Perhaps the greatest irony in the history of Scottish football is that the National Stadium was named after an Englishman. John Hampden was born in 1594. He served as a Westminster politician and in 1643 was killed whilst fighting for the parliamentary side during the English Civil War. The street overlooking the first piece of ground on which Queen’s Park played football was named Hampden Terrace in honour of the famous Englishman. This area of land encompasses all three Hampden Parks including the present site.

With the success of the first international in 1872 Queen’s Park began to look for a site to build their own football ground. They managed to secure an area of land across from the Recreation Ground under the shadow of Hampden Terrace. On 25th October 1873 ‘Hampden Park’ hosted Queen’s Park’s first competitive home game when the club entertained Dumbreck in the first round of the new Scottish Cup competition. The first Hampden hosted many important games; most notably the first Scottish Cup Final of 1874 and Scotland’s international match with England in 1878.

The proposed extension to the Cathcart railway in 1883 forced Queen’s Park into moving ground. A year was spent at Titwood Park, home of Clydesdale FC, before moving to their new home in October 1884. The second ground was only a short distance from the first and Queen’s remained there till 1903. Second Hampden hosted many important games including Renton FC’s ‘Championship of the World’ victory over West Bromwich Albion in 1888, and the first Scottish Cup Final involving Celtic and Rangers in 1894. In 1903 Third Lanark took over the site of the second Hampden but because of a failure to agree a fee Third Lanark rebuilt from scratch and the ground became known as New Cathkin Park. Third Lanark went out of business in 1967 and the site is now a public park with much of the football terracing still there.

By the late 1890s Second Hampden had become too small for major games. In 1903, after years of planning, the new park was completed, making it the greatest state of the art football arena in the world. Built after the Ibrox disaster of 1902 special measures were taken to ensure the safety of large crowds within the stadium. The ground was opened on 31st October 1903 when Queen’s Park defeated Celtic 1-0. During the 1920s and 30s Hampden regularly set world records for attendance, and even today it hold every major record within European football.

Over the years Hampden received many upgrades. The National Stadium now has an all seated capacity of 52,063 and has earned a five star UEFA ranking, for some of the best facilities in European football.