By Sarah Hilley
Hampden could be in line for a £14 million investment as Glasgow looks to potentially host six games at the 2028 European Championships.
Councillors agreed to pour £7.5 million into the delivery of the event at a meeting on Thursday.
A council official told councillors as much as £14m could be spent on the stadium if the bid was successful.
“Some of the things we are looking at are significant investment in Hampden itself to make it a more attractive venue to help with bringing future events to the city,” said councillor Annette Christie.
Russia and Turkey have also expressed interest in hosting the tournament, despite the former’s national teams and domestic clubs being suspended by Fifa and Uefa as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. The result is expected to be announced next year.
Hampden hosted four matches during last year’s Euros, but had a vastly reduced capacity due to Covid-19 attendance restrictions.
The notion of revamping Scotland’s national stadium has regularly reared its head amid complaints from supporters.
The Scottish FA purchased the stadium from Queen’s Park in 2018 in a £5m deal, when chief executive Ian Maxwell said the association was at “the start of a journey” to make Hampden “the best it can be”.
“There’s no doubt Hampden needs to be improved. We’re not going to hide from that,” he added.
“Whether that’s outside the stadium in terms of pre-match to enhance the matchday experience or what we can do when we are inside the stadium bowl, what we can do from a seating perspective.”
Modernised in the mid 1990s, the current stadium, which has a capacity of 51,866, has been criticised for a poor fan experience while sitting behind the goals.
When Hampden Park attracted crowds of more than 100,000.