Ibrox Disaster 1971

On the 2nd January 1971, 85,000 Rangers and Celtic fans crammed into Ibrox stadium, then the largest club ground in the UK. After a poor 89 minutes, Celtic scored through Jimmy Johnstone in the final minute of the game sending thousands of Celtic fans into ecstasy and thousands more Rangers fans into despair, many of whom made their way up the steep terraces to the stadium exit. But as the home fans filed out of the ground, the Ibrox side equalised seconds later through Colin Stein, sending their supporters scrambling back on to the terraces to celebrate their equaliser only to collide with fans still making their way out.

It was chaotic and on Stairway 13, fans began to fall at the head of the stairs prompting a lethal collapse so intense that the iron guide rails were twisted out of shape with the pressure of tumbling bodies. The official inquiry into the disaster eventually led to the 1974 Safety of Sports Grounds Act, requiring local councils to issue safety certificates.

When the carnage cleared, 66 people had died and more than 140 lay injured. Among the dead were 31 teenagers and the youngest victim being a nine year old boy, Nigel Pickup, who had travelled to the game from Liverpool. Five schoolboy pals, four of whom lived in the same street, had gone to the game together from the small town of Markinch in Fife. The five, all members of Glenrothes Rangers Supporters Club, never returned.

On that day both sides of the Old Firm put aside their rivalries and came together to play a game to raise funds for the victims families. A combined Celtic and Rangers team took on a Scotland XI at Hampden watched by around 82,000 fans. In fact many of the Rangers and Celtic players on that fateful day helped the injured, including Jock Stein the Celtic manager.

The tragedy echoed a previous accident on Staircase 13 when two people had been killed. The club and its fans were in mourning – It was the blackest day in Scottsh Football History.

The list of those who lost their lives on that day:

GLASGOW

DAVID ANDERSON [45], JOHN BUCHANAN [32], RICHARD BARKE [15], DAVID DUFF [23), PETER FARRIES [26], JOHN GARDINER [32], THOMAS GRANT [16], CHARLES LIVINGSTON [30], BRIAN HUTCHINSON [16], JOHN JEFFREY [16], ANDREW LINDSAY [18], THOMAS MELVILLE [17], FRANCIS DOVER [16], ROBERT MULHOLLAND [16], DUNCAN McBREARTY [17], DONALD McPHERSON [30], THOMAS McROBBIE [17], ROBERT RAE [25], WILLIAM SHAW [30], WALTER SHIELDS, GEORGE SMITH [40], WILLIAM SOMERHILL [17], JAMES TRAINER [20], JOHN CRAWFORD [23], GEORGE FINDLAY [21], JOHN NEIL.

LIVERPOOL

NIGEL PICKUP [9]

EDINBURGH

WALTER RAEBURN [36], JAMES SIBBALD [28], ROBERT C CAIRNS [17].

LANARKSHIRE

THOMAS DICKSON [32], IAN FREW [21], JAMES GREY [37], IAN HUNTER [14], JAMES MAIR [19], ROBERT MAXWELL [15], ALEXANDER ORR [16], MATTHEW RIED [49], CHARLES STIRLING [20], PETER WRIGHT [31]

ARGYLL

GEORGE IRWIN [22]

FIFE

PETER EASTON [13], MARTIN PATON [14], MASON PHILLIPS [14], BRIAN TODD [14], DOUGLAS MORRISON [15]

RENFREWSHIRE

HUGH ADDIE [33], ROBERT GRANT [21], ALEX McINTYRE [29], GEORGE WILSON [15]

STIRLINGSHIRE

MARGARET FERGUSON [18], ROBERT McADAM [36], RICHARD McLEAY [28], JOHN McLEAY [23]

WEST LOTHIAN

RUSSEL MALCOLM [16]

DUMBARTONSHIRE

GEORGE ADAMS [43], ROBERT CARRIGAN [13], CHARLES DOUGAN [31], ADAM HENDERSON, DAVID McGHEE [14], THOMAS MORGAN [14], JAMES RAE [19], JOHN SEMPLE [18], THOMAS STIRLING [16], DONALD SUTHERLAND [14].

EAST LOTHIAN

JAMES McGOVERN [24]