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Bringing the ends closer to pitch at Hampden ?


Haggis_trap

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Bringing the ends in at Hampden could make a huge difference to the atmosphere. 
Even better would be a giant safe standing section behind one of the goals.
With the SFA now owning Hampden then there might be a chance of it happening at some point in future?
The sun now suggesting this might happen sometime in near future.

Hampden is a funny ground.  Its looking much smarter these days - when even 2/3rds full it can always feel like an empty expanse. 
On other hand when the stadium is full, under the lights, it has still got the old magic - can feel the history of the place. 
Atmosphere at Hampden for the qualifiers against Italy or France back in 2007 one of the best I have ever seen in a football ground anywhere.
Though its not like that very often! 

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/7679611/hampden-revamped-world-cup-bid-maxwell/

Edited by Haggis_trap
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2 minutes ago, Scot1 said:

I think we should be looking at building a new stadium. 

A new stadium in central location (Stirling) was often suggested.  I can see merit in that.

Though with SFA recently buying Hampden that option off table - though arguably that was always going to be outcome. The threat to move Scotland games to Murrayfield / Parkhead etc was always a bargaining tactic rather than realistic.

Despite its flaws I like Hampden :

- 130 years of history. One of world's oldest stadiums. Iconic.

- City centre location. new grounds tend to be sterile out of town affairs 

- M74 has improved access massively

- Ground looking much smarter following recent renovation

The one obvious flaw is the distance east / west stands are behind the goal.  If that was fixed it could become a great ground again.

 

 

 

 

 

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56 minutes ago, Haggis_trap said:

i.e funding only available if UK world cup bid successful

I think that's a given. And at would be needed. As much as I like Hampden, it was looking pretty antiquated at the Euros compared with most of the other venues.

Regarding an upgrade, the same much discussed problems remain. Bringing the ends closer to the pitch would either seriously reduce the capacity or require two enormous stands. But the biggest problem is probably the lack of scope to develop the North Stand without demolishing housing on Somerville Drive.

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1 hour ago, Toepoke said:

I think that's a given. And at would be needed. As much as I like Hampden, it was looking pretty antiquated at the Euros compared with most of the other venues.

Regarding an upgrade, the same much discussed problems remain. Bringing the ends closer to the pitch would either seriously reduce the capacity or require two enormous stands. But the biggest problem is probably the lack of scope to develop the North Stand without demolishing housing on Somerville Drive.

I'd imagine the option mentioned before was to lower pitch level by a way and moving the West and East Stands right in to behind the goals. With the lowering of the pitch it would allow for bigger stands to be built with more rows. I do not see what is stopping a complete rebuild of the South Stand too as it is only car park space behind it.

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21 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I'd imagine the option mentioned before was to lower pitch level by a way and moving the West and East Stands right in to behind the goals. With the lowering of the pitch it would allow for bigger stands to be built with more rows. I do not see what is stopping a complete rebuild of the South Stand too as it is only car park space behind it.

I’m pretty sure lowering the pitch has been ruled out or at least been deemed very difficult as there is an underground burn running under the stadium or something. I could be completely wrong but something rings a bell. 

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5 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

I’m pretty sure lowering the pitch has been ruled out or at least been deemed very difficult as there is an underground burn running under the stadium or something. I could be completely wrong but something rings a bell. 

Correct, the Malls Mire burn.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toryglen

I suppose if money was being thrown at the project it could be diverted but it would be another expensive obstacle to redevelopment. 

 

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31 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said:

I do not see what is stopping a complete rebuild of the South Stand too as it is only car park space behind it.

That would've been the best option to have done in the 90s rather than utilising the existing footprint. Given the amount spent on the South Stand so recently it seems crazy to undertake a rebuild of it. It's a massive structure with all the facilities included within as well.

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11 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

Correct, the Malls Mire burn.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toryglen

I suppose if money was being thrown at the project it could be diverted but it would be another expensive obstacle to redevelopment. 

 

Thanks, I was sure I had heard that before. 

Anything is possible but it seems like a huge, expensive project. Also depends how deep underground it is I suppose. 

Edited by Texas Pete
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12 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

I think that's a given. And at would be needed. As much as I like Hampden, it was looking pretty antiquated at the Euros compared with most of the other venues.

Regarding an upgrade, the same much discussed problems remain. Bringing the ends closer to the pitch would either seriously reduce the capacity or require two enormous stands. But the biggest problem is probably the lack of scope to develop the North Stand without demolishing housing on Somerville Drive.

Bring the goals closer to the stands that would be fun. Who cares about the size of the pitch and an oval one would bring a whole new dimension to the game

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4 hours ago, Haggis_trap said:

A new stadium in central location (Stirling) was often suggested.  I can see merit in that.

Though with SFA recently buying Hampden that option off table - though arguably that was always going to be outcome. The threat to move Scotland games to Murrayfield / Parkhead etc was always a bargaining tactic rather than realistic.

Despite its flaws I like Hampden :

- 130 years of history. One of world's oldest stadiums. Iconic.

