Hampden Park must remain Scotland's football ground, says Craig Brown

Craig Brown added his voice to the calls for Hampden Park to remain Scotland’s home ground, as the Scottish Football Association consider whether or not to buy the stadium from its current owners, Queens Park.

An agreement for a purchase in principle was agreed recently but, as Telegraph Sport revealed this week, some on the SFA board have yet to be convinced that their organisation should take on the task of stadium ownership.

Their counterparts at the Scottish Rugby Union own Murrayfield and have been lobbying hard for that Edinburgh ground to stage international football.

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Hearts played at Murrayfield earlier this season while the main stand at their Tynecastle home was reconstructed and Brown, a non-executive director at Aberdeen, sampled the ground first-hand when the Pittodrie side visited in September.

“The atmosphere wasn’t what you would want for a football match,” Brown said.

“The Hearts folk would definitely agree with that. Look at the upturn in their form when they went back to Tynecastle. They were yearning to get back to Tynecastle and they kept saying it. Craig Levein said that their fortunes would change when they got back – and they did.

“Murrayfield has a great atmosphere for the rugby but our fans were so far behind the goals they needed a telescope to see the game.

“We’ve surely got to be ambitious enough to own our own stadium. Hampden is a stadium of neutrality for cup semi-finals and finals. If they get a good new surface you can play under-21 games, which you couldn’t do the day before senior internationals, because the schedule for the U-21s is now different.

“You can’t live in the past. You’ve got to look forward, but Hampden is the spiritual home of Scottish football. It needs a wee bit of revamping if we can afford it. What an impact it would make if Ian Maxwell, the new SFA chief executive, could do that, but the purse strings are the next question we’ve got. Where are we going to get the money?

“Look what Fergus McCann did at Celtic Park. Incredible. Doing that here would be great. I’m surprised and disappointed that it’s still in the balance but with a bit of expenditure here – bring the two ends in – what a stadium you’ve got. The main stand is good and the north stand is good.

“It’s behind the goal that you’re a bit far from the action. Some Scotland players liked playing at Ibrox or Celtic Park because the atmosphere was slightly better but when Leigh Griffiths scored his two goals vs England here last year the country was in ecstasy for five minutes and there was no hint of ‘what are we doing at Hampden?’ The place was buzzing.

“Those two goals confirmed what it would be like if Scottish football was a success. I’m sure big Alex McLeish will get it like that. I really fancy him as the manager here.”

Brown was speaking at an event at Hampden to mark the publication of a memoir about Scotland’s participation in the finals of six World Cup tournaments between 1974 and 1998 by veteran commentator Archie McPherson.*

Alex McLeish, the current Scotland manager, was also in attendance after having appeared earlier at the stadium to publicise the next round of Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductions. Asked to predict the outcome of the three-way race to finish second in the Scottish Premiership - involving Rangers, Aberdeen and Hibernian – McLeish said: “Aberdeen bounced back really well last week after a poor Scottish Cup semi-final. They did have Kenny McLean and Shay Logan back.

“You need to have the players. It’s not easy for a manager if he doesn't quite have the replacements for top players when they go out of the team and that's always something that has to be factored in.

“It shows that Aberdeen are capable and their experience of getting the second place in the last few years is going to stand them in good stead. Hibs are coming like a train at the moment - an unstoppable train - but, again, it's hard not see Rangers in the top two.”

Of Sunday’s Old Firm derby at Parkhead, at which Celtic are overwhelming favourites to clinch a seventh successive title against a Rangers side who were beaten comprehensively by Brendan Rodgers’ players in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals, McLeish said: “A draw's a disaster, a defeat is even worse. I can imagine the week that Graeme Murty had after the Celtic game but he bounced back with a good result.

“Celtic will be huge favourites and Rangers haven't done well these games and there's always anticipation - could this be the one that Rangers get the result?”

* Adventures in the Golden Age, by Archie McPherson (Black & White Publishing, £11.99)