[14] Noted civil engineers Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir William Arrol appeared as witnesses in McDougall's defence. In 2010, three people who were closest to the Ibrox tragedy spoke to our sister title The Herald. Show more . The Ibrox Disaster remains a painful memory in the hearts and minds of people across Scotland, even nearly 50 years on. Rangers' directors sanctioned the £20,000 construction of a new Ibrox Park in an attempt to improve the facilities. [3], 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. The loss included many children, five of them schoolmates from the town of Markinch in Fife. [2] The construction of Celtic Park by Rangers' Old Firm rivals Celtic in 1892 led the club to seek an improved venue to compete for the chance to host Scottish Cup finals or Scotland international matches, which could generate considerable income for the hosts, particularly fixtures against England. Baker concluded that the stand's design made it safe for a load of 25 lb per square foot but estimated that on the day of the match it had experienced loads of up to 75 lb per square foot. [8][9] Early in the match, supporters briefly surged toward the front of the terracing, and the on-duty police were forced to intervene in order to regulate the crowd and disperse them from one area. Although some players and officials disagreed with the decision, the match resumed, with Raisbeck, who supported the continuation, commenting "none of the players were sorry when the final whistle went as they were all heartily sick. Rangers' directors sanctioned the £20,000 construction of a new Ibrox Park in an attempt to improve the facilities. [11], An investigation of the scene afterwards found that seventeen joints had given way, causing a hole approximately 20 yards (18 metres) long to open up in the stand. The effects of the disaster sent shockwaves through the football club. A statue of John Greig, the Rangers captain at the time of the 1971 disaster, stands atop the monument. [1] To combat this, the club built the first Ibrox Park in 1887, and the new ground remained in use for twelve years. There was no official count of the attendance, but estimated figures for the match state there was a crowd of over 68,000, half of which were stood in the West Tribune Stand. [2], The first disaster at Ibrox occurred during a 1902 home international match between Scotland and England. [5][12], Rangers had won four consecutive Scottish league championships prior to the disaster, but the club invested heavily in the major redevelopment of Ibrox following the accident. Their football club. Although they had no way of determining when the stand was full, they had been given signs declaring the stand full that were displayed at an appropriate time. [8], On 5 April 1902, the 1902 British Home Championship match between Scotland and England kicked off at 3:30pm. Coming together, remembering together. However, the ground's capacity, originally 2,000 but later expanded to 7,000, was struggling to meet the demand for the club's fixtures, and the venue's landlords eventually looked to move Rangers on to develop the site. [12] Local hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties, and the cells of the nearby Govan police station were used as emergency treatment rooms. [3] Such was the fervour surrounding these international fixtures, The Times noted that the "attendance is limited only by the size of the ground". 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. Tuttavia, negli ultimi secondi del secondo tempo, Colin Stein segnò il goal del pareggio.