The construction of the Cathcart Railway, which was to
run through the western part of Hampden Park, compelled the club to look out
for a new site, the Town Council having given notice that the ground would
be required for railway purposes. The tenure of the classic slopes was now
only a matter of a few months, so Messrs. T. Lawrie, A. Geake, and Richard
Browne were appointed a sub-committee to look after suitable grounds. Only a
short time before this the attention of the members had been called to the
splendid condition of the field after the great care and attention bestowed
on it; and now it had to be abandoned, and given up to the steam digger.
Little would be done until the precise route to be taken by the new railway
was known. Before April, 1882, the sub-committee had been so far successful
that they obtained the offer of a piece of ground On the nor'nor'-east side
of Hampden Park, the proprietors, Messrs. Dixon & Co. Limited, having
proposed to give a five years' lease at a rental of £100. The Railway
Company—the primary cause of the disturbance—expressed their willingness to
level the ground, fill up drains, make sewers, and do other "trifling" work.
The club would, however, have to re-turf the field, and remove the pavilion
at its own expense. As the progress of the railway was slow, the club had
the use of the old ground until the end of the season. All this was very
good news for the annual general meeting of April, 1882, over which Mr. C.
Campbell presided, in the absence of Mr. T. Lawrie, the president. A much
more satisfactory arrangement was arrived at with Messrs. Dixon, whose
representative agreed to bear half the turfing expenses, about £20, and that
the club could have a lease of the ground for five years at a rent of £80
per annum for the first two years, and £100 per annum for the remaining
three. The lease was signed by Mr. Richard Browne, president; Mr. J. King,
treasurer ; and Mr. Eadie Fraser, secretary.
The question of laying down a cinder path, for which
estimates had been obtained, was left over for "a more convenient season,"
after due consideration. Expense would be incurred in the removal of the
grand stand and pavilion to the new ground. The secretary was instructed to
obtain estimates for the erection of a new brick pavilion, the material of
the old pavilion to be utilised in the erection of the new one. Such matters
were always done in good style by the Queen's Park—a new ground must have an
ornate pavilion. Formal notice to quit old Hampden at Whitsuntide, 1883, was
duly received.
The sub-committee appointed to consider the estimates for
the new pavilion were Messrs. Ft. Browne, A. Geake, T. Lawrie, C. Campbell,
and E. Fraser—a rather extensive task, seeing the number sent in. That of
Mr. Wilson of £95 for the brick house, and £40 for the stand, was accepted.
As the club was now practically without a ground to practise, or play
matches on, an arrangement was made with the Clydesdale Cricket Club for use
of part of Titwood Park and pavilion for the football season, at a rental of
£60. That was in July, 1883. Mr. John Hamilton, architect, a member of the
club, was instructed to prepare plans for the new ground and pavilion. In
connection with Titwood, arrangements were made with Mr. James Wilson,
joiner, to erect a temporary grand stand there. Mr. Archibald Rowan was
president at this period. Nearly a year later, in May, 1884, Mr. Hamilton,
the architect, was instructed to proceed with the cinder track, which was
estimated to cost £300. The club this season had been put to great expense,
as for the first time it had competed in earnest for the English Cup,
losing, it will be remembered, to Blackburn Rovers in the final, and
embarking on this further expense cost the club no little anxiety. The
committee wished first of all to have their ground equipped athletically in
the best possible manner, and a track was indispensable for training, and
for their own annual and other sports meetings. Mr. Geake, who was an expert
on ground construction, reported very slow progress was being made—there
remained one-third of the field still to be filled up, but he was satisfied
that as soon as the railway contractors got the steam digger to work,
quicker progress would follow. Mr. Hamilton, however, took the general
direction of the work. The main point was to have the ground sufficiently
forward for the commencement of season 1884-85. The 3rd Lanark were good
enough to place Cathkin Park at the disposal of the Queen's Park on Tuesdays
and Thursdays for practice, which was greatly appreciated. The Volunteers
were heartily thanked for the obligation, and for the kind attention
received by the players at Cathkin. A second stand was to be erected on the
north side by agreement with Mr. Wilson, joiner, on the principle that the
club receive half-drawings. for three years commencing October, 1884,
members to pay for admission, the stand to become the property of the club,
free of cost, at the expiry of the three years, at the end of which period
Mr. Wilson declared himself perfectly satisfied with the result.
