what caused the ibrox disaster 1971

It spurred the UK government into a review of safety at sports grounds and in February 1971, Scottish judge Lord Wheatley was asked to conduct an inquiry. Yet the horror still remains. Many received life-saving treatment as they lay on the stairway. This text tells the story of the events surrounding the Bradford City fire disaster in May 1985, when 56 fans were killed. It happened on 2 January 1971 in an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland.It was the worst British football disaster until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989.. But, with the last kick of the match, Colin Stein scored a dramatic equaliser, shooting home after meeting a curling free kick from Dave Smith. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. I remember the game vs Celtic at the Etihad, a few Celtic fans disturbed the silence for the Chapocoense air disaster with chants. Fans who were affected by the disaster can email alwaysremembered@rangers.co.uk to share their thoughts. The frontman sparked scenes of jubilation among the Light Blues legions back on January 2 1971, as he scored a stoppage-time equaliser to seal a 1-1 draw. The initial consensus was that many of those who were in the process of trying to file out of the tightly packed terraces turned to see what was happening when the equaliser went in, only to be faced with a wall of spectators coming the other way, but a later investigation found there was no evidence to support this claim. Former Rangers striker Colin Stein admits he still struggles to deal with the pain caused by the Ibrox disaster 50 years on. The 1971 Ibrox disaster was a crush among the crowd at an Old Firm football game, which led to 66 deaths and more than 200 injuries. US president Richard Nixon sent his condolences as did political leaders in New Zealand, Germany and elsewhere. The 1971 Ibrox Stadium Disaster John Greig Rangers F.C at the time of the 1971 tragedy - Lynn M Reid [ CC BY-SA 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons It is perhaps a sad quirk of fate that the two disasters to occur at Ibrox took place when major rivalries were being played out on the pitch. Comparing these with real life disasters puts things into perspective and the results of the games become insignificant. Plenty theories have been put forward for the cause of the accident. More than a third were still in their teens. The stadium's owners, Rangers F.C., were later . The fourth edition of Knight's Forensic Pathology continues to be the definitive international resource for those in training and in practice, covering all aspects of the medico-legal autopsy, including the cause and time of death, ... Found inside – Page 55... of 2 January 1971 , including spirited renderings of ' The northern lights of old Aberdeen ' . ' The Ibrox disaster , like that of the Manchester United ... Those who left early, heard the roar and celebrated the goal as they left the ground. At the Victoria Infirmary, 25-year-old Stewart McMillan told players Willie Johnston and Alfie Conn of his terrifying ordeal. Thanks mainly to manager Willie Waddell, who felt he owed it to those who had died, in 1978 work began to transform the ground from an outdated and dilapidated death-trap to a more modern and safe environment. In the 89th minute Jimmy Johnstone scored a goal that seemed to guarantee victory for Celtic. It happened on 2 January 1971 in an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland.It was the worst British football disaster until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989.. An ambulance man came up to me and told me I needed to be checked out because I must have looked awful. At first everyone was shouting, ‘Get back, get back.' Light Blues supporter . P. 145. On the 50th anniversary of the 1971 disaster, we will come together to remember their lives and legacy.”. And i am the son of 1 of the men who died that day, and just learnt more in 20 mins than in the previous nearly 42 years! In 1902 horror struck when the old wooden terracing collapsed under the weight of too many spectators when Ibrox hosted the Scotland v England international match. Subsequent reports and eye-witness accounts suggest that as the huge crowd all tried to exit the ground at the final whistle down the steep and narrow Stairway 13, all hell broke loose. The inquiry recommended that football grounds should be licensed by local authorities in much the same way as a cinema or restaurant would be. A civil action taken later by widow Margaret Dougan was not so kind in its judgment of the club. It happened on 2 January 1971 in an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. The crowd pressure had caused these disasters, which lead to stampedes. Yet, despite all the evidence to the contrary, the myth persists to this day and is regularly repeated in print. I am very lucky to be alive.’. We were all told to come in on the Monday morning and we ceased to be a football club for three weeks. The question on most people’s lips was, why had lessons not been learned from the two very similar accidents on the same stairway in 1961 and 1969? I can remember being on the ground staff as a 15-year-old and part of my duties were to sweep the terraces. The Ibrox Disaster of January 2, 1971 which claimed 66 lives was a tragedy waiting to happen. HP10 9TY | 01676637 | Registered in England & Wales. Â. It was a harrowing sight for all those who witnessed the scenes. 1971, claimed 66 lives and would ultimately affect the way that everybody in Britain watched football. Family friend, stepfather and grandfather are all listed as being with Nigel at the game. Officials examine the twisted railings on stairway 13 in the aftermath of the disaster in 1971. On January 2nd, 1971, Rangers and Celtic came together at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, to play in one of the world's great football derbies, with 80,000 supporters attending. The date — January 2, 1971. The lighting system was piss poor plus the fact it was foggy that afternoon. Found inside – Page 52Eventually , the Safety of Sports Grounds Act ( 1975 ) was introduced as a result of the enquiry into the 1971 Ibrox disaster . Similarly tragic , but with ... There was little regard for the safety and well-being of football fans back then – something which no doubt contributed to the death of two people in a crush at Ibrox, in September 1961 – a full 10 years before this mass loss of life on the very same spot. On this day, 66 people were killed as a result of being crushed - and this was more than likely as a result of somebody tripping down a stairwell, which caused a chain reaction and resulted in compressive asphyxia for those involved. This text threads together sports management, sports safety and legal liability issues to gives students and practitioners an insight into all areas of sports management. But a public inquiry discounted this theory and said the deaths were . Fifty years on from the Ibrox Disaster, in which 66 people lost their lives, three men affected by the events at Ibrox recount . I was only 14 yrs old at Celtic end with my uncle frank the support from both sides was fantastic I’ll never forget and never will no one should go to a football match and not come home r .i.p 66. Some say it was 80,000 and others have it higher, but one thing is for sure, it wasn't an all-ticket affair. Ibrox, Hillsborough and Bradford were all accidents waiting to happen in an era when clubs just wanted to cram as many people in as possible with no regard to comfort or safety. