The game's pioneers honoured with a walking tour linking key sites
Created to promote and preserve Scotland’s pioneering role in the game, Football’s Square Mile comprises 21 sites across Glasgow linked to the pivotal development of what later became the most popular sport on the planet.
Also called ‘The World’s Biggest Open-Air Football Museum’ this trail of parks, streets and grand façades was opened this May by the enthusiasts and historians of The Hampden Collection. Its ultimate aim is to be granted UNESCO status as a World Heritage Site.
This Saturday, September 21, as part of the Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival, a guided tour sets off from the Advanced Research Centre of Glasgow University in Chapel Lane.
The walk then takes in each landmark in turn, mainly on the south side of the Clyde, including the three sites of Scotland’s national stadium, out of which The Hampden Collection expanded this journey through sporting history. Sites are marked with plaques and signs, as well as QR codes on your phone.
The points of interest begin in Eglinton Street with the birthplace of Alexander Watson Hutton, the father of Argentine football, then continue to the places where the SFA, Queen’s Park, Celtic and Third Lanark first saw the light of day. Along with Fleshers’ Haugh in Glasgow Green, where Rangers played their first game, the walk takes in Cathkin Park, where the so-called Championship of the World was played between Renton and WBA in 1888.
Location for Hampden Park before it moved to its current site close by in 1903, this is also where mythical club Third Lanark played until their demise in 1967, the terraces still partially visible today. In 2008, an amateur team rose from the ashes and still competes in the Saturday Morning Amateur Football Association (SMAFA) Championship.
For more information about Football’s Square Mile, see here.
