One For Your Letter To Santa

While it may not be the stadium that everybody is a fan of, Hampden is a ground with a history worth reading about. The national stadium has seen some changes, not just in the fortunes of the club that own it but also the teams that play there and the fans that crowd the famous passageways. Did you know the biggest crowd ever assembled at Hampden wasn't for a football match? Do you know the player who played for Scotland at Hampden and never kicked a ball? Did you know Hampden once staged a cup tie that lasted almost two and a half hours? Now you have the chance to read all about those and all the history of the ground as today (Wednesday), Scotland legend, Joe Jordan will launch the Hampden Centenary Book 'The First 100 years of Hampden Park'. The book is not written by Jordan but by David Ross and Forrest Robertson. You may be familiar with the names Ross and Robertson as they appear to know all there is to know about Scottish football. They approached the SFA with the germ of an idea over a year ago and the fruits of their labour is launched today at the famous ground.

The authors have kindly promised to donate a copy of the book for a competition on the site. All you need to do is answer a simple question. We all know that Scotland v England is the oldest international game in the world. But to win the book you need to know in which year did Scotland meet England for the first time at the present Hampden Park? Answers to be sent to: Hampden@scottishfitba.net by 12 noon on Sunday, 12th October. Please do not post the answer on the message board. Please provide handle details and where you would like the prize to be sent to. If you don't win you can always buy the book. I am told it will be at a bargain price of £11.99 and be available from all good bookstores from today.

Forrest Robertson is the author of 'The A-Z of Scottish Football', and the statistical history of Queen’s Park. He has been BBC Scotland’s TV statistician for about 20 years, has also provided statistics for Panini and the Daily Record, is a regular contributor to the Scottish Football Historian and has contributed to many football histories over the past 30 years.

David Ross is the author of the books 'Killie – the Official History', 'Simply The Best', 'Everygame', and the CD 'Complete History of Scottish Football.’ He is the webmaster of www.scottishleague.net and has appeared successfully on the TV programmes 'Mastermind' and 'The People Versus' taking football as a specialised subject. He has contributed to many football publications over the past 20 years.

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Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)
Vanderhogg (vanderhogg@scottishfitba.net)

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