Hampden Park is set to welcome rugby to its field for the first time in two decades when Glasgow Warriors host the opening leg of their 2024/25 1872 Cup this December.
It will be the first time in the club’s professional history that the Warriors will run out at the home of Scottish football, marking the latest battleground upon which Franco Smith’s men will take on Edinburgh in rugby’s oldest club rivalry.
The two teams are set to go head-to-head on Sunday 22 December (kick-off 3pm) on one of Glasgow’s – and Scotland’s – biggest stages.
First built in 1903 – and still the holder of the European record for attendance of a football match, with 149,547 watching Scotland take on England in 1937 – Hampden was renovated to its current form in 1999, with a capacity of 52,000 on Glasgow’s southside.
The home of both Scotland’s men’s and women’s senior international football teams, the stadium has hosted a Champions League, European Championship and Olympic football fixtures, and both the athletics and closing ceremony for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, all since the turn of the millennium.
Speaking following the announcement, Glasgow Warriors Managing Director, Al Kellock, said: “This is a massive moment in the history of not just our club, but rugby within our city and our Glasgow Warriors community.
“To be able to take one of our biggest games of the season to one of Scotland’s national stadia is a reflection of the journey that we have been on as a club, as we continue to grow the game in our city, the west of Scotland and Caledonia regions.
“It’s a journey that has seen the Warrior Nation follow us through thick and thin, and from the club grounds across Scotland that shape our Warriors to the high veldt in Pretoria where we became URC champions. To be able to take this fixture to Hampden is a reflection of the support upon which this club is built, and we know that our supporters will make Hampden an atmosphere unlike any other.
“We’re excited by the opportunity this fixture presents, not only on the field but off it as well – we also hope to welcome a new audience that may otherwise not attend a Glasgow Warriors match, especially in the run-up to the festive holidays.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in making this fixture happen, from our friends at the Scottish FA, United Rugby Championship and Premier Sports, to the efforts of everyone involved at Scotstoun – it promises to be an unforgettable occasion for Glasgow rugby.”