[16][17][18] That ground was overlooked by a nearby terrace named after Englishman John Hampden, who fought for the roundheads in the English Civil War.

[16] The club moved to the second Hampden Park, 150 yards from the original, because the Cathcart District Railway planned a new line through the site of the ground's western terrace.

[17][18] It became a regular home to the Scottish Cup Final, but Celtic Park shared some of the big matches including the Scotland v England fixture in 1894.

[18][16] Henry Erskine Gordon agreed to sell 12 acres of land off Somerville Drive to Queen's Park in November 1899.

[24][25] During the first season following the move (1903–04, in which they finished as champions), Third Lanark played several of their home matches at the new Hampden while work was carried out on Cathkin Park.

[19] Along with Celtic Park and Ibrox, the city of Glasgow possessed the three largest football stadia in the world at the time Hampden opened.

[37] Hampden became the de facto sole venue of the Scottish Cup Final after 1925[17] and Queen's Park purchased more land in 1923 to bring the total to 33 acres.

[38] After intervention from the Glasgow Corporation in 1935 regarding public order and safety of the huge, ever-increasing crowds attending matches in the city, Queen's Park and Hampden defeated a rival bid from Rangers and Ibrox – which itself already had a capacity well over 100,000 – to enlarge the ground at the expense of the club, in exchange for becoming the official venue for the Scotland v England fixture and the Cup Final (and collect a designated portion of gate receipts from these matches), while the city would provide improvements in transport provision and other infrastructure to support the regular influx of spectators to the venue.

[40][41] A week later the 1937 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Aberdeen drew an official crowd of 147,365, with 20,000 more people locked outside;[40] this stood as a world record for a club match until 1963.

[39] During the Second World War, matches at heavily attended grounds were initially prohibited due to the fear of aerial bombing by the Luftwaffe.

[48] The capacity of the ground was officially cut to 135,000 following the Burnden Park disaster in Bolton in March 1946,[47] but before that reduction was confirmed, 139,468 watched the Scotland v England Victory International on 13 April of that year.

[49] Unusually, a league match between Third Lanark and Hibernian was played immediately afterwards at Hampden because Cathkin Park was undergoing repair work.

[50] The win appeared to guarantee Scotland qualification for the 1950 FIFA World Cup because the top two finishers in the Championship were offered places in the tournament, but the SFA decreed that they would only send a team if they were British champions.

[57] Scotland qualified for the 1958 FIFA World Cup by defeating Spain, including Luis Suarez, Ladislao Kubala and Alfredo Di Stéfano, at Hampden.

[63][64][65] St Etienne believed that two of their efforts which hit the square crossbar and rebounded into play would have resulted in goals if it had been round,[63][65][66] and the French club subsequently bought the goalposts and displayed them in their museum.

[71] A benefit match was played at Hampden, while the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 compelled stadium authorities to obtain licences from local officials, impose crowd segregation and restrict attendances.

[75] Scotland played a friendly match against world champions Argentina in 1979; the talented, 18-year-old Diego Maradona scored a goal in a 3–1 win for the visitors.

[63] After the cancellation of the annual Scotland v England fixture in 1989, questions were raised as to whether Scottish football required a separate national stadium.

[82] Within a year, the east and north parts of the ground had been converted from terracing to seats, and the partially rebuilt Hampden was re-opened for a friendly match between Scotland and Netherlands on 23 March 1994.

[90] Real Madrid were again victorious when Hampden Park hosted the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, defeating Bayer Leverkusen, with Zinedine Zidane scoring the winning goal with a left-foot volley.

[95][96] Later in 2012, a Scotland women's national football team game was played at Hampden for the first time, when it hosted the first leg of a European Championship qualifying playoff against Spain.

[120] Scotland, who had played the second half with ten players due to an injury to Alex Jackson, equalised in the final minute with a goal from Alec Cheyne direct from a corner kick.

[122] Hampden is an all-seated bowl stadium, although the ground is split into four geographic sections, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands.

[123] Due to the dominance of the Old Firm within Scottish football and their regular qualification for cup matches played at Hampden, the East and West stands are commonly known as the Celtic and Rangers ends.

[17][134] Queen's Park proposed in 1990 to sell off Lesser Hampden to fund redevelopment works on the main stadium, but this was rejected by planners.

[138] Hampden hosted the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association championships during the 1920s and 1930s, with the original Meadowbank Stadium used as an alternative venue.

[143] Poor crowds, escalating costs and the refusal of the city council to allow music to be played at events contributed to the team moving to Cliftonhill, in Coatbridge.

[152] Since the redevelopment of Hampden was completed in 1999, many acts have performed there, including The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, Eagles, Oasis, George Michael, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Diamond, Take That, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Pink, Paul McCartney, Rihanna,[153] The Stone Roses,[154] Gerry Cinnamon[155] and Beyoncé.

[19][60][165] The 1937 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Aberdeen drew an official crowd of 147,365, a world record for a club match, with 20,000 more people locked outside.

[60] While Queen's Park played at the ground, Hampden regularly had crowds of below 1,000 for their matches in the lower divisions of the Scottish football league system.