In all honesty, I think this is turning into a Glasgow vs Edinburgh debate - lets just focus on our home stadium that happens to be in one of them. Murrayfield is a great venue, but it should be noted that it is the home of Scottish Rugby and I do not like the idea, after yesterday's comments from the SRU Chief Executive, of using the Scotland National Football Team to wipe off an £11m debt of another sport. Would Scottish Rugby do the same vice versa? That is their responsibility and not ours. Also, the SRU would in effect have the final say in what goes on at Murrayfield over the SFA. However, more importantly, I stress the importance of staying at Hampden for its fame in record-breaking attendances, hosting famous fixtures, one of which many regard as the greatest ever football match (1960 European Cup Final) and of course many famous memories from a Tartan Army perspective, like qualifying for the 74 World Cup, beating France 1-0 etc. Imagine, hosting the Euro 2020 matches then scrapping this famous stadium immediately afterwards? It wouldn't feel right. If the majority of supporters are for a move away, then that must be respected, but just think of the history that you would wipe away. Just like Liverpool leaving Anfield, which was proposed a few seasons ago but has since been scrapped: the story of Shankly and the Kop is an important part of that Club's history and to carelessly leave, or demolish, that stadium would be forgetting what made them famous to this day. I am for a revamped Hampden, even if it is to bring the stands closer to the goal ends of this famous ground. Hampden didn't get the funding it needed, whilst undergoing redevelopment, at a time when the Conservatives were in power at Westminster. I'm sure there are huge economic advantages and probably potential of having a revamped Hampden, even for hosting events other than football. The only regret about today's Hampden is that they didn't design a more compact ground with expansion options, whenever they got financial assistance to expand the ground as they wished. Poor design principles from the then SFA board and the architects. The Republic of Ireland, a country with a smaller population and tax revenue than Scotland, was able to contribute a quarter of funding towards the construction value of the new Landsdowne Road (Aviva Stadium), which can hold 51,000 spectators, even in difficult economic times, as well as Croke Park which has an even bigger capacity. Before I finish, the claim by the SRU Chief Executive that Scotland 'has too many' big stadiums is deceiving. Most clubs in Scotland today, respectively, built stadiums to a size they believe they can fill and would fill, if ticket prices were lower (that in itself is a different debate altogether). I do agree, however, that the smaller matches (friendlies) should go round the country, with other cities such as Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee etc. taking turns in hosting them, but for the big games (all the qualifiers) they should be played at the home of Scottish Football that is Hampden.
