Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and the third largest in the United Kingdom (after London and Birmingham). Greater Glasgow had a population of 1,199,629 at the 2001 census. At the 2011 census, it had a population density of 8,790/sq mi (3,390/km2), the highest of any Scottish city. It is situated on the River Clyde in the country’s West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians.
Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric and royal burgh, and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. From the 18th century the city also grew as one of Great Britain’s main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America and the West Indies.
With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the population and economy of Glasgow and the surrounding region expanded rapidly to become one of the world’s pre-eminent centres of chemicals, textiles and engineering; most notably in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was the «Second City of the British Empire» for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, although many cities argue the title was theirs.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, eventually reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939 In the 1960s, comprehensive urban renewal projects resulting in large-scale relocation of people to new towns and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes, have reduced the current population of the City of Glasgow council area to 599,650 with 1,209,143 people living in the Greater Glasgow urban area. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, 41% of Scotland’s population. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Glasgow is also well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers.
History
The present site of Glasgow has been used since prehistoric times for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, at the point of its confluence with the Molendinar Burn. After the Romans left Caledonia, the settlement was part of the extensiveKingdom of Strathclyde, with its capital at Dumbarton 15 mi (24 km) downstream, which merged in the 9th century with other regions to create the united Kingdom of Scotland. The origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotland’s second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow.
There had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth and status to the town. Between 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further when Bishop Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status of Burgh from King William I of Scotland, allowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal guarantees. Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair.
Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 served to increase the town’s religious and educational status, and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe and the Mediterranean.
Following the Reformation and with the encouragement of the Convention of Royal Burghs the 14 Incorporated Trade Crafts federated as the Trades House in 1605 to match the power and influence in the Town Council of the earlier Merchants Guilds who established their Merchants House in the same year. Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. Glasgow’s substantial fortunes came from international trade, manufacturing and invention starting in the 17th century with sugar, followed by tobacco, and then cotton and linen.
Daniel Defoe visited the city in the early 18th century and famously opined in his book A tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain, that Glasgow was «the cleanest and beautifullest, and best built city in Britain, London excepted.» At that time, the city’s population numbered about 12000, and was yet to undergo the massive expansionary changes to the city’s economy and urban fabric, brought about by the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
Trading port
After the Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland gained further access to the vast markets of the new British Empire, and Glasgow became prominent as a hub of international trade to and from the Americas, especially in sugar, tobacco, cotton, and manufactured goods. The city’s Tobacco Lords created a deep water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde, as the river within the city itself was then too shallow. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgow’s River Clyde, with over 47,000,000 lb (21,000 t) of tobacco being imported each year at its peak. At the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton.
Industralisation
The opening of the Monkland Canal and basin linking to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Port Dundas in 1795, facilitated access to the extensive iron-ore and coal mines in Lanarkshire. After extensive river engineering projects to dredge and deepen the River Clyde as far as Glasgow, shipbuilding became a major industry on the upper stretches of the river, pioneered by industrialists such as Robert Napier, John Elder, George Thomson, Sir William Pearce and Sir Alfred Yarrow.
The River Clyde also became an important source of inspiration for artists, such as John Atkinson Grimshaw, John Knox, James Kay, Sir Muirhead Bone, Robert Eadie, Stanley Spencer and L.S. Lowry, willing to depict the new industrial era and the modern world.
Glasgow’s population had surpassed that of Edinburgh by 1821. The development of civic institutions included the City of Glasgow Police in 1800, one of the first municipal police forces in the world. Despite the crisis caused by the City of Glasgow Bank’s collapse in 1878, growth continued and by the end of the 19th century it was one of the cities known as the «Second City of the Empire» and was producing more than half Britain’s tonnage of shipping and a quarter of all locomotives in the world. In addition to its pre-eminence in shipbuilding, engineering, industrial machinery, bridge building, chemicals, explosives, coal and oil industries it developed as a major centre in textiles, garment-making, carpet manufacturing, leather processing, furniture-making, pottery, food, drink and cigarette making; printing and publishing. Shipping, banking, insurance and professional services expanded at the same time.
