Hampden Park could be ditched as the home of Scottish football due to business rate hikes
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The home of Scottish football could change as Hampden Park is facing a business rates hike of 35 per cent, report the Daily Record.
Holyrood finance bosses are poised to impose crippling rises across Scottish business, some of up to 300 per cent, and many SPFL clubs will also take a hit.
Independent evaluations carried out in early 2015 will come into effect from April 1, with the rateable value of the national stadium increasing from £1million to £1.35m.
Bosses at Hampden Park Ltd, which owns the stadium, have been so stunned by the scale of the rise they are now considering an appeal.
Most businesses pay around 50 pence in the pound of their rateable value as tax, which means an increase for Hampden bosses of approximately £175,000 a year for the next five years.
Rates for football grounds are assessed on a range of factors including stadia capacities, average attendances and turnover from other streams of the business, including hospitality.
(Photo: Clive Rose)
A spokesman for Hampden Park Ltd said: “We’ve been advised of our new proposed rateable value and our independent assessor will review that value accordingly.”
The SFA have already commissioned an independent review to assess their options ahead of re-negotiations for the lease of the Mount Florida venue, which was last agreed in 2000 and expires in 2020.
The James Watson Consultancy have previously suggested Scottish football take its showpiece games around the country and use stadia such as Murrayfield, Celtic Park, Ibrox, Easter Road and Pittodrie.
Alloa chairman Mike Mulraney, a member of the powerful SFA board, admits the thumping rates rise could prove decisive when it comes to debating the future of Hampden as the independent home of Scottish football.
He said: “As a director of the SFA, anything that puts up the running costs of the national stadium can’t be welcomed.
“It’s hugely regrettable because increase costs have a secondary implication for Hampden, as well as other businesses.
(Photo: PA Wire)
"Cost savings may have to be made, either by a reduction in staffing or an increase in prices. There’s no magic wand. There will, regrettably, be an enormous impact for all football clubs, the SFA and all businesses.
“The new assessments clearly have not been thought out well enough or they would not be causing such huge concern.”
There are winners and losers across the Scottish game in the controversial new rates assessments, the first since 2010, which will apply for the next five years.
Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Dundee United and St Mirren have all seen the rateable value of their grounds fall while Rangers, Ross County, Inverness Caley Thistle, Dundee and Hamilton face significant rises.
The SPFL declined to comment, but a source said: “This is a matter specific to the clubs on an individual basis.”