The Scottish Rugby Union has formally pitched Murrayfield as an alternative venue to Hampden.

The SRU expects to hear in December whether it has been successful in persuading the Scottish Football Association to use the Edinburgh stadium.

The SFA’s lease at Hampden expires in 2020 and the governing body has previously admitted it is exploring several options to host Scottish internationals and major domestic cup games.

In February 2015 the SRU declared an openness to staging major football games and talks with the SFA are now at an advanced stage.

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SRU chief operating officer Dominic McKay delivered a presentation to the media ahead of Hearts’ Scottish Premiership clash with Rangers at Murrayfield.

Mr McKay said: “We have responded to the invitation from our friends at the SFA to offer Murrayfield for internationals and cup finals and semi-finals if their conversations with Queen’s Park go a certain way.

“We feel we have a pretty special stadium with a great space around the stadium too.

“We are mindful that fans pay a lot of money to sometimes see their team lose so we feel it is important to put on a good experience beyond the game itself.

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“We believe this is quite a big commercial opportunity for the SFA to drive more money into football.”

SFA employees were shadowing their rugby colleagues in areas such as stewarding and ticketing to get a better idea of how the stadium works.

Murrayfield can hold more than 67,000 supporters – 15,000 more than Hampden – and a tram station recently improved transport links from the city centre and train stations.

The ground is hosting Hearts while Tynecastle’s main stand is rebuilt and has previously hosted European games for the Gorgie club.

Celtic also played at Murrayfield when Parkhead was being used for the Commonwealth Games.

Other options for the SFA include moving games around the country.

Celtic Park and Ibrox both hosted cup finals and Scotland games when Hampden was being redeveloped and used for athletics during Glasgow 2014.

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Pittodrie, Easter Road and Tynecastle have recently hosted friendly internationals.

The original Hampden Park staged the first Scottish Cup final in 1874 and hosted Scotland’s victory over England in 1878.

A reconstructed stadium on the current site hosted Auld Enemy games from 1906 onwards and became Scotland’s official national stadium in 1925.

Queen’s Park continue to own the stadium but president Alan Hutchison recently warned the club would have to seriously re-examine its financial and community model if the SFA was to move out.