Scotstoun Stadium
Athletics
Commonwealth Games
Glasgow
Score:
32
Overview
Glasgow was not the first-choice location for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, instead the city
stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria pulled out due to an escalating hosting bill. With just under two years to prepare for a slimmed-down games, with a budget less than 10% of that proposed for Victoria, it is perhaps no wonder that things felt a little cobbled together at the athletics. Facilities weren’t sufficient for the increased capacity of the stadium, many catering concessions did not have the full range of products their signage offered, and a games aiming to promote its green credentials had only one water refill station at its principal venue. High prices for seats with relatively limited views of both track and field undermined enjoyment of the events. Scheduling, at least in the session we attended, was also an issue with the morning petering out with a men’s decathlon pole vault competition that lacked in tension or stakes and would have been barely visible to any spectators at the east end of the stadium.
Score Summaries
Atmosphere & Experience: 5
At one point, a member of staff told us that only 65% of tickets for the session had been sold. If
that was the case, then quite a number of ticketholders had clearly opted not to turn up as the crowd appeared even sparser than that figure suggested. The lack of spectators left the whole morning session feeling flat. The loudest cheers came early on for Scotland’s Melanie Wood’s victory in the women’s 1500m T54 final. After that, the closest we came to atmosphere after that was the rhythmic clapping for a Cook Islands decathlete’s efforts in the pole vault. One couldn’t help but feel like the small crowd was reflective of the diminished interest in this games from fans, athletes, and broadcasters. If this, as some have suggested, was to be the last edition of the Commonwealth Games then the institution will have gone out with a whimper.
Seats: 4
I spoke to a lot of fellow Glaswegians in the build-up to the games who said they had opted out of
buying tickets due to their cost. We had purchased the cheapest available tickets for the athletics, which came in at £26 each. When we had climbed all the way to the back row of the temporary stand at the west side of Scotstoun, we discovered that our seats had been covered with ‘not in use’ signs. Had we been able to sit in them, they would have offered a high-flying bird’s eye view of proceedings on track and field. Fortunately, we were able to move to some of the unsold Category A seats in the main stand. Face value for these seats was £90 per person. Had we paid that much, we would certainly have felt cheated. While we had a good view of the few track races held during our session, we were unable to see the women’s long jump taking place on the other side of the stadium, and had a very limited view of the discus competition. There is something to be said for the efforts of the organisers to spread events around the stadium to give each stand a good view of at least one event, but it does call the pricing system into question.
Catering: 4
The boards above the bar in the main stand promised, amongst other things, salad boxes, sandwiches, pies, and hot dogs. Only the latter two were actually on sale and, even then, only one of the two types of pie advertised could actually be purchased. This was the Commonwealth Pie. Wondering if this was some sort of special invention for the Games that I was unaware of, I asked the person at the counter who soon disabused me of that notion by admitting, ‘It’s just a Scotch pie.’ Prices were higher than during Warriors games. The only beers available on tap were Tennents and Jubel, although there was a reasonable selection in cans. At the beginning of the morning session, the burger truck at the west end of the stadium offered Scottish breakfast rolls containing such local staples as potato scones and square sausage.
Facilities: 4
Not especially plentiful, with Portaloo’s set up at the east and west ends of the stadium to accommodate the expected increase in crowd numbers in the large temporary stands that had been erected for the Games.
Getting There: 8
A piper played for each train arriving at nearby Scotstounhill station ahead of each athletics session. Clear signposting made the walk to the stadium very easy, with friendly volunteers on hand to direct and provide assistance.
Getting Away: 7
Trains from Scotstounhill aren’t especially frequent, although plenty of bus stops on Dumbarton Road serve multiple routes going into the city centre.