Sir Alex Ferguson believes Hampden's status as the venue for one of the greatest ever European Cup finals should make it a leading candidate to become a Euro 2020 host.

UEFA has announced plans to mark its 60th anniversary by staging the European Championships across the continent, and the retired Manchester United manager insists the rich history attached to the national stadium should not be ignored by the governing body's executive committee when it announces the identity of the 13 host cities on Friday.

The 52,000-capacity Glasgow stadium has staged six UEFA club competition finals, including Real Madrid's famous 7-3 victory to win the 1960 European Cup.

An 18-year-old Ferguson, who kicked-off his career at the same stadium as a Queen's Park player, was there to see the Spanish giants' mesmerising victory and said it left a lasting impression on him.

Ferguson - twice a Champions League winner with United - told the Scottish Football Association's official website: "Everyone who is involved in the decision making of this only has to look back at the six finals for a start, and each time the clubs who represented their countries in these particular games will have fond memories of it, whether it be Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Espanyol, Sevilla, St Etienne or Bayern Munich.

"All these teams who have been there will have memories in their own special way, and I think they'll all be good ones.

"I go back as a young lad to the first final at Hampden Park between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. I went along there thinking that Eintracht Frankfurt were gods. They beat Rangers in the semi-final 6-3 at Ibrox, which was unthinkable, but Real Madrid splattered them 7-3.

"The atmosphere was unbelievable, with 133,000 people there. There was a documentary recently on [Alfredo] Di Stefano where he spoke about his five finals, and he made a special reference to the people in Glasgow and the atmosphere in the stadium.

"The great point he made was two players scored seven goals - he scored a hat trick and Ferenc Puskas scored four. He makes special reference to that night. That's a great basis for thinking about how special Hampden Park is for a final."

Glasgow recently hosted the Commonwealth Games and Ferguson believes the special atmosphere generated by the city's locals is another reason why UEFA should include them in their plans.

The son of a Govan shipbuilder said: "If anyone watched the Commonwealth Games, it was a perfect example of why Glasgow still has this wonderful atmosphere, and also the friendship. There was a great slogan attached to the Commonwealth Games that said that 'People Make Glasgow', which is absolutely correct.

"Along with this great history of six finals and with that special occasion against Real Madrid in everyone's mind, I think that Glasgow can create that again."