HERE’S a quick quiz about Hampden Park. How old is it? Don’t say: 116 years. Do say: Which one? Where did Scotland beat England 7-2 in 1878? Don’t say: Er, was it the West of Scotland Cricket Ground? Do say: Hampden Park.

Yes. Really. It’s not a secret our national stadium is the third home of Queen’s Park, the club having moved from their first 1873 ground to what would later be named Cathkin Park in 1884, before opening what was the world’s largest stadium in its current location in 1903.  The fact is acknowledged in histories of the club’s origins, for those who may choose to look. However, it’s fair to say the detail of this significant first chapter of Scotland’s football story is not that widely known, even in the club’s home city of Glasgow.

What has been a secret though, buried for more than 100 years, is where that first Hampden – the ground where Queen’s Park developed the passing game, the turf where Scotland played and won against England and Wales in a dominant seven-year period – was actually located. 

Until recently, it was assumed the original Hampden, named after a nearby terrace of housing, now lay beneath concrete or tarmac, perhaps reshaped in more modern residential form as Florida Square or Crescent. Local legend, though, whispered otherwise, and two years ago, some dogged individuals finally proved the original Hampden does still exist.

No saltire X marks the spot, no AA road sign points the way. Yet on Kingsley Avenue, in a quiet corner of Langside, a special patch of green turf and a simple wooden pavilion roof stand sentinel, monuments to 145 years of football history. The original Hampden Park – the first purpose-built international football stadium in the world – may have been almost forgotten by the Scottish game, but its legacy has endured, under the proud guardianship of Hampden Bowling Club.

It seems incredible such heritage, effectively the birthplace of our national game, has not been properly recognised or celebrated. Yet that is something Graeme Brown, Ged O’Brien and Thomas Macnab, co-founders of The Hampden Collection, are determined to put right.

First published in Nutmeg 12. You can read the full story here