The Scottish Football Association has finally reached a deal, thought to be worth £5m (€5.6m/$6.3m), to buy Hampden Park from Scottish League Two club Queen’s Park.
The agreement to purchase Scotland’s national football stadium has been signed after months of negotiations.
The Scottish FA reached an agreement back in September to buy the 51,000-seat stadium from Queen’s Park.
The deal represented a success for Hampden Park, which had faced competition from Edinburgh’s Murrayfield stadium to become the home of Scottish football after 2020.
Glasgow City Council brought the negotiations to a deadlock in December after refusing to waive a charge unless they could sit on the board for the stadium.
Rod Petrie, Scottish FA president, said: “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.
“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.”
The Scottish FA will take formal ownership of Hampden Park on August 1, 2020.
Queen’s Park said it will shortly be commencing works to convert the so-called Lesser Hampden into a licensed ground for the club.
Queen’s Park played league matches at the ground when Hampden Park was being redeveloped in the 1990s. The venue was opened in 1924 with a capacity of 12,000.
Image: Martin le Roy
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