Glasgow became one of the first cities in Europe to reach a population of one million. The city’s new trades and sciences attracted new residents from across the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, from other parts of Britain and Ireland and from Continental Europe.
During this period, the construction of many of the city’s greatest architectural masterpieces and most ambitious civil engineering projects, such as the Milngavie water treatment works, Glasgow Subway, Glasgow Corporation Tramways, City Chambers, Mitchell Library and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum were being funded by its wealth. The city also held a series of International Exhibitions at Kelvingrove Park, in 1888, 1901 and 1911, with Britain’s last major International Exhibition, the Empire Exhibition, being subsequently held in 1938 at Bellahouston Park, which drew 13 million visitors.
The 20th century witnessed both decline and renewal in the city. After World War I, the city suffered from the impact of the Post–World War I recession and from the later Great Depression, this also led to a rise of radical socialism and the «Red Clydeside» movement. The city had recovered by the outbreak of World War II and grew through the post-war boom that lasted through the 1950s. By the 1960s, growth of industry in countries like Japan and West Germany, weakened the once pre-eminent position of many of the city’s industries.
As a result of this, Glasgow entered a lengthy period of relative economic decline and rapid de-industrialisation, leading to high unemployment, urban decay, population decline, welfare dependency and poor health for the city’s inhabitants. There were active attempts at regeneration of the city, when the Glasgow Corporation published its controversial Bruce Report, which set out a comprehensive series of initiatives aimed at turning round the decline of the city. The report led to a huge and radical programme of rebuilding and regeneration efforts that started in the mid-1950s and lasted into the late 1970s. This involved the mass demolition of the city’s infamous slums and their replacement with large suburban housing estates and tower blocks.
The city invested heavily in roads infrastructure, with an extensive system of arterial roads and motorways that bisected the central area.There are also accusations that the Scottish Office had deliberately attempted to undermine Glasgow’s economic and political influence in post-war Scotland by diverting inward investment in new industries to other regions during the Silicon Glen boom and creating the new towns of Cumbernauld, Glenrothes, Irvine, Livingston and East Kilbride, dispersed across the Scottish Lowlands to halve the city’s population base.
By the late 1980s, there had been a significant resurgence in Glasgow’s economic fortunes. The «Glasgow’s miles better» campaign, launched in 1983, and opening of the Burrell Collection in 1983 and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in 1985 facilitated Glasgow’s new role as a European centre for business services and finance and promoted an increase in tourism and inward investment. The latter continues to be bolstered by the legacy of the city’s Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988, its status as European City of Culture in 1990, and concerted attempts to diversify the city’s economy. Wider economic revival has persisted and the ongoing regeneration of inner-city areas, including the large-scale Clyde Waterfront Regeneration, has led to more affluent people moving back to live in the centre of Glasgow, fuelling allegations of gentrification. The city is now considered by Lonely Planet to be one of the world’s top 10 tourist cities.
Despite Glasgow’s economic renaissance, the East End of the city remains the focus of social deprivation. A Glasgow Economic Audit report published in 2007 stated that the gap between prosperous and deprived areas of the city is widening. In 2006, 47% of Glasgow’s population lived in the most deprived 15% of areas in Scotland, while the Centre for Social Justice reported 29.4% of the city’s working-age residents to be «economically inactive». Although marginally behind the UK average, Glasgow still has a higher employment rate than Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.
In 2008 the city was ranked at 43 for Personal Safety in the Mercer index of top 50 safest cities in the world. The Mercer report was specifically looking at Quality of Living, yet by 2011 within Glasgow, certain areas were (still) «failing to meet the Scottish Air Quality Objective levels for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10).»
The city centre is bounded by the High Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to the west and north, which was built through the Townhead, Charing Cross, Cowcaddens and Anderston areas in the 1960s.
