Wembley got £120 million. Here's why Murrayfield stadium deserves some state cash too

As the Paris Olympics proved yet again the value of National Lottery support for British athletes, it is time to argue for another sporting icon which deserves a sprinkling of UK Government’s and that fund’s financial stardust: Murrayfield Stadium.

Next year is the centenary, not just of this jewel in our national sporting crown, but of our first rugby Grand Slam in 1925. Of course, I can’t claim to have been there to witness England’s defeat in the newly opened stadium, but I was there in 1984 to savour the Grand Slam victory over France.

What a day that was. For me, there is something very special about being the Member of Parliament for the home of Scottish Rugby with its history of achievements and happy memories. It is a responsibility of which I am not only incredibly proud, but which has taught me a great deal over the past seven years of working alongside its custodians.

There are few experiences in the sport that can touch the collective consciousness like that lone piper’s melancholic swirl from the roof of the stand on match day. Or the acapella rendition of our national song’s second verse without which no international game would be complete.

Precedents have been set

Welsh friends tell me it even makes the hair on the back of their necks stand up, though more in apprehension than the anticipation which it provokes in Scots. Young and old mix together in harmony as encouragements are shouted, while scarves and possibly the odd beverage are swapped.

If there is one sadness, it is that our national stadium does not seem to attract the same financial support from our government which others have received. In Cardiff, for example, the Principality Stadium was opened in 1999 with £4.3 million from the Millennium Commission raised through the National Lottery, and Wembley got £120m.

Investment in what are spectacular venues, I would argue, sets a precedent we should have replicated in Edinburgh. The economic benefit to the city, and the country is huge – and not just from the rugby internationals.

Early estimates put the contribution that three nights of Taylor Swift made to the economy at upwards of £75m. While I didn’t join the massive crowds, I have enjoyed everyone from David Bowie and the Stones to the Spice Girls at Murrayfield, each with an unforgettable atmosphere and memories to cherish.

A national treasure

Once I even took in an American football game. Only once though, and I haven’t been to any of the football games which have provoked such controversy among my constituents, and probably not much enjoyment for the stadium authorities either.

But it is not just international matches or lucrative performances by pop superstars that the stadium hosts and the Scottish Rugby Union supports. There are many endeavours they want to encourage: women’s rugby, junior rugby, wider access to sport. And who could forget the work they have done with the late great Doddie Weir and his foundation to promote research into motor neurone disease.

We have a treasure which holds so many memories and adds so much to our cultural life. It’s time it had the government financial support and recognition it deserves to ensure that its centenary year in 2025 is one to remember.

Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West