Some important games were played by the Queen's Park
during its short tenure of Titwood Park in 1883-84. It had been arranged
that most of that season's early fixtures were to be decided from home. The
first match played on Titwood was against Northern, on 27th October, 1883,
which ended in favour of the home team by 3-1, followed by a visit from
Dumbarton, with a similar result. This latter game was rather a forcible
exhibition. At all events, Joe Lindsay, of Dumbarton, had two ribs broken
after a collision with Walter Arnott, which laid the Dumbarton forward aside
for a couple of months. Manchester appeared there, 1st December, 1883, in an
English Cup tie, and lost by 15-0 —rather a tall score, one goal short of
the record. On 22nd December Cartvale, in a Scottish Cup tie, were disposed
of by 6-1. A friendly encounter with London Swifts, on New Year's Day, 1884,
was gained by 5-1. Pollokshields Athletic fell on 5th January by 2-1, Frank
Shaw and W. Gray, afterwards members of the Queen's Park, being on the
losing side. Then came a famous English Cup tie, played at Titwood on 19th
January, 1884, against Aston. Villa, which attracted a large crowd. The "Villans"
fell an easy prey by 6-1. More than one thousand people came with the team
from Birmingham in a special train, certain of an easy victory for the
Villa. Many were so disgusted with the miserable display of their favourites
that they sought other means of consolation, and drowned their sorrows to
such an extent, that they lost the last train for the South, and slept off
their grief in unexpected, and exposed, havens of rest. The club was again
back on regenerated Hampden on 18th October, 1884, Dumbarton being the club
selected to open the new ground. The match was worthy the occasion, honours
being even. The new ground was greatly admired by seven thousand spectators,
and the enterprise shown by Queen's Park met its reward in the general
appreciation of the public who assisted at the game. Neither side scored in
this opening match. The Queen's Park team was: G. Gillespie ; A. Watson and
J. J. Gow; C. Campbell and J. M'Donald; W. Anderson, N. Macwhannel, W.
Harrower, W. W. Watt, R. M. Christie, and D. S. Allan.
So well had the work progressed, that Mr. Arthur Geake
was able to report to the half-yearly general meeting in November, 1884,
that he saw no reason why the new ground should not be fit for general use
in a month or so. After its completion he felt sure it would be the first in
Scotland. The track would have to be delayed in the meantime, owing to the
amount of forced ground, and it would not likely be ready until the spring.
The chairman, Mr. Rowan, paid Mr. Geake, the ground convener, a compliment
in stating that he considered it was due to Mr. Geake's exertions that the
ground was so far forward, and the meeting extended to him a hearty vote of
thanks for the energy he had shown in connection with the work. Additional
ground had to be taken in from Messrs. Dixon behind the pavilion and south
stand, at a rental of £15 per annum. So carefully had the financial aspect
of the undertaking been managed, and provision made for all expenditure
connected with the ground, pavilion, stands, etc., that before the annual
meeting in May, 1885, the club was then practically free of debt after an.
outlay of £1,085 11s. 9d., the income for that year being £2,304 2s. 7d.,
which exceeded the income of the preceding year by £1,000, and was then a
record for the club. Mr. Arthur Geake, as a reward for his excellent
services, was, at this meeting, raised to the presidential chair. In the
season 1885-86 a further sum of £777 14s. 6d. was expended on track,
pavilion, etc., another record being established, the income for the year
being £2,774 4s. 8d., the amount drawn at matches—ordinary, English and
Scottish Cup ties—being £1,528 1s. 8d. In the following season, 1886-87, a
further sum of £473 was spent on the ground, one item being a pony and
harness, costing £5 4s. On the ground taken in to the east, called Myrtle
Park, was a stable. This part of the held was generously devoted to the
Victoria Football Club, which, then not affiliated to the Queen's Park, was
fostered by it, and given certain privileges, as it was thought the club
would be a feeder to the three elevens of the club. The ground was now
completed, and the members had the satisfaction of knowing that they
possessed one of the best equipped football enclosures in the country. Even
then they were not content. There existed little room in the pavilion, apart
from accommodation for the teams occupying it on match days, and the members
had no means for recreation apart from football.
