Greens and road lobby back football switch

ENVIRONMENTALISTS and motoring organisations have formed an unlikely alliance to press for the all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup semi-final to be moved from Hampden to Murrayfield.

Just two trains will be running from the capital to Glasgow on Sunday, 2 April, ahead of the kick-off between Hearts and Hibs, allowing less than 1,000 fans to make the trip by rail.

Motoring organisations have warned of gridlock when the rest of the 50,000 crowd get into their cars to head west.

Yesterday, environmental organisations joined in criticism of the location for the game, saying the increased traffic will lead to an extra 400 tonnes of emissions being put into the atmosphere - the equivalent of 400 people taking a return flight to New York.

The Scottish Rugby Union has made an offer to the Scottish Football Association to host the tie in Edinburgh at Murrayfield, a stadium with greater capacity.

Hearts would like to play at the ground that provided the electric atmosphere for Scotland's rugby win over England.

Hibs are keen on Hampden because of doubts about the state of the Murrayfield pitch and concerns over how to segregate rival fans. They also believe Hearts would have an advantage at Murrayfield because they played three games there in the UEFA Cup last season.

The SFA is expected to confirm within days that the tie will be at Hampden. An SFA source said yesterday the match was too lucrative to be surrendered to the SRU: "It would not make a great deal of sense for us to put money in rugby's coffers."

Dr Richard Tipper, director of policy and strategy at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, said the car emissions would equate to the average produced by 50 Scottish households in a year.

Last night Robin Harper, a Green Party MSP, said: "Holding it at Hampden would cause total traffic chaos and completely unnecessary pollution. Everyone's got to do their bit to tackle climate change and this is one way football can play its part."

Stuart Hay, head of policy at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "We would strongly support any effort to stop unnecessary travel as it produces emissions. Everyone will benefit by holding it in Edinburgh."

Neil Greig, head of policy in Scotland for the AA, also backed Murrayfield.

He said: "The SFA should be flexible enough to take some advice on this and the game should now take place at Murrayfield."

Yesterday the SFA and SRU refused to discuss the costs of using each stadium. Murrayfield can take 67,800 fans, compared with Hampden's 52,000. Edinburgh's Lord Provost, Lesley Hinds, has also backed Murrayfield.

Frank Dougan, of the Hibernian Supporters Association, said: "I feel strongly about the environment, but football gives a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. It should be at Hampden."

Derek Watson, of the Heart of Midlothian Supporters Trust, said: "It's totally unnecessary travel. There is no reason to take 50,000 people through to Glasgow on buses and in cars."

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said it was carrying out essential engineering work on 2 April, and First ScotRail would be operating a reduced service.

Taken from the Scotsman