Hampden Bowling Club: Saving the birthplace of Scottish football
When Hampden Bowling Club, an important football heritage site, closed due to financial pressures, the keys were handed to City Property Glasgow. Now, the community group First Hampden are working to save it from becoming a site for commercial development and is calling for support from residents.
By Calum Cameron, First Hampden CIC | Photo courtesy of Football Square Mile
The History of Hampden Bowling Club
Exit Crosshill station, turn right towards Mount Florida, and within five minutes you're standing at one of the most important football heritage sites in the world. But unless you've stopped to peek through the overgrown fence, you'd have no idea.
You’re standing at what was, until recently, Hampden Bowling Club – and before that, the first Hampden Park. The club closed this year, the site is heading to market, and a group of local residents, myself included, have formed a community interest company to try to keep it in public hands.
But first, some history. Look to your right across the railway track, and you'll see a mural on the back of the bowling club pavilion declaring this as the site of First Hampden Park. This spot, back in 1873, played host to the beginnings of modern football, serving as the home ground of Scotland's national football team and also Queen's Park FC, Scotland's first football club. Here stood the world's first purpose-built international football stadium, credited with innovations like turnstiles and season books.
Continuing the run of 'firsts', the mural – painted by local artist Ashley Rawson – also features Scotland captain Andrew Watson, the world's first Black international footballer, who played at First Hampden in a 5-1 win over England in 1882. That was one of six games Scotland played here, unbeaten, before the construction of the Cathcart District Railway forced the ground to move across the road to Cathkin Park.
If this is the first you're learning about this history, you're not alone. This unassuming site has remained a relative secret, even for those living in Glasgow's southside. Now, First Hampden is at risk of disappearing altogether.
Local residents, including myself, have formed First Hampden CIC with a vision to bring the site into community ownership as both a heritage site and a modern and vibrant community hub
At risk
When financial pressures forced Hampden Bowling Club to close its gates earlier this year,the keys were handed back to City Property Glasgow, the Council's arms-length landlord. A group of neighbours formed the First Hampden CIC to make sure the site's next chapter does justice to its past and meets Glasgow’s present need for quality public space.
Preserving heritage and creating community space
One of the first things we did was request a Community Asset Transfer, on the basis that the site's history and its location in a conservation area make it inappropriate for commercial development. City Property declined. We appealed. They declined again. In email correspondence, they shared that their position is that the site has “the potential to generate commercial income” and should be tested in the market.
That's where we are, but there are reasons for optimism.
In May, Historic Environment Scotland scheduled the neighbouring Kingsley Gardens as a monument of national importance, after an archaeological dig uncovered the foundations of First Hampden's original changing rooms. That designation gives a level of protection for the garden site, providing reassurance for the many people who enjoy this space and the local residents who tend its flower beds. However, it doesn't cover the bowling club site, which remains unprotected and at risk.
We've also secured grant funding from the Scottish Land Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund and Glasgow City Heritage Trust to carry out a feasibility study and site design, working with Glasgow Building Preservation Trust over the next few months. That work will turn our vision for the site into a credible proposal which stacks up financially while delivering for our local community and the wider public.
Our working assumption for First Hampden is a community hub with affordable, accessible indoor and outdoor space that can serve everyone – whether that's a local arts organisation needing flexible session space, a frisbee team needing a spot for their quiz night, a family looking for a venue for a children's party, or the Tartan Army stopping for a drink en route to Hampden Park on match day. And the site design will integrate the story of First Hampden’s past, so that visitors can see what started here.
That said, it's up to the community to define what it wants from this space, and the feasibility study will include a consultation to find out. From there, we'll make the case to City Property and the council.
There are many examples of former clubs that have been transformed into vibrant community spaces, such as Bonnymuir Green in Aberdeen which, having closed as a bowling club in 2015, is now thriving as a community-owned garden with a social space and cafe. And right here in the Southside in Pollokshields there’s Bowling Green Together, which has turned a derelict bowling club site into an open, inclusive green space bringing the community together. Contrast that with the numerous community spaces that have been lost – residents in Finnieston are fighting now to stop that happening to the former Corunna bowling club – you’ll see what’s at stake.
How you can help
You can make a difference. In recent statements, City Property said that "the wider interest in this asset can certainly be reflected in the assessment of any bids received". We won't have the deepest pockets. What we can bring is a proposal backed by the people who actually have a stake in this place. If you want to support that, go to www.firsthampden.org and add your name to the statement of support for a community-led future for the site.
The Euros will come to Glasgow in 2028, with the Women's World Cup expected to follow in 2035. People will travel here from all over the world. They should be able to walk a few minutes from Hampden Park and stand on the ground where it all started. That's a win for Glasgow, that's a win for Scotland. And it's all to play for.
