STANDING areas for spectators are set to return to Hampden under plans aimed at saving the stadium as the home of Scottish football.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is due to make a decision this month on whether to stay at Hampden or move Scotland matches and cup finals to the Scottish Rugby Union’s Murrayfield stadium.
As football’s bosses make their minds up, Susan Aitken, the leader of Glasgow City Council, has written to the SFA president with a series of suggestions for improvement and reasons why Hampden should be the winner.
She said that if the stadium owners were to make a valid application for safe standing areas, there would be “no obvious barriers” to it being given the go-ahead by the council.
Fans complain the view from behind the goals in the east and west stands is poor and the stadium lacks atmosphere.
If the suggestion was taken up, it could see thousands of fans standing for Scotland internationals and for domestic cup finals and the semi-finals.
Ms Aitken has sought to address concerns of fans whose match-day experience has not been positive with the behind the goal areas a common complaint.
In a survey of supporters, it was found that 40 per cent said the experience was bad or very bad.
She said: “A regular discussion point about Hampden is the capacity to enhance the fan experience, particularly the sight lines at the east and west ends of the stadium.”
Ms Aitken said that she did not believe that significant structural change was the only way to resolve the criticisms.
She added: “One of the most significant developments in fan experience in recent years has been pioneered in Glasgow, with Celtic Park successfully operating a safe standing area for the past two seasons.
“Interest in whether a similar scheme would appeal to other clubs and fans has not been limited to our other clubs in the city.
“Indeed there has been correspondence from local authorities and senior clubs from across the UK, seeking more information about how we have facilitated safe standing in the city.”
Ms Aitken gave encouragement to a bid for safe standing and the council has already given permission for Celtic’s safe standing area, occupied by the Green Brigade fans group.
She said “Were an application for a standing area at Hampden submitted to Glasgow City Council, providing it met all the relevant safety, stewarding and accessibility criteria, there would be no obvious barriers to the bid being approved by the authority.”
Celtic Park is currently the only stadium in Scotland with a safe standing area, with 2,600 rail seats which allow standing and then seats when required for European matches.
There are no safe standing areas in England, where it is prohibited following the Taylor report into the Hillsborough disaster.
If applied for and approved, it could mean a return to thousands of fans standing behind the goals at one or both ends of Hampden.
The SFA board will meet next week to discuss a bid by Hampden Park to retain its national stadium status and by the Scottish Rugby Union for a deal to host matches at Murrayfield.
Ms Aitken also said that Fan Zones could be introduced to improve the match-day experience.
She added: “Fan Zones are a growing part of the footballing landscape and will be a key aspect of the fan experience for Euro 2020.
“This move towards providing a family-focused platform for improving the match-day experience is broadly welcomed by the council.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel