In sporting terms, Scotland views itself as having shinty as its unique activity, as the home of golf, being amongst the best at curling, and providing some of Europe's greatest footballers as well as the highest ever attendances at football matches. Glasgow is at the heart of Scotland's modern sporting story.
From the late 19th and into the early 20th century the Boys Brigade played a significant role in promoting sporting participation in Glasgow. Glasgow Green is the oldest city park in Glasgow. Since the municipal changes of the 1890s it has provided a venue for a variety of sporting activities.
By the inter-War period, sports betting had become a dominant part of popular culture in Glasgow and other urban British centres. In an average working class area, several bookmakers could take around £300 pounds a day working out of a dozen tenement closes. However, the 1930s depression encouraged social change and it has been reported that many unemployed men took to hill walking during this time.
Irish immigrants to the Gorbals area of the city gave birth to Benny Lynch, one of the finest-ever boxers in Britain. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to see Lynch return to Glasgow in 1935 with the World Flyweight Championship.
Hampden Park has acquired a monumental status and has been the venue for a host of sporting events for one hundred years, including American football, boxing, athletics, pop concerts and other activities. In Edwardian times Glasgow was a unique international sports centre with three stadiums (Hampden, Celtic Park and Ibrox) that could hold a total of more than a quarter of a million people.