The Scottish FA "will be staying at Hampden" after agreeing to buy the national stadium from Scottish League Two side Queen's Park, according to Chris McLaughlin of the BBC. A deal was struck to pay the club £5M ($6.5M) for the Glasgow ground. The SFA "was contemplating moving to Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby," once its Hampden lease expires in '20. But instead it will "take ownership of the ground in two years' time." While Queen's Park will receive £5M for the deal, "it is believed the total cost to the SFA will be in the region" of £19M ($24.7M) "because of liabilities going back to when the stadium was redeveloped" in '98 (BBC, 9/11). The Scotland DAILY RECORD reported former Scotland captain Scott Brown "let rip at the SFA's decision to remain at Hampden." He insisted the atmosphere at the stadium "is one of the worst he has ever experienced." Brown: "Hampden is possibly one of the worst stadiums I have played in for atmosphere. For Scotland, I think we should be playing at Celtic Park, Ibrox, then the smaller games -- when you only get 17,000 -- should be at Hibs and Hearts. The bigger games could be at Murrayfield as well. We have some great stadiums here but we choose to use the wrong stadium for a football match" (DAILY RECORD, 9/11). REUTERS' Shrivathsa Sridhar reported Scottish businessman Willie Haughey pledged to pay half the £5M. SFA President Alan McRae said, "It was a hugely difficult decision and I would like to place on record our thanks to Scottish Rugby for their professionalism throughout the process. This decision is about what was best for Scottish football and our members. It’s about the future of football in Scotland" (REUTERS, 9/11).