In the early part of 1889 the pavilion, which had been so
much thought of, was found to be rather inadequate in its accommodation for
the increasing requirements of the members, so it was resolved to enlarge
it. When old Hampden was abandoned to the "iron horse" some five years
before, and the Queen's Park resolved to erect what was then called the "
old pavilion," it was considered an ambitious attempt, and doubtless, had it
been made by any other club at that time, would have provoked much misgiving
on the wisdom of the step with such a short lease of its holding. The
public, however, had acquired the habit of expecting the initial steps of
progress from the premier club, and accepted the first brick-built football
clubhouse in Scotland as a fitting token of the club's important position.
Although this building was quite sufficient to meet the wants of the home
and visiting teams on the occasion of a match, a growing desire on the part
of the members to occupy it for training and other purposes pointed strongly
to its inadequacy. The management wisely decided to devote a large portion
of its growing balance, after the renewal of the ground lease, to effect
reforms and enlarge the pavilion. At a cost of over £550 the roof was
removed, and another storey added to the pavilion, while a fairly spacious
gymnasium was erected to the rear, having connection with the clubhouse, no
other entrance to it being provided. In the new details, the general
characteristics of the old building were preserved. The existing roof was
raised seven feet. Small as the space seems, it increased the accommodation
almost double. The old committee room was absorbed in the enlarged
dressing-rooms. Below, a rearrangement of shower baths and lavatories was
effected, which gave each team the privacy of a distinct portion, and an
entrance into the gymnasium. The added storey was used as a reading and
recreation room, and committee room, which were reached by a spiral iron
stair from the vestibule. The former room measured 26 feet 6 inches by 18
feet. It proved an attractive resort to the members on winter evenings,
being well supplied with games and the periodicals of the day, while in the
summer the oriel window, hanging in Swiss chalet style over the entrance,
formed a point of vantage for the ground habitues, who seemed happy only
when at Hampden. Lying off this room, and separated by a folding partition,
was the committee room, 17 feet 6 inches by 11 feet. The gymnasium, on the
ground floor, ran the full length of the rear building, its inside
dimensions being 37 feet 6 inches by 16 feet. The appearance of the
structure from the field was neat, and the building as a whole, internally
and externally, brought Scotland in the matter of pavilions quite up to the
English standard. The plans were drawn, and the work carried out, under the
supervision of Messrs. Ninian Macwhannel and John Rogerson, architects, West
Regent Street, Glasgow, who at the time were justly congratulated on the
excellent manner in which they had transformed the old building, given more
conveniences, and made it suitable for the purposes for which it was
intended— namely, the " recreation of the members"—provided more generous
accommodation on match days for the teams, and a social club for the
members, with facilities which could not be found elsewhere. This pavilion
met all the requirements of the club until the time arrived that it became
necessary to seek a larger and greater Hampden. On great occasions the
enormous crowds which visited the classic slopes found themselves confined
almost to a dangerous extent, the gates having often to be closed—a state of
matters which did not suit either the Queen's Park or the public, whose
convenience it had ever been the ambition of the club to meet, as far as in
it lay. It had no wages to pay to professional players—a tax on professional
clubs which in some cases exceeds a couple of thousands a year. Apart from
the ordinary expenses of the club, the balances were devoted to the
betterment of the surroundings.
In the beginning of season 1887-88 terraces were erected
in front of the pavilion, and in November the roofing of the south stand was
decided upon. Neither stand had a covering up to this point. Col. J. B.
Wilson, architect, prepared plans and specifications, and estimates were
received for the work. As the club's lease of Hampden Park was almost at an
end, the architect was asked to prepare other plans on a less expensive
scale. However, a new lease for five years was given by Messrs. Dixon
Limited, and the work was proceeded with, and completed. From May to
November, 1889, over £1,300 had been expended on improvements, banking round
the field, roofing stand, and the new gymnasium, with Mr. Benson, Glasgow
University Gynasium, as instructor.