Bid to add ‘Second Hampden' to list of historic sites

The Herald Scotland

29-05-2025

Now Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is looking to gather views from the public on its proposals to designate the remains of the football ground as a scheduled monument.
Situated in Glasgow's southside, the site was first used as a football ground by Queen's Park in 1883-4. It was initially known as Hampden Park, named after the original Hampden (now the site of Hampden Bowling Club).
As Hampden, the site was the venue for nine Scottish Cup finals between 1885 and 1899.
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When Queen's Park's success saw them set their sights on a new ground (the third and current Hampden) in 1903, the site then became the home of Third Lanark, who alongside Queen's Park were one of the eight founding member clubs of the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
An entirely new stadium was built on the site in 1904, which was then renamed New Cathkin Park.
Founded in 1872, Third Lanark were highly successful and rarely out of the highest leagues in Scottish football. The club followed winning the league in 1903-04 season by beating Rangers 3-1 in the final of the Scottish Cup final the following year – its second cup win.
The side was so highly acclaimed that it went on to organise a tour of North America in 1921 with a number of guest players, leading to it being billed as a Scotland XI, and a later tour of South America when the team took on the Argentina national squad.
Third Lanark were managed by football legend Bill Shankly between 1957-59, but despite reaching European competition in 1961 its finances started to give cause for concern: players went unpaid and opposition clubs complained about not getting their share of gate money and cheques that bounced.
Third Lanark in 1963. The club's final victory was an away match against Clydebank attended by just 259 people – just hours earlier a Court of Session in Edinburgh had heard a petition to have the club liquidated over an outstanding £200 debt.
Third Lanark ceased to exist in July 1967, and eventually most of Cathkin Park's structures were removed, leaving just the terraces around three sides of the ground.
Cathkin Park is significant as a rare example of a late 19th-early 20th century football stadium, with its surviving terracing and embankments. No other major football ground from the period survives in as complete a form.
The site aids understanding of how modern football grounds developed in Scotland, serving as a physical reminder of a time when tens of thousands of supporters would have stood in packed out terraces across the country.
In 2017, an excavation at the ground found the site of the pavilion of Third Lanark and some nice artefacts relating to the use of the building, including pieces of red and white china cups - Third Lanark played in a red and white strip. There were also some glass bottles which archaeologists thought might have been used by the players after Third Lanark's last game at the park.
Dara Parsons, Head of Designations at HES, said about proposals to designate the remains of the ground as a scheduled monument: 'Scheduling is a way of ensuring that nationally important historic sites are recognised and protected, and that their importance is taken into account in decisions about their management.
'Scotland is recognised as a pioneering nation in the development of football. Cathkin Park, as the recognised home of one of Scotland's most historically important football clubs, played a key part in that story.
'We would encourage anyone with views on the site's significance, or any information that may help inform our final decision, to review our report and take part in our consultation."
The consultation will be open for submissions until 19 June. To take part, visit the HES website.