Retail and theatre district
The city centre is based on a grid system of streets on the north bank of the River Clyde. The heart of the city is George Square, site of many of Glasgow’s public statues and the elaborate Victorian Glasgow City Chambers, headquarters of Glasgow City Council. To the south and west are the shopping precincts of Argyle Street, Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Street, the last featuring more upmarket retailers and winner of the Academy of Urbanism «Great Street Award» 2008.
The main shopping centres are Buchanan Galleries and the St. Enoch Centre, with the up-market Princes Square and the Italian Centre specialising in designer labels. The London-based department store Selfridges purchased a site in the city some years ago as part of its plans to expand stores—plans now shelved, according to the company. Glasgow’s retail portfolio forms the UK’s second largest and most economically important retail sector after Central London.
Merchant City
To the east is the commercial and residential district of Merchant City. The Merchant City was formerly the residential district of the wealthy city merchants in the 18th and early 19th centuries, particularly the Tobacco Lords from whom many of the streets take their name. As the Industrial Revolution and the wealth it brought to the city resulted in the expansion of Glasgow’s central area westward, the original medieval centre was left behind. Glasgow Cross, situated at the junction of High Street, Gallowgate, Trongate and Saltmarket was the original centre of the city, symbolised by its Mercat cross. Glasgow Cross encompasses the Tolbooth Clock Tower; all that remains of the original City Chambers, which was destroyed by fire in 1926. Moving northward up High Street towardsRottenrow and Townhead lies the 15th century Glasgow Cathedral and the Provand’s Lordship. Due to growing industrial pollution levels in the mid-to-late 19th century, the area fell out of favour with residents.
From the late 1980s onwards, the Merchant City has been rejuvenated with luxury city centre flats and warehouse conversions. This regeneration has supported an increasing number of cafés and restaurants. The area is also home to a number of high end boutique style shops and some of Glasgow’s most upmarket stores.
The Merchant City is the centre of Glasgow’s growing «cultural quarter», based on King Street, the Saltmarket and Trongate, and at the heart of the annual Merchant City Festival. The area has supported a huge growth in art galleries, the origins of which can be found in the late 1980s when it attracted artist-led organisations that could afford the cheap rents required to operate in vacant manufacturing or retail spaces. The artistic and cultural potential of the Merchant City as a «cultural quarter» was harnessed by independent arts organisations and Glasgow City Council, and the recent development of Trongate 103, which houses galleries, workshops, artist studios and production spaces, is considered a major outcome of the continued partnership between both. The area also contains a number of theatres and concert venues, including the Tron Theatre, the Old Fruitmarket, the Trades Hall, St. Andrew’s in the Square, Merchant Square, and the City Halls.
Financial district
To the western edge of the city centre, occupying the areas of Blythswood Hill and Anderston, lies Glasgow’s financial district, known officially as the International Financial Services District (IFSD), although often irreverently nicknamed by the contemporary press as the «square kilometre» or «Wall Street on Clyde». Since the late 1980s the construction of many modern office blocks and high rise developments have paved the way for the IFSD to become one of the UK’s largest financial quarters. With a reputation as an established financial services centre, coupled with comprehensive support services, Glasgow continues to attract and grow new business.
West End
Glasgow’s West End is a bohemian district of cafés, tea rooms, bars, boutiques, upmarket hotels, clubs and restaurants in the hinterland of Kelvingrove Park, the University of Glasgow, Glasgow Botanic Gardens and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, focused especially on the area’s main thoroughfare, Byres Road. The area is popular with tourists, and contains many hotels, including the prestigious One Devonshire Gardens, which has accommodated a number of celebrity guests on visits to the city.
The West End includes residential areas of Hillhead, Dowanhill, Kelvingrove, Kelvinside, Hyndland, Broomhill, and, to an increasing extent, Partick. The name is also increasingly being used to refer to any area to the west of Charing Cross. This includes areas such as Scotstoun, Jordanhill, Kelvindale and Anniesland.
The West End is bisected by the River Kelvin, which flows from the Campsie Fells in the north and confluences with the River Clyde at Yorkhill Quay.
