Hampden Park
1990s re–development
### 1990s re–development

[thumb\|left\|250px\|Exterior of Hampden's South Stand, which was opened in 1999](/wiki/File:Hampden_Park.jpg "Hampden Park.jpg")
During the late 1970s, it became apparent that the facilities at Hampden were in need of renewal. As an amateur club, Queen's Park could not possibly fund the works, while Glasgow District Council withdrew funding and the UK Government decided not to fund it either. Queen's Park considered selling Hampden, but a public appeal and minor repair work kept the stadium open during the 1980s. The riot after the [1980 Scottish Cup Final](/wiki/1980_Scottish_Cup_Final "1980 Scottish Cup Final") prompted reforms, as alcohol was banned from football stadia in Scotland.

The first phase of the redevelopment involved the demolition of the North Stand, the concreting of all terraces and the building of a block of turnstiles around the upper section of the East Terrace. This work, begun in October 1981 and completed in 1986, reduced the capacity to 74,370 and cost £3 million. A second phase had been planned to begin in 1988, but the release of the [Taylor Report](/wiki/Taylor_Report "Taylor Report") caused the plans to be redrawn and the proposed costs escalated to £25 million. Scotland hosted the [1989 FIFA Under\-16 World Cup](/wiki/1989_FIFA_U-16_World_Championship "1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship"), with the [Scots](/wiki/Scotland_national_under-17_football_team "Scotland national under-17 football team") contesting the final against [Saudi Arabia](/wiki/Saudi_Arabia_national_under-17_football_team "Saudi Arabia national under-17 football team") at Hampden. In 1987, the [square goalposts](/wiki/Hampden_Park_square_goalposts "Hampden Park square goalposts") that had been used since the stadium opened were banned by FIFA.

After the cancellation of the annual Scotland v England fixture in 1989, questions were raised as to whether Scottish football required a separate national stadium. Rangers proposed Ibrox as an alternative venue, while [Murrayfield](/wiki/Murrayfield_Stadium "Murrayfield Stadium") was about to be redeveloped without public funding. None of these arguments impressed the National Stadium committee, which consisted of the SFA, [Scottish Football League](/wiki/Scottish_Football_League "Scottish Football League") and Queen's Park. The West Terrace was converted to seating in 1991 for only £700,000, but this left two terraces and therefore disqualified Hampden from hosting [FIFA World Cup qualification](/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup_qualification "FIFA World Cup qualification") matches.

The UK Government eventually provided a grant of £3\.5 million in 1992, which allowed work to begin on a £12 million project to convert Hampden into an [all\-seater stadium](/wiki/All-seater_stadium "All-seater stadium"). The last match played in front of the sloping terraces was the [1992 Scottish League Cup Final](/wiki/1992_Scottish_League_Cup_Final "1992 Scottish League Cup Final"). Within a year, the east and north parts of the ground had been converted from terracing to seats, and the partially rebuilt Hampden was re\-opened for a [friendly match](/wiki/Friendly_match "Friendly match") between Scotland and [Netherlands](/wiki/Netherlands_national_football_team "Netherlands national football team") on 23 March 1994\. It was then also used for the later stages of the [1993–94 Scottish Cup](/wiki/1993%E2%80%9394_Scottish_Cup "1993–94 Scottish Cup") competition. As the capacity of the old South Stand had been limited to 4,500, the total capacity of Hampden had been reduced to approximately 37,000\. With Celtic Park also undergoing extensive redevelopment to become all\-seater, Celtic spent the 1994–95 season groundsharing at Hampden, at a cost of £500,000 rent.

The final stage of the renovation began in November 1997, with its £59 million cost funded by the [National Lottery](/wiki/National_Lottery_%28United_Kingdom%29 "National Lottery (United Kingdom)"). There was a cost overrun and a fraud squad investigated alleged financial irregularities. The South Stand was replaced and the stadium was re\-opened for the [1999 Scottish Cup Final](/wiki/1999_Scottish_Cup_Final "1999 Scottish Cup Final"). The ground now has a capacity of . Queen's Park retained ownership of the ground, with the SFA holding a lease that ran until 2020\.


What other stadiums in Scotland were redeveloped around the same time as Hampden?