Scotland
Murrayfield could host Scotland national football team
ESPN Staff
January 26, 2015
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The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) is ready to open the doors of Murrayfield to its national football counterparts in a bid to slash debts.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is undecided whether to press on with a revamp of national stadium Hampden Park or move the Scottish national team elsewhere, with the lease set to expire in 2020. SRU chief Mark Dodson has made it clear the SFA could use the 67,000-seater Murrayfield if it decides to move away from Hampden.

Murrayfield hosted two of Celtic's Champions League games earlier this season while its own stadium was used during the Commonwealth Games and the SRU - which has debts of £11 million - thinks leasing it to the national team in future would provide a valuable stream of income.

"We hosted Glasgow Celtic when they couldn't use their own ground during the Commonwealth Games, so we're open to the idea of football being played here," Dodson said. "We haven't had any official conversations with the SFA but clearly if there is a desire from them to come and play at Murrayfield then we would happily listen to whatever proposal they put forward. I do think the issue in Scotland is that we have got too many big stadiums and not enough small ones, so it is difficult to make all of the bigger ones financially viable."

Dodson also defended national team coach Vern Cotter's decision to include New Zealand-born flanker Hugh Blake in his squad for the upcoming Six Nations at the expense of skipper Kelly Brown and John Barclay.

"I don't think it is sending the wrong message out to our youngsters. It might have done had we not capped so many young Scottish players over the last two years. Hamish Watson is in the squad, so is Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Ben Toolis. It is not as if we've brought Hugh Blake in and no-one else is getting capped … He has a special skill set that we don't possess."

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