GLASGOW WARRIORS managing director Al Kellock says they must ‘dare to dream’ after revealing that hosting the home leg of the 1872 Cup at Hampden could become an annual event.
The reigning URC champions have elected to switch the first match of the derby double-header with Edinburgh from their 7,000-capacity Scotstoun stadium to the 51,866-capacity home of Scottish football in the hope of drawing a much larger crowd for the December 22 fixture.
Kellock cited the precedents of Edinburgh moving matches to Murrayfield, Harlequins playing each year at the main Twickenham stadium, and Leinster switching matches to both the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park as part of the inspiration behind the move.
Glasgow captain Kyle Steyn poses with the URC trophy at Hampden
Glasgow coach Franco Smith is looking forward to experiencing a match a Hampden
Warriors chief Al Kellock is hoping for a big crowd when Glasgow play Edinburgh at Hampden
The former Scotland lock, though, also admitted there was a ‘little bit of a risk’ involved in decanting to Hampden but hoped Glasgow fans — both regular and fair-weather — would turn out in their tens of thousands to justify the decision.
‘I want this place to be absolutely rocking and I think the boys deserve it and the club deserves it as well,’ he said. ‘We’ve been speaking to various stadiums around Scotland, particularly around Glasgow for a long time.
‘We’ve had some challenges when it came to finding venues for the knockout phases of the URC. But I came in a few months ago and met Ian Maxwell (Scottish FA chief executive) here and the conversation has been great.
‘They’ve been really supportive and brilliant at looking at what we want to get out of it as well. It’s also about proving the concept that we can do this. In terms of the opportunity for Glasgow, if we’re going to do it, this is the year to do it.
‘The ask now to the Warrior Nation is to come and make this a special event. We’ve seen what’s happened at Edinburgh, we’ve seen what happened at Harlequins, what Leinster have done over the years. This is our opportunity to put our best foot forward and start that journey as well.
If you dare to dream, that’s where we want to be.
‘Undoubtedly this is outside people’s comfort zones. This is different. But from a club point of view, we genuinely feel this is the right time to do it. Ultimately, we need bums on seats. To win that (URC) trophy with performances on the park, what we need to do is keep the club growing off the park.’
Kellock also confirmed that supporters attending the game would be able to drink alcohol at their seats, one week after fans going to the same venue for football’s Premier Sports Cup final won’t have that same opportunity. ‘There will be the usual licensing,’ he added. ‘They’re used to concerts here so there are no issues from that perspective.’
