FOR more than a century its unforgettable roar summed up the spirit and passion of Glasgow.

Hampden was where we sang for the Old Firm, against the Auld Enemy or along with old crooners such as Rod Stewart. Scots always liked to make a noise at the national stadium.

But what would happen to the arena if its stands ever fell silent? We might be about to find out.

Later this month its current tenants, the Scottish Football Association, will make a decision on whether to flit to Edinburgh’s Murrayfield.

Senior officials at Glasgow City Council are already worried about what the SFA might leave behind: an old shell of a stadium nobody will quite know what to do with.

Read more: Hampden safe standing plan could seal stadium's future

Glasgow has been here before. The national stadium’s owners. Queens Park, used to play at another field called Hampden before they moved to the current site.

That field, renamed Cathkin Park, became the home of Third Lanark before the once great club folded in 1967. Its ground, a stone’s throw from the national stadium, has been semi-derelict ever since.

An official source expects something much worse “Closing the doors of Hampden would be a disaster for the city, socially, culturally and, crucially, economically,” he told The Evening Times. “This would not be another Third Lanark – we’re talking about the equivalent of 50 Cathkin Parks closing. “The impact of lost revenue on the local economy would be huge.”

The world is now littered with crumbling, rusting, vandalised stadiums, symbols of vanity projects like the 2000 Athens Olympics or failed sporting franchises.

Take Detroit. This US city, home of Motown music and a once proud automotive industry, for years has been the picture postcard of poorly managed post-industrial decline. But nothing symbolised Detroit’s descent quite as much as the demise of the Pontiac Silverdome, named after one of the city’s great motor marques.

The stadium was once the biggest in America’s football league. Abandoned by its main tenants, the Detroit Lions, in 2001 it fell in to disrepair and became a magnet for vandals and gangsters. It took more than a decade and a half of controversies and half-hearted efforts at revitalisation before the plug was pulled on the Silverdome. And even when the city finally ordered the structure down, the demolition was botched. Only this spring did the last wall come down. The site is now a 50ft deep hole

This is the nightmare scenario in the City Chambers. Imagine Hampden without Scotland, soldiering on, dilapidating with each year, events growing less and less frequent, and anti-social problems becoming more and more common.

Read more: Hampden safe standing plan could seal stadium's future

The council source said: “When the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit closed, unemployment and crime in the local area rose to record levels and they are still living with the legacy of that.

“Proximity to a major stadium raises local house prices by up to 15 per cent and we shouldn’t underestimate the impact the closure of Hampden would have.

“The south side of Glasgow is one of the most vibrant parts of the city, both for residents and visitors. What it brings to the city’s offer continues to increase year on year.

“The presence of an abandoned, decaying, dilapidated stadium would cause huge problems for the entire city.”

Businesses in the shadow of the ground do not need to be convinced.

Artur Santos runs a deli, called Arturo’s, in Mount Florida. Like many local residents, the Portuguese businessman (Arturo is his Italian-sounding nickname) has his gripes about the football and concert crowds, especially those for cup finals and semis. But he said: “Without the stadium things would be more worse than now.” Mr Santos does not have to look far for an example of a shopping area that has lost his heart. Citing another Glasgow Southside neighbourhood, he added: “Without Hampden, this area would turn in to Shawlands.”

There has been no investigation in to the economic cost of a rotting ground blighting one of Glasgow’s more vibrant neighbourhoods.

However, there is evidence of the opportunity cost of Hampden losing its national status and its ability to bid for major international matches.

A decade ago the stadium staged the Uefa Cup final. That had a measured economic impact of around £15m. The planned 2020 internationals – which is when the SFA lease runs out – would be likely to bag just as much for the city again. Even a stadium rock concert generates some £2.5m in economic activity.

It’s this kind of business that means Mount Florida Community Council – or MoFloCoCo as some residents call it – believes that, on balance, Hampden needs Hampden Park.

Its Chris Carus stressed the group was focused on finding a way of keeping the SFA and Scotland at the ground. But they too are worried about a Detroit scenario. Mr Carus said: “We would hope that Queen’s Park, as the owner, and the council would very quickly come up a plan for the site if the SFA came to a decision to go to Edinburgh.”

Read more: Hampden safe standing plan could seal stadium's future

The Glasgow South MP, the SNP’s Stewart McDonald, reckoned any move away from Hampden would be a “slap in the face” for Glasgow.

Mr McDonald – who is not a fan of the beautiful game – still feels a connection between his city and Scottish football. He accepts not all supporters are happy with Hampden as it is – the stadium was rebuilt in the 1990s – but welcomes council overtures suggesting better transport links.

He said: “The noises the council has been making to improve the access and improve the experience is a good thing.

“Clearly lots of people are not happy with the experience they get at Hampden.

“So let’s improve it. Let’s not just walk away and dump this site on the city and its residents. “I think that would be wildly irresponsible and obnoxious.”

There is not much party politics at the SFA. But football’s governing body is very much facing a political risk if it leaves the public purse with the cost of clearing up the mess of Hampden. Along with the league, the association collected more than £14m in public money between 2011 and 2017. Public funding, insiders stress, may be hard to come by for a body inflicting economic damage.