Queen's Park F.C.

Did You Know?

• Queen's Park is the only Scottish football club to have played in the English FA Cup Final, achieving this feat in both 1884 and 1885.
• With 10 titles, Queen's Park has won the Scottish Cup the third-most times of any club, behind only Celtic and Rangers, although their last such win was in 1893.
• Queen's Park were the first winners of the Scottish Cup and were the record holders for 51 years until Celtic claimed the trophy for the 11th time in 1925.
• Andrew Watson, who starred in one of the club's earliest sides, was the first black football player in Britain and won three Scotland caps.

History

Queen's Park was founded on 9 July 1867 when a number of gentlemen met at No. 3 Eglinton Terrace to form a football club. Gentlemen from the local YMCA participated in football matches in the Glasgow area, giving the club its name. During the inaugural meeting, proposals for the club's name included 'The Celts', 'The Northern', and 'Morayshire', suggesting a possible Highland influence. After debate, 'Queen's Park' was adopted by a majority of one vote.

Although not the first club in Britain—that honour belongs to Edinburgh's Foot-Ball Club, formed in 1824—Queen's Park can claim to be the first Association club in Scotland. Their first opposition came from the now defunct Thistle F.C., whom they defeated 2–0 on 1 August 1868. Historian and broadcaster Bob Crampsey compared Queen's Park's role in the emerging Association game to that of the Marylebone Cricket Club in cricket and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in golf.

The club's control of early playing rules in Scotland, early management of the Scotland national team, and instigation of the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Challenge Cup evidence its status as the 'Premier' or 'Senior' club of Scotland. On 30 November 1872, Scotland faced England at Hamilton Crescent; for the only time, all eleven Scots players were from Queen's Park, wearing blue jerseys, the club's colours at the time. Queen's Park formed the Scottish Football Association on 13 March 1873 with seven other clubs.

On 25 October, the first match at the first Hampden Park saw Queen's Park players wear their custom black and white hooped jerseys for the first time, earning the nickname 'The Spiders'. David Wotherspoon, a player and committee member, has been credited with introducing the hoops. That match was the first Scottish Cup tie and Scottish competitive match for the club, which Queen's won 7–0; in the final, they defeated Clydesdale 2–0 at Hampden.

Rivals and friendships

Queen's Park's former resistance to professionalism meant the club did not compete in the same division as Celtic and Rangers for long periods, leading to rivalries with lower-division clubs such as Partick Thistle, Clyde, Albion Rovers, and Third Lanark—the latter being the Spiders' closest neighbours until Third Lanark went defunct in 1967. Since the mid-2000s, Queen's Park supporters have had a strong relationship with German Oberliga Westfalen side SG Wattenscheid 09, based on similarities including the traditional black and white playing colours of each club's home jerseys.

The Queen's Park Supporters' Association (QPSA), founded in 1947, has members worldwide and organises bus travel for away fixtures, fundraisers, community help, unofficial merchandise sales, quiz nights, social gatherings, and monthly newsletters. The club's more vocal supporters, known as the 'Irn Bru Firm' due to the club's previous long-standing connection to the soft drink, formerly congregated at the back of section P2 in Hampden Park and now stand in section 1 of Lesser Hampden, singing traditional chants and hanging flags at away games.

Stadium

Queen's Park Football Club was founded in 1867 and first played at the Queen's Park Recreation Ground in Crosshill, which gave the club its name. In 1873, they moved to their first enclosed ground, called Hampden Park after the nearby Hampden Terrace. Over the next few years, a grandstand and pavilion were built, and the ground regularly hosted international matches and cup finals. However, in 1883, the club had to leave the site because the Cathcart Circle railway was being built.

After spending a season at Clydesdale Cricket Club's Titwood ground, a second Hampden opened in October 1884. As other Glasgow venues like Celtic Park and Ibrox improved their facilities more quickly, Queen's Park bought farmland at Mount Florida to stay competitive, and the third Hampden opened there in 1903. The second Hampden was later taken over by Third Lanark and renamed Cathkin Park. Hampden celebrated its centenary on 31 October 2003.

The stadium also contains the Scottish Football Association's offices and the Scottish Football Museum. Until 2020, Queen's Park owned Hampden and leased it to the SFA. It is Scotland's national stadium, hosting all major cup finals and most Scotland internationals, plus several UEFA competition finals. Hampden was the world's largest stadium until the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro was completed in 1950.

Many record football attendances were set there in the mid-20th century. After the Taylor Report, it became an all-seater. For the 2014 Commonwealth Games, it was turned into an athletics venue, forcing Queen's Park to play home games at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium for a full year. The stadium has also hosted rugby union, American football, motorcycle speedway, boxing, and concerts.