First Ibrox Disaster

[BEARGER 1,829]

116 years ago today: Hundreds injured and 25 dead in the first Ibrox disaster

One of Britain's worst football ground tragedies is often forgotten. Today, we look back on the horror that struck Ibrox stadium 116 years ago. 

• BY KIRSTY MCKENZIE
• 21:00, 4 APR 2018

April 1902: A section of the terracing which collapsed at Ibrox Park football ground in Glasgow, killing 25 people and injuring 517, during the Scotland v England match. The tragedy led to a shift from wooden terracing to earthen embankments at football grounds. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

 

It was the afternoon of the British Home Championship match between Scotland and England, Saturday, April 5, 1902.

Like all matches against the Auld Enemy, the atmosphere was electric. The stadium swelled with the bodies, chants and laughter of 68,000 football fans, each paying shilling entrance fee.

 

The Scotland v England clash, the most prestigious international in the football calendar, had brought in the stadium's largest crowd to date. More than three thousand supporters travelled from Aberdeen alone and hundreds more made the journey the outskirts of Glasgow and beyond. Before that fateful day, Ibrox's 80,000 capacity had never been more than half full.

The match was a tense one. Ten minutes in it looked like Scotland was set to score the first goal. The opportunity came to nothing, but reports at the time suggested that it may have been a contributory factor to the horror that would soon unfold. 

The Scotsman reported how the crowd pushed forward, down the terracing, as the Scots came close to scoring. The open spaces soon become filled with supporters, pressing up from the packed stairway. According to the paper, ‘an extraordinary congestion’ took place, which put an unbearable pressure on the flooring.

Then, 51 minutes in, disaster struck. The start joists of the newly built West Tribune Stand began gave away and a giant hole opened up on the terracing, sending hundreds of supporters plunging towards the ground. 

A tangled mass of fans dropped 45 feet, tumbling through the broken boards towards the wood, steel and concrete below. For many, it proved a fatal drop. 

The scale of the horror was immeasurable. One father went to the Western Infirmary in the hope of finding his 25-year-old son, William Robertson and was quickly ushered to the mortuary. He was arranging the funeral when his son arrived home at Bainsford, Falkirk.

 

Despite all this, the match continued, the teams battling it out for a 1-1 draw. Those in charge that day feared a riot would erupt if the game was abandoned and were concerned that the swelling crowds would prevent the injured from being rescued. The match was later declared void. 

The match was replayed at Villa Park a month later, finishing 2-2. The proceeds, £1000, went to the Ibrox Disaster Relief Funds.

 

The final death toll was recorded as 26 with a further 587 injured. Though the horror of 1902 has faded into the cracks of time, with many unaware of the true scale of the tragedy that unfolded that day, the first Ibrox disaster reinforced the belief that the design of football grounds had to be improved. 

It also marks the beginning of the stadium's century of horror. Disaster was to hit Ibrox four more times over the next 70 years. On September 16, 1961, two people were killed at an Old Firm game when a wooden barrier gave way on Stairway 13. It was replaced with an iron barrier.

Then, in September 1967 eight were injured in another incident.

On January 2, 1969 – again on Strairway 13 at another Old Firm game – 24 were injured.

None of the incidents could compare with the scale of the 1971 disaster in what proved to beBritain’s deadliest stadium disaster until Hillsborough

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gonzo79 14,260]

I had no idea about the incidents during the 60s.  

 

Pretty heart-wrenching stuff to read about.  It's mad to think they had thousands stood upon wooden terraces.  And that the match continued despite what was happening.

[pete 2,499]

1 hour ago, Gonzo79 said:

I had no idea about the incidents during the 60s.  

 

Pretty heart-wrenching stuff to read about.  It's mad to think they had thousands stood upon wooden terraces.  And that the match continued despite what was happening.

I didn't realise they had so many warnings either. As I have said many times on here I made that stairway 13 decent many times and it was frightening. Thankfully public safety has taken a huge step forward. They say accidents will always happen but the chance must be made as little as possible.  We are our actually our own worst enemy. How often do we think, "Oh I will just do that quickly" without taking safety into consideration. You only get one set of eyes, ears and one body. The next time you grab an electric saw or grinder for that wee quick job grab safety glasses and ear protection first. You probably won't.

[MacK1950 2,278]

Stairway 13 used it many many times as it was best exit for Copeland Road subway and ferry to Kelvinhaugh steep as hell and scary when crowded.

Stadium access/exits now very good.