early stages, so don’t get carried away,’ added Petrie. ‘It’s only just been decided that they are going to make that decision in 2024.
‘That leaves only six years, so it’s more likely to go towards countries that have well-developed infrastructure and are able to turn it around quite quickly.
‘The associations have had very constructive dialogue of what a bid might look like. England have shared their experiences in bidding for World Cup 2018, some good and some bad.
‘The job in the first instance is to make sure we’re the only option coming out of the UEFA countries.
‘Spain and Portugal are identified as potential bidders but there’s enough competitions kicking around between now and 2030 that everybody can be satisfied.’