- City centre location. new grounds tend to be sterile out of town affairs 

- M74 has improved access massively

- Ground looking much smarter following recent renovation

The one obvious flaw is the distance east / west stands are behind the goal.  If that was fixed it could become a great ground again.

 

 

 

 

 

Always laugh at Stirling. It couldn't handle 50k football fans.  Anyone that's ever been there could tell you that.

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1 hour ago, aaid said:

If Hampden were to be redeveloped then Stuttgart would be the way to go.

Either way though, I can’t see anyway that there would be funding available to take on such a project. 

The Stuttgart remodelling was a thing of beauty. It'd be amazing if that could be replicated in Glasgow. It would certainly maintain the character of the stadium more than Wembley did...

 

Edited by Toepoke
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41 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

The Stuttgart remodelling was a thing of beauty. It'd be amazing if that could be replicated in Glasgow. It would certainly maintain the character of the stadium more than Wembley did...

 

It’s pretty clear from Maxwell’s comments that Stuttgart has peaked his interest. The current South Stand is great so I think redevelopment of the two ends would be fine. It might be nice in the distant future to do something similar to the south on the North Stand, so hopefully they’d make the ends compatible with such an upgrade. 

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53 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

The Stuttgart remodelling was a thing of beauty. It'd be amazing if that could be replicated in Glasgow. It would certainly maintain the character of the stadium more than Wembley did...

 

That's a great piece of footage.  I've never seen that before but you can immediately see that it would a lot more difficult at Hampden.  When the West and East Stands were built they essentially just bolted seats onto the existing terracing.  More complicated than that I know but that the reason for the poor sightlines.  At Stuttgart, it looks like the roof supports are at ground level, hence they were able to keep the existing roof in place during construction.   At Hampden the roof will be anchored on the back wall.   So you'd need to remove tonnes and tonnes of earth - the original Hampden Terraces and we know how big they were and then have to build a new roof - which you'd have to do anyway as it doesn't extend far enough towards the pitch.

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Compared to most of the other stadia used at the Euros, Hampden is an embarrassment in its present condition.  Bringing the ends in would be great, but what can be done with the north stand considering how close the houses are?  Looking at the old pic, was there a bit lopped off the top of the terracing there as well when the old north stand was demolished? The east terracing was certainly reduced.  They should've had the foresight to bulldoze it and start again rather than go for the cheapest option.

Glasgow City Council demand Hampden remains National Stadium in letter to  SFA - Daily Record

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45 minutes ago, daviebee said:

Compared to most of the other stadia used at the Euros, Hampden is an embarrassment in its present condition.  Bringing the ends in would be great, but what can be done with the north stand considering how close the houses are?  Looking at the old pic, was there a bit lopped off the top of the terracing there as well when the old north stand was demolished? The east terracing was certainly reduced.  They should've had the foresight to bulldoze it and start again rather than go for the cheapest option.

Glasgow City Council demand Hampden remains National Stadium in letter to  SFA - Daily Record

Thatcher refused to provide any government funding so they’d no option other that to go down the route they did. 

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43 minutes ago, daviebee said:

Looking at the old pic, was there a bit lopped off the top of the terracing there as well when the old north stand was demolished? The east terracing was certainly reduced.  They should've had the foresight to bulldoze it and start again rather than go for the cheapest option.

Glasgow City Council demand Hampden remains National Stadium in letter to  SFA - Daily Record

Yes the East Terrace used to have a bigger capacity than the West due to the extra bank at the back. Probably the main reason why it didn't have a roof built over it in the 60s...

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTp-mZ_1f4HEqUslZqiQfa

 

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1 hour ago, aaid said:

Thatcher refused to provide any government funding so they’d no option other that to go down the route they did. 

To give Maggie some credit I think she was ok with the investment at first. The alleged story is that Rangers chairman Rae Simpson bent the ear of a Scottish Office minister at a Jim Watt fight in Ibrox, saying that there was no need to waste public money on Hampden when Ibrox was being redeveloped and able to host games instead. 

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On 9/10/2021 at 4:52 PM, daviebee said:

Compared to most of the other stadia used at the Euros, Hampden is an embarrassment in its present condition. 

Hampden is a UEFA rated 5-Star stadium.

 

Because of the distance between the fans and the pitch, it's not what many would like it to be, but Hampden is certainly NOT a sh*t stadium.

 

There are numerous stadiums across Europe the same shape as Hampden... Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Belgrade, Seville, Moscow, etc...

 

I suggest we keep the South Stand and build everything around that.

Move the pitch and the North, East and West Stands closer to the South Stand.

 

One more thing; all the money is in the South Stand. The expense is always in a main stand.

The North, East and West stands are fairly basic structures. Fairly easy to replace and surely not a expensive as replacing the South Stand.

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3 hours ago, Rich NATA said:

I suggest we keep the South Stand and build everything around that.

Move the pitch and the North, East and West Stands closer to the South Stand.

One more thing; all the money is in the South Stand. The expense is always in a main stand.

The North, East and West stands are fairly basic structures. Fairly easy to replace and surely not a expensive as replacing the South Stand.

Great idea 👍. The other 3 sides should be built steeper to enhance the atmosphere as much as possible. 

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