THE Scottish Football Association have finally completed the purchase of Hampden Park after a £5m deal was concluded to buy the national stadium from Queen’s Park.
The SFA will now take ownership of Hampden following the Euro 2020 finals after receiving financial assistance from two of Scotland's wealthiest businessmen, Lord Willie Haughey and Sir Tom Hunter.
The deal was initially scheduled to be concluded in December of last year, but a series of legal hurdles - such as Glasgow City Council’s refusal to waive a floating charge unless they had a say in the future of the stadium - have held up the agreement.
With everything now in place though, SFA president Rod Petrie is excited about what the future may hold for Hampden.
“Given the hard work from everyone since the agreement of last September I am pleased we now have a legal contract with one of our member clubs for the good of Scottish football,” Petrie said.
“The real work begins now to ensure Hampden Park can continue to serve the needs of the game and be an inspirational home for Scottish football in the future.
"We can build on the short-term work currently undertaken to make Hampden Park, Glasgow and Scotland a memorable Host City Venue for the forthcoming UEFA EURO 2020 finals.”
Queen’s Park described the developments as marking ‘a sad day’ in the long history of the club, as they move from the stadium they have occupied since 1903 to Lesser Hampden next door.
A statement read: “We have reached agreement with the Scottish Football Association for the transfer of ownership of the National Stadium and our traditional home, Hampden Park. The Scottish FA will take formal ownership of Hampden Park on 1st August 2020.
“Whilst it is a sad day for the club as proud owners of the National Stadium, the conclusion of these protracted discussions and negotiations, will allow the club to fully focus on building our future at an upgraded Lesser Hampden.
“We must now look forward to ensure we remain a vibrant and competitive football club within Scottish football. To this end we will be shortly commencing works, on what is presently known as Lesser Hampden, to convert it into a Licensed Ground for our competitive matches.”
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