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Unique club faces new challenge

The word 'unique' is often over used, but it must surely be applied to Glasgow team Queen's Park. They are the oldest football club in Scotland and they are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. They are the only Scottish club to win the FA Cup. They invented the modern passing game, originally referred to as 'combination' football.

They are also the only amateur club playing in the Scottish professional league system. There are, of course, no amateur clubs in the English Football League and the separate amateur system in England (sometimes referred to as 'shamateur') has long since disappeared with many non-league clubs having full-time squads.

Now the club faces a new challenge. They are based at the national stadium at Hampden Park which is also the home of the Scottish Football Association. However, their lease runs out in 2020 and there is uncertainty about their future there. The income that Queen's Park derives from Hampden is the basis of their financial model and enables them to run their community programmes: Future worries

The current capacity of Hampden is over 51,000, but average attendances at Queens Park games are around 750. However, the Spiders have a particularly vociferous away support sometimes known as the 'Irun Bru Firm' and the 'Spangle Army': Queen's Park

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