A brilliant fundraising success as West of Scotland Tartan Army are crowned The First Hampden Challenge Cup Champions
On Friday evening we held our inaugural Football’s Square Mile Stakeholder Event, where we invited teams from our Football’s Square Mile Alliance to battle it out in a five-a-side quiz format for The First Hampden Challenge Cup. Fifteen Quiz Teams gathered in the Victoria Bar in South Glasgow, where Scotland’s first association football club was born in 1867; Queen’s Park Football Club. This was originally known as 3 Eglinton Terrace and is Site No. 11 of Football's Square Mile.
The evening was packed with updates on our progress, interwoven with the best football poetry and stories, and finished off in style with a tie breaker which crowned the West of Scotland Tartan Army as our inaugural champions. They successfully held off a strong challenge from Hampden Bowling Club, with Glasgow Life finishing in third place to finalise the placings.
Annie Kane, Manager of the Victoria Bar, explains, “What an amazing event, bringing so many people together to raise awareness of Football’s Square Mile. A big congratulations to the West of Scotland Tartan Army for winning The First Hampden Challenge Cup in the birthplace of Queen’s Park Football Club. We hope many more people visit the Victoria Bar to walk into this fascinating history.”
John Daly, Captain of the West of Scotland Tartan Army Team (WESTA), said, “We had a great night. Not only was it fun, it was tremendously informative. That our WESTA team won the trophy for the inaugural Football’s Square Mile quiz was the brown sauce on the pie. Our sympathies go to the Hampden Bowling Club quizzers with whom we were neck and neck all night. Had we been able to share the trophy with them - we wouldn’t have dreamed of doing it. It was a competition after all.”
John Douglas, Captain of The Hampden Bowling Club Team, said, “Hampden Bowling Club thoroughly enjoyed playing in this inaugural Football’s Square Mile quiz. We thought we would be able to take the trophy back to the First Hampden Park, but we were outdone by WESTA who won on the toss of a shilling coin dated 1872, adding to the drama. Big congratulations to WESTA on their fabulous victory, and we will be back next year to see if we can wrestle the title away from them. Our bowling season starts on Saturday 12th April at 2pm, and we warmly invite everyone to come along to our Opening Day as we enter our 120th year.”
Everyone agreed they had a ball. The photos from the evening taken by the brilliant Campbell Ramage captured the enthusiasm at our event, which gave the eager locals a chance to find out more about the amazing history and heritage which sits around them.
Gregor Hall, Director of Queen’s Park Football Club, said, “The evening was very enjoyable and a great success in spreading the work of the Football’s Square Mile Team. To be held in the Victoria Bar, the location where Queen’s Park Football Club was founded back in 1867, made the evening more special. Many thanks to Graeme, Siggy, David and all the team in what was a splendid night.”
Julie McNeill, The Hampden Collection Gaffer, added, “What a brilliant night celebrating the stakeholders, volunteers and champions committed to the preservation of Scotland’s footballing history. Well done to our speakers and organisers - Graeme Brown, Siggy Young, David Coutts, Barry Kirk, David Cook, Rory Bryce and Colin Mackie. A huge thank you to the Victoria Bar for hosting. My thanks to the poets, John Daly, Fiona Skillen and Donna Matthew for bringing the stories alive in the way only poetry can. When’s the next one?”
We would like to especially thank the sponsors, FirstBus, who sponsored the stunning trophy, and Admiral Taverns and Victoria Bar, for providing the amazing prize fund, and everyone who donated a raffle prize. We were honoured and humbled that WESTA donated their first prize to the Football’s Square Mile mission. This act of generosity is what this mission is all about, as we support the cradle of the modern game and our ambition to make the world's biggest open-air football museum a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Finally a huge thank you to all the teams who entered - West of Scotland Tartan Army, Hampden Bowling Club, Glasgow Life, SFA/Scottish Football Museum, Friends of Southern Necropolis, Queen’s Park Football Club, Victoria Bar’s Six Teams, Football’s Square Mile, The Hampden Collection and the Jimmy Johnstone Academy.
Congratulations on making a memorable evening, which raised over £1200 for our Not-For-Profit organisation. This will be fully invested back into creating more events around Football’s Square Mile and beyond.
Listen out for future events - we are going to take this show on the road!
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