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1971 Ibrox disaster
The 1971 Ibrox disaster, also known as the Second Ibrox Disaster, was a crush among the crowd at an Old Firm football game (Rangers v Celtic), which led to 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries. It happened on 2 January 1971 on an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the worst football disaster in Britain until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989.
The stadium's owner, Rangers FC, was later ruled to be at fault in a sheriff's judgement on one of the deaths. Rangers did not dispute this ruling and was sued for damages in 60 other cases brought by relatives of the dead.
The first disaster at Ibrox occurred during a 1902 home international match between Scotland and England. The rear of the wooden West Tribune Stand collapsed due to heavy rainfall the previous night, causing 25 deaths and more than 500 injuries.
During 1963, concerns were raised about the safety of the stairway adjacent to passageway 13, colloquially known as Stairway 13, the exit closest to Copland Road subway station. It was documented that the stairs provided very little freedom of movement due to crowd pressure; many were lifted off their feet by the crowd and had no choice in which lane they were going to use, or at what pace.
On 16 September 1961, two people were killed in a crush on the stairway. In 1967, eight spectators were injured when leaving the stadium. In 1969, 26 were injured in an accident on Stairway 13 during egress. No measures were taken to consult a professional firm to discuss the potential dangers from crowds on Stairway 13 following these events. Subsequent to the 1961 accident, Rangers had by then spent a total of £150,000 (equivalent to £3,100,000 in 2023) on improvements to Ibrox, a significant sum of money for the time.
The disaster occurred on Saturday, 2 January 1971, when 66 people were killed in a crush as supporters tried to leave the stadium. The match was an Old Firm game (Rangers v Celtic) and was attended by more than 80,000 fans. In the 90th minute, Celtic took a 1–0 lead through Jimmy Johnstone, but in the final moments of the match, Colin Stein scored an equaliser for Rangers. As thousands of spectators were leaving the ground by Stairway 13, it appears that someone may have fallen, causing a massive chain reaction pile-up of people.
Initially, there was speculation that some fans left the ground slightly early when Celtic scored, but then turned back when they heard the crowd cheering when Stein scored the equaliser, colliding with fans leaving the ground when the match ended. The official inquiry into the disaster indicated that there was no truth in this hypothesis, however, as all the spectators were heading in the same direction at the time of the incident.
Most of the deaths were caused by compressive asphyxia, with bodies being stacked up to six feet (1.8 m) deep in the area. More than 200 other fans were injured.
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1971 Ibrox disaster
The 1971 Ibrox disaster, also known as the Second Ibrox Disaster, was a crush among the crowd at an Old Firm football game (Rangers v Celtic), which led to 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries. It happened on 2 January 1971 on an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the worst football disaster in Britain until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989.
The stadium's owner, Rangers FC, was later ruled to be at fault in a sheriff's judgement on one of the deaths. Rangers did not dispute this ruling and was sued for damages in 60 other cases brought by relatives of the dead.
The first disaster at Ibrox occurred during a 1902 home international match between Scotland and England. The rear of the wooden West Tribune Stand collapsed due to heavy rainfall the previous night, causing 25 deaths and more than 500 injuries.
During 1963, concerns were raised about the safety of the stairway adjacent to passageway 13, colloquially known as Stairway 13, the exit closest to Copland Road subway station. It was documented that the stairs provided very little freedom of movement due to crowd pressure; many were lifted off their feet by the crowd and had no choice in which lane they were going to use, or at what pace.
On 16 September 1961, two people were killed in a crush on the stairway. In 1967, eight spectators were injured when leaving the stadium. In 1969, 26 were injured in an accident on Stairway 13 during egress. No measures were taken to consult a professional firm to discuss the potential dangers from crowds on Stairway 13 following these events. Subsequent to the 1961 accident, Rangers had by then spent a total of £150,000 (equivalent to £3,100,000 in 2023) on improvements to Ibrox, a significant sum of money for the time.
The disaster occurred on Saturday, 2 January 1971, when 66 people were killed in a crush as supporters tried to leave the stadium. The match was an Old Firm game (Rangers v Celtic) and was attended by more than 80,000 fans. In the 90th minute, Celtic took a 1–0 lead through Jimmy Johnstone, but in the final moments of the match, Colin Stein scored an equaliser for Rangers. As thousands of spectators were leaving the ground by Stairway 13, it appears that someone may have fallen, causing a massive chain reaction pile-up of people.
Initially, there was speculation that some fans left the ground slightly early when Celtic scored, but then turned back when they heard the crowd cheering when Stein scored the equaliser, colliding with fans leaving the ground when the match ended. The official inquiry into the disaster indicated that there was no truth in this hypothesis, however, as all the spectators were heading in the same direction at the time of the incident.
Most of the deaths were caused by compressive asphyxia, with bodies being stacked up to six feet (1.8 m) deep in the area. More than 200 other fans were injured.