5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
A chef's secrets to creating match day menus at Hampden Park
This pre-gig feast is the work of executive chef Colin Dempsey and his team, who are responsible for creating bespoke menus for hospitality guests at Hampden Park, be they football fans, music lovers or conference goers.
Pictured: A Skybox space at Hampden Park (Image: Nate Cleary)
'My real passion lies with events catering, which is completely different to working in a restaurant,' Dempsey tells me of his role with Sodexo Live!.
'On the day of a big event, you can feel the anticipation right from first thing in the morning.
'Especially if it's something like a cup final at Hampden Park. You can see guests coming in and feeling nervous about watching their team.
'Our job is to make them feel relaxed so that they can enjoy the day.'
As venue partner for Hampden Park, Sodexo Live! delivers a range of premium hospitality experiences, catering to thousands of customers at major events throughout the year.
From relaxed packages in Club Hampden to culinary dining experiences in the exclusive Superboxes - every experience is thoughtfully curated to 'showcase the best of Scottish hospitality, service and produce'.
Pictured: A selection of dishes at Hampden Park (Image: Nate Cleary) No stranger to catering at this scale, Dempsey has enjoyed a storied career of working in stadia across the UK before joining the team in Glasgow almost seven years ago.
The key to his success, he says, has always been keen organisational skills and a knack for forward planning.
'Preparation for events like Kendrick Lamar and SZA begins weeks, possibly even months in advance.
'It's a collaboration between everyone from the sales team to kitchen ops and front of house to suppliers.
'The more information we have, the more successful we're likely to be, so we tend to go back and look at similarly sized crowds and demographics to see what has worked before and what hasn't.
'Then we have to have a conversation with our suppliers to see what we can do. For instance, let's say there is a cup final, and I need somewhere close to 3000 fillet steaks.
'I have to go to my butcher and say, 'I need these for a set time and date and prepared exactly to our specifications'.
'Timing is crucial because we could essentially be serving 1,500 meals all at one time in over 10 different areas, so my biggest challenge is to coordinate all of that.
'If that's achieved, then it should all come together seamlessly.'
Pictured: 'Club Hampden' is just one of the hospitality function rooms at Hampden Park (Image: Nate Cleary)
A close relationship with local suppliers is also essential for catering to such high numbers, as Dempsey strives to prove that larger quantities should never mean sacrificing quality.
'At site level, it's my job to build a relationship with our key suppliers,' he continues.
'We've got the guys at Braehead Foods who do an amazing job of finding us the best produce.
'George Campbell & Sons fishmongers are phenomenal, and Gilmour Butchers provide us with huge quantities of meat but never let us down on quality.
Asked if there is one particular event he would choose as a highlight of his career with Sodexo Live!, Dempsey recalls a time shortly after covid when Scotland's hospitality industry was 'on its knees' as businesses struggled to navigate restrictions on crowd sizes or social distancing.
'There was a run of events that I find myself looking back on often,' he says.
'The Euros had been delayed to 2021, and when they went ahead, we managed to bounce back and cater for four games at Hampden Park.
'Straight after that, there was a huge Sodexo Live conference for the UK taking place at the stadium, and next it was COP26, which was massive for us between Hampden and Hamilton Park Racecourse.
'Finally, when three weeks of that were over, we were into the first sell-out match at Hampden for an international game.
'The feedback for all of the events was really positive, and I was so proud of everyone involved.
'The way that everybody pulled together in the Sodexo Live! and beyond with all our partners and clients was absolutely fantastic.
'To this day, I still ask myself how we managed to pull it off, but it was pure team spirit.'
Pictured: Catering for major events at the Glasgow stadium is a 'team effort' (Image: Nate Cleary)
With upcoming sporting events for the remainder of 2025, including World Cup Qualifiers, and Metallica set to bring their world tour to the stadium in June 2026, the chef says he and his team relish the chance to explore their creativity in creating menus for such varied audiences.
'We're experience makers, and we work hard to create something special for every customer who walks through the door.
'The journey starts from the moment they step inside and doesn't end until they leave.
