Cathkin Park

Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the football clubs Queen's Park (from 1884–1903) and Third Lanark (from 1903–1967). The original Hampden Park is just to the west, as the course of the original Cathcart Road is now in Queen's Park Rec.

For the original Cathkin Park ground, see Cathkin Park (1872–1903).

Cathkin Park
Cathkin Park
Location in Glasgow
Former namesHampden Park (1884 – 1903)
LocationGlasgow, Scotland
Coordinates55°49′47.82″N 4°15′11.50″W
Capacity50,000
Record attendance51,518
SurfaceGrass
Opened1884
Closed1967
Tenants
Queen's Park F.C. (1884–1903)
Third Lanark A.C. (1903–1967)

Football ground

The park formerly contained a football stadium, which had played host to organised football since 1884.[1] It was originally known as Hampden Park (the second by that name, succeeding the original Hampden Park) and was rented by Queen's Park between 1884 and 1903; the first match was on 18 October 1884, a goalless draw against Dumbarton watched by 7,000.[1] When Queen's Park decided to build their own stadium and moved to the third (and current) Hampden Park on open ground about 500 yards (460 m) further south,[2] Third Lanark took over the lease.[3] They renamed it New Cathkin Park as they had previously played at another stadium named Cathkin Park just to the east of Dixon Halls on the east side of Cathcart Road, about 500 yards (460 m) north of their new home. The club rebuilt the ground from scratch due to a failure to agree a fee for the whole stadium which resulted in Queen's Park removing the pavilion and other fittings (which they owned, while the ground itself was leased).[3][4] During the first season following the move (1903–04, in which they finished as champions), Third Lanark played several of their home matches at the new Hampden while work was carried out on Cathkin Park.

Third Lanark's last match at Cathkin took place on 25 April 1967, when they played out a 3–3 draw against Queen of the South. Jimmy Davidson scored one goal for Queens and Brian McMurdo two, including the last senior football goal at the Park (the Thirds goals came from Kinnaird with two goals and McLaughlan with the other). A Glasgow Challenge Cup Final was played at Cathkin on 13 May 1967 between two Junior sides, Cambuslang Rangers and Rutherglen Glencairn (Cambuslang winning 2–0); this was the final football match played at Cathkin before Third Lanark folded later that year. The final goal to be scored at Cathkin came from Cambuslang Rangers forward Peter Coleman after 17 minutes.

The stadium subsequently fell into disrepair and most of the fabric was gradually removed. The remains of the terraces from three sides of the ground can be seen in the park. However, a reformed Third Lanark team, which plays in the Greater Glasgow Amateur League, currently plays in the park,[5] as do Hampden AFC [6] and boys team the Jimmy Johnstone Academy.

In 2017, Third Lanark A.F.C. announced a £5 million plan to return to Cathkin and redevelop the ground, with an all-weather pitch, a 2000-seat stand, floodlights and community facilities for football and cricket.[7] In the meantime, the latest of several projects by volunteers to carry out basic renovations on the remaining terracing and barriers took place in early 2019.[8]

  • A view of one of the terraces from the pitch
  • Close view of an abandoned terrace
  • View from the back of the terrace with the pitch and other terraces visible

References
  1. Chapter XXXIV.—Second Hampden, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland
  2. Chapter XXXV.—Third and Greatest Hampden, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland
  3. Second Hampden, QPFC.com
  4. Chapter XL.—Third Lanark F.C. and Hampden Park, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland
  5. Third Lanark Athletic Club Archived 15 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Greater Glasgow Amateur League
  6. "Hampden AFC". Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  7. McCall, Chris (16 April 2017). "Third Lanark unveil plan to restore their Cathkin Park home". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  8. Meet the man aiming to make Cathkin Park 'the best amateur football stadium in the world', Glasgow Live, 18 January 2019
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