Glasgow follows Eindhoven lead

The final curtain fell on the 2005/06 UEFA Cup season in Eindhoven last night – and thoughts were already turning to next year's final at Hampden Park, Glasgow on 16 May 2007.

Second final in five years
The impressive Scottish venue will be staging its second European club final in five years, following the 2002 UEFA Champions League showpiece between Real Madrid CF and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and officials from the Scottish Football Association (SFA) have been in Eindhoven to look at the preparatory work undertaken by their Dutch colleagues.

Wonderful platform
"The Dutch FA, PSV Eindhoven and the City of Eindhoven have worked hard to deliver a wonderful platform for the UEFA Cup final, and we look forward to the opportunity of emulating that success in Glasgow next year," said SFA chief executive David Taylor.

Major event destination
"To be awarded a major European final by UEFA for the second time in five years clearly reaffirms, in my opinion, the status of Scotland, Glasgow and the Scottish FA as a major event destination, host and organiser," he added. "Events of this size also deliver tremendous benefit to grassroots football. We should never forget that major European final nights fuel our younger generations' footballing dreams."

Project management team
The SFA has already set up a proficient project management team including key partners from Hampden Park, Glasgow's city authorities and marketing office, the British airport authorities and Strathclyde police.

Fantastic atmosphere
"I remember with great fondness the fantastic atmosphere in the city for the Champions League final in May 2002," said Alex Mosson, chairman of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and Glasgow City Council's spokesperson on marketing and events. "We learned a lot in 2002 and I'm delighted that many of the same people involved back then are part of the partnership in place to deliver 2007."

High standard
David Kells, managing director of Hampden Park, was similarly enthused. "This will be Hampden's sixth major European final, and we look forward to it continuing the high standard set in the previous matches and producing another outstanding night at Scotland's national stadium."

Famous finals
UEFA is happy to be returning to the scene of some of its most famous nights. Hampden Park has hosted three European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League finals: the 2002 showpiece, which Madrid won 2-1; the 1976 game, when FC Bayern München beat AS Saint-Etienne 1-0; and perhaps the most memorable of all finals in 1960, when more than 127,000 people crammed into the ground to witness the 7-3 victory of the great Madrid side of Di Stéfano, Puskas and Gento over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Passion and emotion
"The UEFA Cup has moved on a long way from those early pioneer days of European football, and so have the grounds and the stadia that host the matches," said UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson. "Most importantly, football is made up of memories, of passion and of emotion and we know that in coming to Scotland and to Glasgow, we will get this in abundance."