No fans allowed at Hampden for Scottish Cup Final 2021

Hampden will be empty for this season’s Scottish Cup final – regardless of Scottish Government restrictions allowing supporters.

Hampden will be empty for the Scottish Cup final which has been rescheduled from May 8, to May 22 (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Holyrood has permitted spectators to attend Scotland’s Euro 2020 fixtures in a socially distanced arrangement at the National Stadium, which will host four games this summer.

However no supporters will be able to attend the Scottish Cup final on May 22 – because UEFA will take control of the stadium to prepare for the four European Championship matches – and have granted special dispensation to the Scottish Football Association to complete the season’s calendar.

The Scottish Cup was placed in abeyance along with the lower leagues in January and only resumed two weeks ago and a redrawn schedule saw the final moved by a fortnight.

Originally the SFA planned for a final on May 8 but while around 12,500 fans will be allowed in to the matches in June – filling approximately one quarter of the ground’s capacity each time – UEFA have no plans in place to allow club fans into the stands after taking control of the arena for the preparations on May 14.

Scotland play the Czech Republic exactly one month later and will also meet Croatia in Glasgow after the city was one of 12 selected for the unique 60th anniversary tournament spread across the continent. Work on the ground will mean fans cannot be accommodated ahead of the Euros while Queen’s Park have already left their ground this season.

Last year’s event was rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and national clinical director Jason Leitch has said the finer details for spectators’ attendance at Hampden this summer has still to be finalised.

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