When the first Hampden was knocked down (which I'll touch on later), a second site was bought and developed by Queen's Park and opened in 1884. In 1903, Queen's Park had moved to their third site, which is the ground currently known as Hampden Park. Third Lanark A.C. took the ground over and renamed it Cathkin Park. They played there until 1967, when the club went under. Over the years, the decaying body of the ground was removed, however a large part of the terracing still remains in what has now been made into a public park. The pitch itself is still in use, a reformed amateur Third Lanark side used the pitch for a couple of seasons but seemed to have disappeared and a side called Hampden AFC play some home games in the Glasgow Colleges FA League there.
It's also become home for the Jimmy Johnstone Academy, who have use of a clubhouse on site. It was one of their teams who were playing when I headed up the steps and onto the back of the terracing around the ground.
It was a surreal experience wandering around the place, looking around at the old terraces and being able to perch on a crash barrier with all the trees and wildlife around you. It was strange to think that you were once surrounded by large stands and structures that were no longer in place.
Once the game going on had finished, I wandered down onto the pitch to have a walk across and take in the view pitch-side. The large empty gap along one side where the main stand used to be added to the strangeness of the view. It was a bit spooky wandering around, but also a great thrill to see such a huge piece of football history still in place. Even bits of the track around the edge of the pitch were still visible underneath your feet.
Whilst I was wandering around the terracing, I was beckoned by one of the fellas who'd been organising the game. Both sides had vacated the clubhouse and dressing rooms, so, noticing that I was wandering around looking at the history of the place, he took me into the clubhouse to have a look around. There was another bloke from the academy in there as well and the two of them took the time to show me various things and have a chat about the club and football in general.
Once that was done, it was a quick hop up the road to the site of the first Hampden Park. Queen's Park vacated the ground in 1883 as the Glasgow City Corporation decided that the new Cathcart railway line should pass through the site. What is left of the site is marked by Hampden Bowling Club, which is handily placed for you to nosey at from the bridge over the railway line.
Once I'd been there I headed for the next stop, Lesser Hampden, a small ground in the shadow of Hampden Park. Recently done up for the Commonwealth Games, the ground is used by Queen's Park for training and youth/academy games. Their clubhouse (branded a bistro...) is in there overlooking the pitch, so I wandered up there, had a pint and watched two of their youth teams playing Dundee FC on the pitch.
Once that was done, I walked over for the main game of the day - Queen's Park v Annan Athletic at Hampden Park in Scottish League 2.
It's strange to think that Queen's Park themselves own the ground and lease it out to the Scottish FA for Finals and Internationals, as well as leasing office space and so on. It was the first time I'd been to the ground and it was hard to imagine the chaos there may be on large match days when there's less than a thousand people knocking around.
The match itself wasn't the best, with Queen's Park 2-0 up at halftime the game was over as a contest and the second half was a tad pedestrian. The crowd was 462, spread across 5 blocks, 4 of which were open, one of them separated from the rest by the unused press area in the centre of the main stand. A few people were in a directors' section at the back, but most were out in the open, leaving three quarters of a 52,000 seater stadium completely unused. Some of the taping off of blocks seemed a bit draconian,but then again it was G4S providing the security, which seemed very OTT for me, but I suppose it's a drawback to playing in a ground such as Hampden.
Queen's Park are completely amateur and staffed, in the main at least, by volunteers. A small club shop on the concourse did a decent trade and the home supporters were a decent, knowledgeable lot who did quite a bit to encourage the team in front of them. Annan didn't bring that many with them, but there was a group of meddlesome kids at the back acting like you'd expect young teenagers on an away trip to act. Pity about the drum, mind, lads.
By the time the final whistle came around I'd retreated to the back of the stand to avoid the rain and wind that was blowing into the front of the stand. A quick dart to the nearby Mount Florida railway station and I was soon back at Glasgow Central and jumping on a train back home. It was a good day out and I'm glad I did it. I'd be tempted to go back to Hampden for a big game, just to be able to fully compare the two. I'll also be eyeing up another League 2 fixture to compare and contrast the difference. And I'll certainly have another wander around Cathkin Park if I get the chance, something which I'd highly recommend to anyone who finds themselves around there with time on their hands.
Full set of photos can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8580799@N06/sets/72157651869063136/
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