Hampden Hopes

Via BBC Alba, I watched a closely-fought game between Glasgow City and Rangers recently in the Scottish Women's Premier League and those two teams, who have a league rematch this week, will also meet in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park on Sunday 25 May after weekend wins at the famous old stadium in the semi-finals.

Tickets are sure to be well-priced and a neutral section of the ground will also be in place, with an early-bird offer currently running that will give 25% off ticket prices for those registering an interest. 

A few days after the cup final, Hampden hosts Scotland Women against Austria in the Nations League on Friday 30th at 7.35pm. Tickets for that game are priced at £10 adults, £5 concessions and free for under-16's.

Hampden Road and the Road to Hampden

Hampden Road - the venue, in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, for the Montagu Cup final, the oldest football final still played at its original venue.

It's an 11am start on Easter Monday, 21 April, for AFP Pewter Pot and Westville with admission £3 and free for under-11's.

The Road to Hampden - the Women's Scottish Cup is at the semi-final stage with a Hampden Park double-header on Saturday 26 April (Glasgow City v Motherwell) and Sunday 27th (Rangers v Aberdeen).

Tickets for each game are priced at £10/£5.

Work In Progress

 

Building work ongoing at Lesser Hampden a couple of weeks ago as Queen's Park FC prepare for their move to the stadium in the new year.

Having moved rapidly through the leagues in the last couple of years, following the historic decision in 2019 to end their amateur status, top-flight football is realistically on the cards next season.

While work at Lesser Hampden has been ongoing, the club have been ground-sharing with Stenhousemuir but made a temporary return to the main Hampden Park ground at the weekend when nearly 2,000 fans from local school and community groups were part of the crowd watching a comprehensive victory over Hamilton.

Queen's Park remain at the national stadium this Saturday for an SPFL Trust Trophy tie against Montrose for which prices have been reduced to £10 for adults and £5 for concessions (65+) and under 16's.

Game Of The Week: Queen's Park v Stenhousemuir

A big year in the history of both Queen's Park FC and Hampden Park begins this coming Saturday, January 4th, with a Scottish League Two game against Stenhousemuir.

2019 has seen the members of Scotland's oldest club vote, with heavy hearts perhaps, to end their amateur status in a bid to compete on a more level playing field with both those teams around them ambitious clubs below in the Lowland League.

And if that was not momentous enough the year also saw the sale of Hampden to the Scottish FA for £5 million and a move next door to Lesser Hampden from the beginning of next season (New Year's Eve has seen news that planning permission has been granted for the development of Lesser Hampden to increase capacity to 1,700).

For the National Stadium, which came close to losing out to Murrayfield for that title, it hopefully means a revamp that makes it a better place to watch a game from with many supporters critical of the view from behind the goals and the lack of atmosphere since the change to an all-seater ground.

Hampden Park will be hosting matches at Euro 2020 with Scotland hoping to secure the last place in Group D alongside England, Croatia and the Czech Republic.

The Scots must first come through the play-offs and have home advantage against Israel in March, a game for which ticket prices have been reduced.

Before then, and with no competition from Scottish Premier League matches this Saturday, Queen's Park have a special admission offer...

Can you believe this? Admission prices for the @Ladbrokes SPFL2 game between @queensparkfc and @StenhousemuirFC on January 4 @Hampdenpark have been slashed to just £5. #FiverFootball Check it out - https://t.co/cCtnFYEa3N pic.twitter.com/mrE472tWDc

— Queen's Park FC (@queensparkfc) 30 December 2019

Hampden Send-Off For Scotland Women

A Hampden Park send-off for a World Cup-bound Scotland team may not bring back the greatest of memories for football fans north of the border, Ally's Tartan Army and all that, but there is sure to be a great atmosphere at the famous old ground on Tuesday 28 May when Scotland's Women take on Jamaica in their final match before France 2019.