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. Scathingly, he said little had been done to improve safety on the staircases after the previous incidents and found that the club appeared to have proceeded with the view that ‘if the problem was ignored long enough, it would eventually disappear.’. It happened on 2 January 1971 in an exit stairway at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland.It was the worst British football disaster until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989.. The nation was left stunned and shocked by what happened that day, even though news of the tragedy took some time to filter through. The Scottish Office dismissed a direct request from councils to be given licensing powers over crowd safety at bigger grounds, saying that it would offer only ‘marginal’ benefits. Found insideSecond. Ibrox. disaster. Date: 2nd January 1971 Match: Celtic -v- Rangers Location: ... Initial reports suggested the tragedy had been caused by supporters ... The events of the 2nd of January 1971 are more correctly known as the Second Ibrox Disaster, as the ground had already tasted tragedy when a vast wooden terrace collapsed during a Scotland v England match in 1902, a disaster in its own right which killed twenty-five people. Found inside – Page 557IBROX DISASTER ( 1971 ) For many years Britain's worst sporting disaster was ... Many of the casualties were caused by asphyxiation and multiple injuries . 96 women, men and children died as a result of the disaster in Hillsborough Stadium on 15 April 1989. My brother Martin had been at that end of the ground and still wasn’t home. Start your review of Stairway 13: The 1971 Ibrox Disaster. And on a dull, grey and smog-ridden Glasgow afternoon, the kind of day where it's difficult to tell whether it's night or day ,the game appeared to be meandering towards nothingness. That was until the final few minutes of the match. Updated 13:53, 30 OCT 2014. Smith was then part of the United team which faced Rangers a fortnight later, in what was the Ibrox men's first post-disaster game. The disaster occurred when crush barriers collapsed as thousands of fans made their way out of the stadium. Even then, Ibrox was one of the most modern and safe grounds in Europe, by the standards of the day. Manager Willie Waddell took responsibility as the public face of the club in the aftermath of the tragedy, issuing statements and generally taking control of what was an incredibly difficult situation for all at the club. The result meant that the Gers were now well off the pace in the league as Celtic looked nailed on to win the fifth of their nine successive titles under Jock Stein; but the significance of the result would be overshadowed by the sheer nature of the horrific events that took place when Celtic and Rangers did finally meet for their traditional New Year game. of January 1971 are more correctly known as the Second Ibrox Disaster, as the ground had already tasted tragedy when a vast wooden terrace collapsed during a Scotland v England match in 1902, a disaster in its own right which killed twenty-five people. Celtic also made a contribution and there were donations from many other clubs around the world. Which appeared after the Ibrox disaster. Despite the home side's struggles it didn’t stop a huge crowd gathering that day, as those from the green side of the city turned up to cheer their heroes on towards an inevitable title, while those in blue hoped they could at least raise their game against their fierce foe and delay the inevitable for a few weeks at least. Rangers quickly announced they would donate £50,000 to the appeal. The youngest victim was just eight-years-old. In their written response, civil servants told the councils, ‘For the reasons given, (the Secretary of State) considers that the improvements which might follow the introduction of a licensing system would at best be marginal… and he therefore feels no step should be taken to introduce legislation to this end at the present time.’. THE IBROX DISASTER, 1971 - SCOTTISH FOOTBALL'S DARKEST HOUR. About 30 or 40 minutes after that I got free. This was 10 years before the disaster at Ibrox Park. Only thing that hurts is that television seem to think that they should show more about the Hillsborough disaster when I think that both were as tragic as each other. Mrs Dougan, whose husband Charles died in the accident, was awarded more than £26,000 in damages and her case prompted Sheriff J Irvine Smith to issue a damning criticism of Rangers. The tragedy was Britain’s biggest disaster at a football ground until 96 Liverpool fans tragically died at Hillsborough in 1989. But just because the events at Ibrox on January 2, 1971 weren’t captured on film or broadcast live at the time, and those that were are now grainy black and white images, it doesn’t make them any less significant for those who were there that day or who were affected by one of the most tragic events to occur at a sporting event – not just in Britain – but anywhere. He took me back into the ground and there were bodies lying everywhere on stretchers.”. Found inside – Page 183IBROX. DISASTER. Despite implemented recommendations following the two tragic deaths in September 1961, Gate 13, the Cairnlea Drive Stairway was still a ... Found inside – Page 511... Forasmuch there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large ... disaster , but before that there was the Ibrox tragedy in 1971 and the ... Change ). Legendary Sheriff Irvine Smith QC is one of the most formidable criminal lawyers of his generation. Fraser Wilson. On January 2, 1971, 66 supporters lost their lives in a crush at Ibrox stadium following a league match with Celtic. The FAI began on 15 February at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall before Sheriff Allan Walker and was to last seven days. In a broader sense the second Ibrox disaster had a major effect on many other British sporting venues. As news of the disaster spread, Glasgow and the rest of Scotland was united in shock and sorrow. In his evidence he gave his description of events on the stairway. 12:38, 2 JAN 2014. 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