Queen’s still hold the key to Hampden
Queen’s given seven days to drop price as SFA delay final Hampden decision
THE SFA have given amateurs Queen’s Park seven days to agree a deal to sell Hampden. The seven-strong board of the governing body yesterday delayed a decision on whether they will retain Scotland internationals and showpiece cup games at the national stadium or
move to Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby. A statement released after a lengthy board meeting said both parties had been asked to provide further information.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said the decision ‘will have a significant bearing’ on Scottish football and that the additional information will ‘allow a final decision to be made’.
The SFA, however, have made the ownership of Hampden a pre-requisite of maintaining the iconic arena as the home of Scottish football.
And Sportsmail understands that the seven-day deadline will offer current owners Queen’s Park a final opportunity to settle a stand-off with the SFA over the sale price. The League One amateurs want £6million in return for handing over the keys.
An SFA negotiating team led by Hibernian chairman Rod Petrie would prefer to pay £2m. With Queen’s facing the repayment of £16m of Lottery funding and debentures if Hampden ceases to be the national stadium, the SFA are wary of driving a historic member club into financial difficulties.
However, sources have told this newspaper that failure to secure a compromise agreement could see Scotland’s oldest senior club price themselves out of existence and force the SFA to move to Murrayfield.
Meanwhile, it is understood that an official announcement will not be made until after Alex McLeish’s first competitive fixture as Scotland boss against Albania in the UEFA Nations League opener at Hampden on Monday, September 10.
Within the governing body, there is a feeling that declaring their hand before that game could disrupt McLeish’s preparations for a competition that offers a possible back door to qualification for the 2020 European Championships.
A statement yesterday read: ‘After two days of very productive discussions, the Scottish FA will continue to weigh up the decision on where to base the national team and host our William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals and final.’
Maxwell added: ‘We have asked both parties for additional information to be submitted within seven days to allow a final decision to be made.’ Hampden has been the home of Scottish football for more than a century, but the SFA’s lease on the stadium expires in the summer of 2020 — after the stadium stages matches in the European Championship finals — and last year they invited bids for an alternative. Celtic Park and Ibrox were on the original list of contenders, but were later ditched as options by the SFA.
That left a straight choice between staying at Hampden or entering into a new partnership with Scottish Rugby, who have been running a slick campaign aimed at winning over football fans to the merits of Murrayfield.
Scottish Rugby chief operating officer Dominic McKay said the difference between the sizes of the two competing venues — Murrayfield holds 67,144 against Hampden’s capacity of 51,866 — would equate to an extra £40m in income for the SFA over the period of a 20-year lease.
But the rent being demanded by the SRU, believed to be in the region of £600,000, is double what the SFA pay for Hampden.
Even if the SFA do buy Hampden from Queen’s Park for £2m, there is an acknowledgement that improvements costing millions will be required to bring the stadium up to scratch.
Entrepreneur Marie Macklin has become involved in plans to rejuvenate the venue to create a blueprint for a community-led football hub. All of these issues were considered when the board took final tours of both stadiums on Tuesday.