It is inevitable that Shelley Kerr's team will be contrasted to the current woes of Scotland's Men but they deserve to be praised on their own merits for a first ever World Cup qualification and England manager Phil Neville will know that his side face a tough test in the opening game in Group D, in Nice on 9 June.

Scotland recently notched a landmark friendly win against Brazil and one early preview I have seen of this summer's tournament has them down as dark horses given the quality of players at Kerr's disposal.

Tickets for the Hampden game, which kicks-off at 7.35pm, are priced at just £5 Adults and £2 Concessions.

One other international line on the Women's game in Scotland is that the UEFA Women's Under-19 European Championship will be held north of the border between 16-28 July with matches taking place at McDiarmid Park (Perth) Forthbank Stadium (Stirling), Firhill (Glasgow), with the final taking place at St Mirren Park (Paisley).

Cup Finals For A Fiver At Hampden, Bramall Lane & Chesterfield FC

Some upcoming Cup Finals which may be of interest if you are nearby...

The SFA Youth Cup is at the silverware stage and Aberdeen and Hibernian will meet at Hampden Park on Thursday 26th at 7.30pm.

Cash admission is available on the evening and entry is priced at £5 Adults and £2 Concessions.

Bramall Lane hosts two FA finals on consecutive Sundays starting with the Sunday Cup on 29 April at 1pm.

Reigning champions Hardwick Social, of the Stockton Sunday League, are looking to retain the trophy with Gym United from the Bury St Edmunds & District Sunday League aiming to stop them.

Admission is £5 Adults and £1 for Under 16's and the same prices apply the following Sunday, 6 May, when the Inter League Cup is decided between the Amateur Football Combination and the York Football League.

Just down the road on 29 April (2pm kick-off), Chesterfield FC host the FA Women's Premier League Cup Final between Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City with admission to the Proact Stadium priced at £5 Adults (including match programme), £2.50 Concessions and £1 Children.

The same stadium will also be prominent in the FA's hosting of the UEFA Under-17 Championship this May.

Scottish FA Aims For Family Cup Final

Inverness Caledonian Thistle will take on Falkirk in the Scottish FA Cup final on 30 May, the two sides having caused semi-final upsets against Celtic and Hibernian respectively.

The prospect of a 'half-full' Hampden Park was raised by some doom and gloom merchants in the aftermath of the semi-final weekend but the match has given the Scottish FA and the two clubs the chance to work together and promote it as the 'Family Final' with prices reduced accordingly.

Concessions tickets for Under-16's, Students and Senior Citizens are just £5 with Adult tickets ranging from £15 to £30 in the hope of attracting neutrals along to the venue as well.

The Scottish Football Supporters Association have welcomed the move and both clubs say they have already had a number of enquiries from outside their normal fanbase while a family festival will be taking place at Lesser Hampden.

Inverness chairman Kenny Cameron told the BBC: "There will be a major exodus from the Highlands on the day plus we'll have supporters travelling from a range of countries. It should be a memorable occasion."

Both clubs will be confirming ticket selling arrangements shortly through their respective websites.

Reduced Prices as Queen's Park Prepare for Return To Hampden

Football returns to Scotland's National Stadium this Saturday (3rd January) after a year in which Hampden Park was transformed into one of the main venues for the successful Commonwealth Games.

For Scotland's oldest senior football club, Queen's Park, that has meant a year of groundsharing at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium but the Spiders have coped well with the upheaval and return home in the top-half of the table.

Clyde FC are the first visitors to Hampden and Queens' have reduced prices for the fixture to just £5 for adults, £1 for concessions and children free when accompanied by an adult.

Looking further ahead, Hampden hosts two League Cup semi-finals on successive days with Aberdeen meeting Dundee United on Saturday 31 January and Celtic and Rangers renewing rivalries the following days.

Following agreements between all four clubs, adult tickets are available at £25 (North, East, West Stands) and £10 for under-16's (East and West).