In 1885, Queens Park FC, pursuing English FA Cup glory, reached the semi-final against Notts Forest The match proceeded to a second replay at Merchiston Castle School, an English FA Cup semi-final replay on a rugby ground in Edinburgh. The Spiders emerged victorious but were subsequently defeated by Blackburn Rovers in the final at The Oval.

Previously, Queens Park had defeated Manchester FC 15-0 in a FA Cup tie in 1883. Manchester played both codes and contributed players to the English team for the first rugby international at Raeburn Place in 1871. Queens Park also briefly adopted rugby rules in 1869, including the ‘fair catch’ which remains a fundamental element of rugby today. Following this match against Queens Park, Manchester focused exclusively on the rugby code.

In 1885, Queens Park reciprocated by donating Hampden Park to the Rugby authorities for The Inter City due to maintenance at Hamilton Crescent.
2nd Hampden Park, later known as Cathkin Park, became the home of Third Lanark FC. The press reported that Sons of St Mungo emerged victorious. It was described as the finest rugby match in Glasgow history, with the largest crowd ever for a rugby game in the city.

In 1896, Scotland secured the Calcutta Cup at Hampden Park. By 1905, the first All Blacks, The Originals, played Glasgow at the newly constructed Hampden Park, the current site.

In 1906, Scotland won its first match against the Springboks at Hampden Park. Edinburgh lacked a stadium large enough to accommodate the anticipated crowd.

Glasgow boasted three of the world’s largest sports stadiums in the 1910s: Hampden, Ibrox, and Parkhead.
Celtic hosted the Australian Rugby League team in 1909 and, in more recent times, the Pro 14 Final in 2019 when Glasgow lost to Leinster.

With CWG 2026 on the horizon who can forget the world record attendance at CWG 2014 for the Rugby Sevens at Ibrox

“The further back you look, the further forward you can see.”