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Former Celtic captain BILLY MCNEILL (left) and former Rangers captain JOHN GREIG carry a wreath onto the pitch at Ibrox Stadium marking the 40th Anniversary of the 1971 Disaster prior to start of the Old Firm Derby match on January 2, 2011. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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It was not a good way to start the New Year in Glasgow, or anywhere else in the football world, back on January 2, 1971.
Over 100,000 had piled into Ibrox Stadium on the south bank of the River Clyde for an Old Firm Derby between Rangers and fierce, cross-town arch-rivals Celtic. The visitors had scored a late goal in the 89th minute to snap a scoreless deadlock and thousands of spectators had already begun to leave via Stairway 13 at the Copland Road end of the arena. Then, a tragedy caused by a massive pile-up of people in that stairwell ensued.
66 people, including many school-aged children, were crushed to death and an excess of another 200 people were injured, as well.
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(David Moir/Reuters)
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Rangers actually scored in the dying moments to level the match that day.
Much initial speculation had it that fans leaving the stadium early turned around in a rush of excitement at Rangers’ equalizer and had come up against still more spectators exiting via Stairway 13.
The official inquiry into the Ibrox Disaster later proved there was no merit to this theory. All the people were found to have been moving in the same direction. It appears that someone, perhaps a child on the shoulders of a parent, fell in the stairwell and sparked a most unfortunate chain reaction.
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(David Moir/Reuters)
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1971 IBROX DISASTER – Casualty List
George ADAMS – 43, Hugh ADDIE – 33, David ANDERSON – 45, Richard BARK – 15, John BUCHANAN – 31, Robert CAIRNS – 17, Robert CARRIGAN – 13, John CRAWFORD – 23, Thomas DICKSON – 32, Charles DOUGAN – 31, Francis DOVER – 16, Peter EASTON – 13, Peter FARRIS – 26, Ian FREW – 21, Margaret FERGUSON – 18, George FINDLAY – 21, John GARDINER – 32, Robert GRANT – 21, Thomas GRANT – 16, James GREY – 37, Adam HENDERSON – 42, Ian HUNTER – 14, Brian HUTCHINSON – 16, George IRWIN – 22, John JEFFREY – 16, Andrew LINDSAY – 18, Charles LIVINGSTON – 30, James MAIR – 19, Russell MALCOLM – 16, Robert MAXWELL – 15, Robert MCADAM – 36, Duncan MCBREARTY – 17, David MCGHEE – 14, James MCGOVERN – 24, Alex MCINTYRE – 29, John MCLEAY – 23, Richard MCLEAY – 28, Donald MCPHEARSON – 30, Thomas MCROBBIE – 17, Thomas MELVILLE – 17, Russell MORGAN – 14, Douglas MORRISON – 15, Robert MULHOLLAND – 16, John NEIL – 29, Alexander ORR – 16, Martin PAITON – 14, Mason PHILLIPS – 14, Nigel PICKUP – 8, James RAE – 19, Robert RAE – 25, Walter RAEBURN – 36, Matthew REID – 49, John SEMPLE – 18, William SHAW – 30, Walter SHIELDS – 15, James SIBBALD – 28, George SMITH – 40, William SOMERHILL – 17, Charles STIRLING -20, Thomas STIRLING – 16, Donald SUTHERLAND – 14, Brian TODD – 14, James TRAINER – 20, George WILSON – 15, Peter WRIGHT – 31
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(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
