myguideScotland Blog

The Hampden Roar Takes the High Road as Scotland prepare for battle

November 13th, 2007

The Tartan Army (the fans who follow the Scotland national football team throughout the world) provided the backing vocals for the new single by renowned Scottish rock band Runrig to raise money for the BBC’s annual Children In Need appeal.

The voices of 50,000 fans rang out across Hampden Park at half time during the Scotland v Ukraine European Soccer Championship qualifier to the emotive and internationally famous sound of “The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond”.  There are several videos on youtube.

You can hear a more traditional version of the song here (click on the audio links).

Scotland are getting ready for the football (soccer) match at Hampden on Saturday against the world champions, Italy.  A win will secure Scottish qualification for the first time for the European Championships Finals which will take place in Austria and Switzerland in the summer of 2008.  After wonderful wins against France at Hampden and in Paris, belief that the possible is no longer impossible is high, but with some caution.

The crowd who came to see football matches at Hampden were renowned for creating the Hampden Roar.  The noise created was said to terrify opposing teams who came to play there.  With the capacity at the ground exceeding six figures from the early 1900s until the 1980s, the Roar could be heard several miles away from the stadium.

Hampden Park in Glasgow is Scotland’s national stadium and home to the Scottish Football Museum, as well as Queen’s Park FC, Scotland’s oldest football club.  Stadium tours of Hampden run most days.

Hampden will be the key stadium of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and will host the athletics during the tournament.  Glasgow, ‘home of the Commonwealth Games 2014′ - now doesn’t that sound good!

Entry Filed under: Other sports stories, Scotland