Hampden Park once squeezed in nearly 150,000 fans, plus thousands without tickets
In 1937, 149,415 people officially paid to watch Scotland play England at Hampden Park in Glasgow, still Europe's biggest crowd for an international match. At least 20,000 more got in without tickets. From 1903 until Brazil's Maracanã opened in 1950, Hampden was the largest stadium on the planet.
Three grounds have carried the name. Queen's Park, Scotland's oldest football club, first played at a Hampden Park in 1873, a field overlooked by a terrace named after John Hampden, a Roundhead of the English Civil War; it staged the first Scottish Cup Final in 1874. A railway line forced a move 150 yards away in 1884, and when landlords refused more land, the club bought 12 acres on Somerville Drive in 1899. While the new ground rose, wooden terracing collapsed at Ibrox, so Hampden's banks were set firmly into the earth.
The current stadium opened on 31 October 1903, with Queen's Park beating Celtic 1 to 0. Crowds swelled rapidly for England visits, and records kept falling through the 1930s. After Glasgow's council raised safety worries in 1935, Queen's Park outbid Rangers to expand at its own cost in return for hosting the England fixture and the Cup Final. Theoretical capacity reached 183,388 in 1937, though only 150,000 tickets could be sold. A week after that England game, the Celtic against Aberdeen cup final drew 147,365, a club-match world benchmark until 1963.
Not every big day went smoothly. When the 1909 Old Firm cup final replay also ended level, fans who expected extra time rioted, the trophy was withheld, and the final briefly left Hampden. When Real Madrid met Eintracht Frankfurt there for the 1960 European Cup final, 127,621 watched, still the tournament's highest final attendance.
Safety rules cut capacity to 81,000 in 1977, and a full rebuild finished in 1999. Owned by the Scottish Football Association, which has offices there, Hampden has hosted six European finals, football at the 2012 Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and Euro 2020 matches, with Euro 2028 games to come.
Source: Hampden Park