The spire of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s Glasgow University main building (the second largest Gothic Revival building in Great Britain) is a major landmark, and can be seen from miles around, sitting atop Gilmorehill. The university itself is the fourth oldest in theEnglish-speaking world.Much of the city’s student population is based in the West End, adding to its cultural vibrancy.
The area is also home to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena and the Henry Wood Hall (home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra although they generally perform at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall). Adjacent to the Kelvin Hall was the Museum of Transport, which reopened in 2010 after moving to a new location on a former dockland site at Glasgow Harbour where the River Kelvin flows into the Clyde. The new building is built to a design by Zaha Hadid. The West End Festival, one of Glasgow’s largest festivals, is held annually in June.
Glasgow is the home of the SECC, Great Britain’s largest exhibition and conference centre. On 30 September 2013, a major expansion of the SECC facilities at the former Queen’s Dock by Foster and Partners officially opened – the 13,000 seat Hydro arena.
East End
The East End extends from Glasgow Cross in the City Centre to the boundary with North and South Lanarkshire. It is home to the famous Glasgow Barrowland market, popularly known as «The Barras», Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow Green, and Celtic Park, home of Celtic FC. Many of the original sandstone tenements remain in this district. The East End was once a major industrial centre, home to Sir William Arrol & Co., James Templeton & Co and William Beardmore and Company. A notable local employer continues to be the Wellpark Brewery, home of Tennent’s Lager.
The Glasgow Necropolis Cemetery was created by the Merchants House on a hill above the cathedral in 1831. Routes curve through the landscape uphill to the 62-metre (203 ft) high statue of John Knox at the summit. There are two late 18th century tenements in Gallowgate. Dating from 1771 and 1780, both have been well restored. The construction of Charlotte Street was financed by David Dale, whose former pretensions can be gauged by the one remaining house, now run by the National Trust for Scotland. Further along Charlotte Street there stands a modern Gillespie, Kidd & Coia building of some note. Once a school, it has been converted into offices. Surrounding these buildings are a series of innovative housing developments conceived as «Homes for the Future», part of a project during the city’s year as UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999.
East of Glasgow Cross is St Andrew’s in the Square, the oldest post-Reformation church in Scotland, built in 1739–1757 and displaying a Presbyterian grandeur befitting the church of the city’s wealthy tobacco merchants. Also close by is the more modest Episcopalian St Andrew’s-by-the-Green, the oldest Episcopal church in Scotland. The Episcopalian St Andrew’s was also known as the «Whistlin’ Kirk» due to it being the first church after the Reformation to own an organ.
Overlooking Glasgow Green is the façade of Templeton On The Green, featuring vibrant polychromatic brickwork intended to evoke the Doge’s Palace in Venice.
The extensive Tollcross Park was originally developed from the estate of James Dunlop, the owner of a local steelworks. His large baronial mansion was built in 1848 by David Bryce, which later housed the city’s Children’s Museum until the 1980s. Today, the mansion is a sheltered housing complex.
The new Scottish National Indoor Sports Arena, a modern replacement for the Kelvin Hall, is planned for Dalmarnock. The area will also be the site of the Athletes’ Village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, located adjacent to the new indoor sports arena.
To the north of the East End lie the two massive gasometers of Provan Gas Works, which stand overlooking Alexandra Park and a major interchange between the M8 and M80 motorways. Often used for displaying large city advertising slogans, the towers have become an unofficial portal into the city for road users arriving from the north and east.
The East End Healthy Living Centre (EEHLC) was established in mid-2005 at Crownpoint Road with Lottery Funding and City grants to serve community needs in the area. The centre provides service such as sports facilities, health advice, stress management, leisure and vocational classes
North Glasgow extends out from the north of the city centre towards the affluent suburbs of Bearsden, Milngavie and Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire and Clydebank in West Dunbartonshire. The area also contains some of the city’s poorest residential areas.Possilpark is one such area, where levels of unemployment and drug abuse continue to be above the national average. Much of the housing in areas such as Possilpark and Hamiltonhill had fallen into a state of disrepair in recent years.
