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Notes |
The
search for a ground Queen's could call their own was started, and
eventually a twelve acre site was identified on the opposite side of
Prospecthill from their second home. The owner of the land, Mr. Henry
Gordon, was approached in 1900 and he was willing to sell the ground at a
cost of �850 an acre, with a deposit of �6,000 and the balance payable in
�1,000 installments.
The negotiating skills of the club were called
upon again, and the required deposit was reduced to �4,000 with the
balance payable in �500 installments at the clubs convenience.
That was just the beginning of the costs, and
works to prepare the ground were to cost �10,000, the main stand (which
were originally two separate structures with a gap in the middle) cost
�5,000. In the meantime the club had to use a ground floor flat in
Somerville Drive as their pavilion.
The land itself was in a natural bowl shape before
Queen's bought it, and this assisted the structure of the terracing of the
ground, which unusually was built on solid ground, rather than on wooden
or metal supports as was common at most football grounds at the time. The
bowl also meant that the playing area was 33 feet below Somerville Drive.
The architect of the stadium was Archibald Leitch,
then a renowned football ground architect, and as well as being involved
in the design of Hampden, he was also involved at Ibrox, Parkhead, Hearts,
Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge amongst countless others both north and
south of the border. The main stand at Highbury is one of the last
surviving structures designed by Leitch.
By 1903 the ground was ready, and on 31st October
Celtic provided the opposition in a league match which was won by Queen's
by a single goal. Celtic were also involved in the next major development
at Hampden in 1909, although this time it was in the destruction of the
ground after a Scottish Cup Final replay against, you've guessed it,
Rangers. Spectators had been anticipating extra time after the scores were
level after ninety minutes, but when both teams left the pitch it became
clear that was the end of the action for the day. Turnstiles, barriers and
fences were all wrecked by a combination of vandalism and arson, and when
firefighters appeared to extinguish the fire their hoses were slashed.
In a rather bizarre settlement, the SFA paid for
half of the �1,000 worth of damage, while the other �500 was to be split
evenly between Celtic, Rangers and Queen's Park. Explain that if you can.
After these repairs were made, other areas of the
ground were soon improved, and in 1914 a pavilion was built at a cost over
�5,000 in the gap between the two South stands, and that year also saw the
first ever six figure crowd at Hampden. QPFC.com |
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