Queen's Park reportedly wants to use the proceeds to redevelop Lesser Hampden as its permanent home.GETTY IMAGES
The Scottish FA is "close to agreeing" to a "historic" £4M ($5.2M) deal to buy Hampden from Scottish League Two side Queen's Park, according to the Scotland DAILY RECORD. The governing body is set to "choose between remaining at the national stadium or making the move to Murrayfield" this week. The SFA is "believed to consider outright ownership of Hampden as crucial to staying put" but was "reluctant" to meet Queen's Park's £6M ($7.8M) asking price. Queen's Park reportedly wishes to use the proceeds to redevelop Lesser Hampden as its new permanent home but wishes to "continue using the 52,000-capacity stadium if renovations are not complete" by the time the SFA takes ownership. However, this "could create an issue" as the SFA is believed to see any delays as the club's "sole responsibility" (DAILY RECORD, 9/10). In Glasgow, Stephen McGowan reported former Scotland int'l Ally McCoist insisted Hampden "should remain the home of Scottish football." McCoist said, "Hampden's got its problems. I appreciate that. ... But the work that's needing done, there must be something we can do to get Hampden to be a proper national stadium. It's down to finance, I get that. But let's do something with Hampden. It is not perfect access-wise but neither is Murrayfield, if we are going to be brutally honest about it." Former Rangers Manager Graeme Souness "believes no more public cash should be spent on a stadium at the expense of emergency services" (Scottish DAILY MAIL, 9/9).