This has led to large scale redevelopment of much of the poorer housing stock in north Glasgow, and the wider regeneration of many areas, such as Ruchill, which have been transformed; many run-down tenements have now been refurbished or replaced by modern housing estates. Much of the housing stock in north Glasgow is rented social housing, with a high proportion of high-rise tower blocks, managed by the North Glasgow Housing Association trading as NG Homes and Glasgow Housing Association.
Maryhill consists of well maintained traditional sandstone tenements. Although historically a working class area, its borders with the upmarket West End of the city mean that it is relatively wealthy compared to the rest of the north of the city, containing affluent areas such as Maryhill Park and North Kelvinside. Maryhill is also home to Firhill Stadium, home of Partick Thistle F.C. since 1909. The junior team, Maryhill F.C. are also located in this part of north Glasgow.
The Forth and Clyde Canal passes through this part of the city, and at one stage formed a vital part of the local economy. It was for many years polluted and largely unused after the decline of heavy industry, but recent efforts to regenerate and re-open the canal to navigation have seen it rejuvenated.
Sighthill was home to Scotland’s largest asylum seeker community but area is now regenerated as part of Youth Olympic Games bid.
A huge part of the economic life of Glasgow was once located in Springburn, where the Saracen Foundry, engineering works of firms like Charles Tennant and locomotive workshops employed many Glaswegians. Indeed, Glasgow dominated this type of manufacturing, with 25% of all the world’s locomotives being built in the area at one stage. It was home to the headquarters of the North British Locomotive Company. Today part of the St. Rollox railway works continues in use as a railway maintenance facility, all that is left of the industry in Springburn.
Culture
The city has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and ballet and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. Many of the city’s cultural sites were celebrated in 1990 when Glasgow was designated European City of Culture.
The city’s principal library, the Mitchell Library, has grown into one of the largest public reference libraries in Europe, currently housing some 1.3 million books, an extensive collection of newspapers and thousands of photographs and maps.
Most of Scotland’s national arts organisations are based in Glasgow, including Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Youth Theatre.
Glasgow has its own «Poet Laureate», a post created in 1999 for Edwin Morgan and occupied by Liz Lochhead from 2005 until 2011, when she stood down to take up the position of Scots Makar. Jim Carruth was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate for Glasgow in 2014 as part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy.
In 2013, PETA declared Glasgow to be the most vegan-friendly city in the UK.
Recreation
Glasgow is home to a variety of theatres including the King’s Theatre, the Theatre Royal and the Citizens Theatre and is home to many municipal museums and art galleries, the most famous being the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and the Burrell Collection. Most of the museums in Glasgow are publicly owned and free to enter.
The city has hosted many exhibitions over the years, including being the UK City of Architecture 1999, European Capital of Culture 1990, National City of Sport 1995–1999 and European Capital of Sport 2003. Glasgow has also hosted the National Mòd no less than twelve times since 1895.
In addition, unlike the older and larger Edinburgh Festival (where all Edinburgh’s main festivals occur in the last three weeks of August), Glasgow’s festivals fill the calendar. Festivals include the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, Glasgow International Jazz Festival, Celtic Connections, Glasgow Fair,Glasgow Film Festival, West End Festival, Merchant City Festival, Glasgay, and the World Pipe Band Championships.
Religion
Glasgow is a city of significant religious diversity. The Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church are the two largest Christian denominations in the city. There are 147 congregations in the Church of Scotland’s Presbytery of Glasgow (of which 104 are within the city boundaries, the other 43 being in adjacent areas such as Giffnock). The city has four Christian cathedrals: Glasgow Cathedral, of the Church of Scotland; St Andrew’s Cathedral, of the Roman Catholic Church; St Mary’s Cathedral, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and St Luke’s Cathedral, of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Biblical unitarians are represented by three Christadelphian ecclesias, referred to geographically, as «South», «Central» and «Kelvin».
