Across Scotland and particularly in Glasgow and its surrounding areas, undoubtedly the most popular and principal team sport of modern times is football. The high points for football in Glasgow have been the winning of European trophies by Celtic (representatives of the Irish Catholic immigrant diaspora in the west of Scotland) and Rangers (one of the most famous and successful of Scottish clubs), during the 1960s and 1970s.
Many stadiums in Glasgow were also built to house athletics and cycling but it has been football that has produced world and European record attendances. These include 136,505 for the Celtic v Leeds United European Champions Cup semi-final of 1970 at Hampden Park. In Glasgow, on one evening in 1972, 155,000 attended two games: Celtic v Inter Milan in the European Champions Cup semi-final and Rangers v Bayern Munich in the European Cup Winners Cup semi-final.
There are 5,351 golf courses in Europe. Per head of population, Scotland leads the way with almost 500 of these. Around eighty – almost 20 per cent - of Scotland's golf courses are situated within 20 minutes driving time of Glasgow city centre. Almost half are within one hour's drive.
Although rugby has been a mainly Borders and east of Scotland game, at schools level some Glasgow fee-paying establishments like Alan Glen's and Hutchesons' Academy have also been at the forefront of the sport.
In the third millennium shinty continues to be one of Glasgow's important minority sports and a marker of Highland migration to the city. Although regarded as "the" Highland game, the development of shinty as a modern sport has close links with the city. Glasgow Mid-Argyll and the University of Glasgow are two of the city's most enduring clubs.
Following in the footsteps of some of the world's other great cities Glasgow established itself as a marathon venue in 1982. By the early years of the millennium, over quarter of a million people had entered the annual event and some 28 million pounds had been raised for charity.