17 April 1909 – The Original Hampden Riot and its Consequences

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·17 April 2025

17 April 1909 – The Original Hampden Riot and its Consequences

SATURDAY 17th APRIL 1909 – One of Scottish football’s saddest days as spectators riot after the Celtic v Rangers Scottish Cup Final replay. The game finishes 1-1 with Jimmy Quinn scoring Celtic’s goal.

Jimmy Quinn, image by Celtic Curio

OneFootball Videos

Some fans think that there is to be extra-time. As the authorities dither, mayhem breaks out and Hampden is sacked by the alcohol-fuelled hordes. Contrary, however, to what has been portrayed, this is NOT a sectarian riot. Rather, it is caused by the widespread perception that both teams were “at it” i.e. fixing a game to ensure yet another big gate! Supporters of both teams act in rare accord with each other!

David Potter

Hampden Riot 1909

17 April 1909 – The First Hampden Riot

It’s a good time to retell the story of the original Hampden Riot in 1909.

When thinking of the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers, ‘the Hampden riot’ of 1980 is rarely far from one’s thoughts. However, this fixture has a history of mayhem at the national stadium, which stretches back much further.

Many historians deem the original Hampden riot, on 17 April 1909, to be a major development in the rivalry. On this occasion, the Glasgow clubs were playing out a Scottish Cup Final replay. The match finished 1-1 and everybody had assumed that there would be extra time, including the players, who stayed on the pitch. However, this assumption did not take in to account the fact that SFA rules did not permit extra time until a second replay had been played.

Rumours of conspiracy quickly spread around the stadium, sending fans on both sides into splenetic rage with the conviction that the game had been deliberately drawn to ensure a third pay day. Many supporters spilled onto the pitch to remonstrate, charging in the direction of the changing rooms, where the players had sharply headed. So palpable was the anger among the pitch invaders that dozens of police officers had to use truncheons to stop them from advancing beyond the field.

Suddenly, bedlam erupted! Wooden terracing was set alight, goal posts were hauled down and punches flew at intervening police officers. The rioters set pay boxes ablaze and slashed the fire brigade’s hoses when they arrived at the ground. Turf was also uprooted, and ambulance staff were even assaulted when trying to treat injured police officers.

Reinforcements had to be called from the local constabulary, yet the relief they brought in managing to move the mobs away from the stadium was only temporary, as rioting continued for a further two hours on the streets of Glasgow’s south side.

Disorder on such a large scale was never going to avoid punishment. Indeed, the SFA called an urgent meeting on the Monday morning to decide upon appropriate action. The meeting revealed that the rioters had used knives and bottles as their weapons of choice, which had injured no fewer than 54 police officers. The committee also calculated total damage costs at £800.

The SFA decided to donate £500 to Queen’s Park FC to repair their Hampden Park Stadium, whilst Celtic and Rangers were both fined £150 each to split the remaining cost of repairs. Considering that the match tickets raised £4000, this was a pittance for each club to pay. Following payment of the fines, representatives from both clubs made it clear to the SFA that they were against holding another replay. Therefore, the 1909 Scottish Cup was made void.

Liam Kelly

*This story is included in Take Me To Your Paradise: A history of Celtic-related incidents & events

Aftermath and Consequences to the first Scottish Cup Final Riot

ON MONDAY 19 APRIL 1909 the SFA made the decision that the Scottish Cup would be withheld that year following Saturday’s riot at the Scottish Cup final replay at Hampden between Celtic and Rangers. The replay finished 1-1 and both sets of supporters, and indeed many of the players, expected extra time to be played.

While this decision was being taken by the SFA, Celtic were in Edinburgh beating Hearts 2-1 in a Scottish League match, the goals being scored by Jimmy McMenemy.

But back to the match on that Saturday which many football historians regard as the day the intense rivalry between the two Glasgow clubs kicked off.

Here’s how the match is described on the Celtic Wiki…

Mayhem broke out at the Scottish Cup Final replay when hundreds of fans rioted at the end of the match.

It was the second time that Celtic and Rangers had finished all square. Most of the players and fans alike assumed that there would be extra time. However under the rules of the SFA, extra time was only permissible for the second replay.

When the referee blew the final whistle, a number of players remained on the pitch as if in expectation of extra time. Encouraged by this, many of the spectators also stood their ground. A rumour spread around the terraces that the result had been pre-arranged to secure a third lucrative pay day. The players were invited to leave the pitch and when the uprooting of corner flags by a groundsman made clear there would be no further play, the crowd spilled on to the pitch. They appeared to be on their way to the dressing rooms with the intention of persuading the teams to come out again. The police barred their way, and the players quietly left the stadium.

The spectators then turned their wrath on the constabulary, and a full-scale riot was soon in progress. Wooden barricading torn from the terracing was set alight on the track around the playing area. Hundreds of fans spilled onto the pitch and took their anger out by tearing down the goals, cutting up the turf and setting fire to the pay-boxes and stand, using whisky as fuel. Some of the rioters tore up and down the pitch with a roller. The fire brigade was summoned when pay boxes were set ablaze and police reinforcements arrived from all over the city. The rioters slashed the hoses of the firemen and abused and obstructed ambulance men.

Arrests proved almost impossible, with the police constantly having to rescue isolated and endangered colleagues. Knives, stones, bottles and fragments of wood were used as weapons. More than 100 people were hurt during the rioting, many of them police and firemen; it was reported that fifty-four policemen had been injured.

Even when the fans were finally forced from the ground, they continued to attack the police outside, and set about breaking windows in nearby houses and smashing street lamps. The riot went on for two hours or more, and damage was estimated at £800.

When the Scottish Football Association met to consider the matter the following Monday, both clubs made it clear that they did not wish to stage another replay, so the final was never decided and the cup and players medals were withheld

The association gave Queen’s Park £500 towards repairs to the stadium and ordered the two clubs to pay £150 each – a negligible sum in view of the fact that the total takings from the two matches fell not far short of £4000.

The press was scathing in its treatment of the rioters. The Pall Mall Gazette for example, reacted: “The football craze is one of the most active deleterious influences to which the character of the masses is now subjected: and we cannot too soon set about counteracting it with the wholesome discipline of military training.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WRITE FOR THE CELTIC STAR?

We’d love to hear from you! You can write about any Celtic related subject of your choice, just send your Celtic related contribution to editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we will do the rest…

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books.

Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image above to join.