‘The privatisation of our local park’: calls to save Glasgow’s ‘second Hampden’ for the public

Campaigners launch legal challenge as children and mixed-gender football team kept out by fence built by local sports academy

In Mount Florida, a south Glasgow neighbourhood, Scotland's national football stadium, Hampden Park, looms large. But just half a mile north are the relics of another, with terraces and crush barriers surrounding a pitch that was once the heart of a 50,000-seat stadium known as the second Hampden".

At one time home to local teams Queen's Park and Third Lanark - as well as hosting Scottish Cup finals in the late 19th century - the pitch is now part of Cathkin Park, a council-maintained public space enjoyed by local families, community football teams and urban wildlife alike. Leased since 2022 by the Jimmy Johnstone Academy, a charity set up in memory of the late Celtic player, it is also the home ground of two youth teams.