The Sikh community is served by 4 Gurdwaras. Two are situated in the West End (Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Finnieston and Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Kelvinbridge) and two in the Southside area of Pollokshields (Guru Granth Sahib Gurdwara and Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara). In 2013, Scotland’s first purpose-built Gurdwara opened in a massive opening ceremony. Built at a cost of £3.8m it can hold 1500 worshippers. Central Gurdwara is currently constructing a new building in the city. There are almost 10,000 Sikhs in Scotland and the majority live in Glasgow.
Sport
Football
The world’s first international football match was held in 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club’s Hamilton Crescent ground in the Partick area of the city. The match, between Scotland and England finished 0–0.
Glasgow is one of only four cities (along with Liverpool in 1985, Madrid in 1986, 2014 and Milan in 1994) to have had two football teams in European finals in the same season: in 1967 Celtic F.C. competed in the European Cup final with rivals Rangers F.C. competing in the Cup Winners’ Cup final. Rangers were the first football club from the UK to reach a European final, which they achieved in 1961. They have also won more domestic top tier league titles than any other football club in the world. Celtic were the first non-Latin club to win the European Cup, under the management of Jock Stein in 1967, before Manchester United the following year.
Hampden Park, which is Scotland’s national football stadium, holds the European record for attendance at a football match: 149,547 saw Scotland beat England 3-1 in 1937, in the days before leading British stadia became all-seated. Hampden Park has hosted the final of the UEFA Champions League on three occasions, most recently in 2002 and hosted the UEFA Cup Final in 2007. Celtic Park (60,355 seats) is located in the east end of Glasgow, and Ibrox Stadium (50,947 seats) on the south side.
Glasgow has three professional football clubs: Celtic, Rangers, and Partick Thistle. A fourth club, Queen’s Park, are an amateur club in the SPFL League 2. Prior to this, Glasgow had five other professional clubs Clyde (since moved to Cumbernauld), Third Lanark A.C., Cambuslang, Cowlairs, and Clydesdale (the last four were liquidated). There are a number of junior clubs within the city as well, such as Pollok, Maryhill,Benburb, Ashfield and Petershill, as well as countless numbers of amateur teams.
The history of football in the city, as well as the status of the Old Firm, attracts many visitors to football matches in the city throughout the season. The Scottish Football Association, the national governing body, and the Scottish Football Museum are based in Glasgow, as are theScottish Professional Football League, Scottish Junior Football Association and Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Glasgow Cup was a once popular tournament, which was competed for by Rangers, Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle and Queen’s Park. The competition is now played for by the youth sides of the five teams.
Glasgow is also home to five women’s football teams. Currently, Glasgow City F.C. are the champions of the Scottish Women’s Premier League. Other Glasgow teams include Celtic L.F.C., Rangers L.F.C., Partick Thistle Ladies and Queens Park L.F.C.
Rugby union
Glasgow has a professional rugby union club, the Glasgow Warriors, which plays in the European Rugby Champions Cup and Pro12 alongside teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy. The Warriors current home is Scotstoun Stadium and has been since 2012, previously they played at Firhill Stadium. They have won the Melrose 7s in both 2014 and 2015 and were also crowned champions of the Pro12 at the end of the 2014/15 season after beating Irish side Munster in Belfast.
In the Scottish League, Glasgow Hawks RFC was formed in 1997 by the merger of two of Glasgow’s oldest clubs: Glasgow Academicals and Glasgow High Kelvinside (GHK). Despite the merger, the second division teams of Glasgow Academicals and Glasgow High Kelvinside re-entered the Scottish rugby league in 1998.
In the South Glasgow suburb of Giffnock is based another of Glasgow’s most prominent clubs Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians RFC (GHA).GHA was formed in 2002 with the merger of two of Glasgow’s leading clubs at the time, Glasgow Southern RFC and Hutchesons’ Aloysians RFC. Cartha Queen’s Park play at Dumbreck.
Glasgow is also home to one of the oldest rugby clubs in Scotland, West of Scotland F.C., which was formed in 1865, and was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union.