Ibrox Disaster 1971....Were you there?

[Glenconner]

On 21 December 2015 at 12:58, Mortar Bored said:

It was the year I was born, I was always under the impression as a child that my uncle was among the dead that day, subsequent family chat ( due to this thread) has revealed he actually perished in the one around 10 years before, again on stairway 13. I believe there were 2 fatalities.

I'm not in the habit of visiting Rangers historical sites and my googling hasn't revealed much about it - obviously 1902 & 1971 get far more coverage.

If any bears ( or anyone else) could provide links to the incident I'm talking about, I'd be most grateful. Unfortunately everyone on that side of my family is gone now, so I have no details. I believe my Uncles name was George Nelson.

George Nelson from Penilee?

I was in company recently and your uncle's name came up. The person said he lived in Penilee in 1961 and his older brother was a mate of your uncle. 

Edited November 6, 2017 by Glenconner

[Daydream]

Great thread. Absorbing. My dad didn’t get a seat on his supporters’ bus as he missed the previous week’s game. All his pals were there and got out unscathed.

Was stairway 13 at the Copland Rd end?

[Glenconner]

16 minutes ago, Daydream said:

Great thread. Absorbing. My dad didn’t get a seat on his supporters’ bus as he missed the previous week’s game. All his pals were there and got out unscathed.

Was stairway 13 at the Copland Rd end?

Correct, it was the nearest stairwell to the subway station.

[The_Kincardine]

17 minutes ago, Daydream said:

Great thread. Absorbing. My dad didn’t get a seat on his supporters’ bus as he missed the previous week’s game. All his pals were there and got out unscathed.

Was stairway 13 at the Copland Rd end?

Broadly, yes,  The Old Ibrox was a different shape (oval) and stairway 13 led out towards where the Megastore club shop is now so pretty much the Copland Road end.

[The_Kincardine]

8 minutes ago, Glenconner said:

Correct, it was the nearest stairwell to the subway station.

How're you doing young man?  Haven't seen you posting for ages.

[Flybhoy]

On 13/12/2015 at 18:11, forever_blue said:

Is the story true of jock stein getting tore into a reporter who asked him "if he was disappointed at losing a goal so quickly after taking the lead" true?

That I believe is true, Archie MacPherson wrote a biography of Jock Stein about ten years ago and tells this tale, being present in the room when one of the reporters asked Jock such a crass, innapropriate question, seemingly Stein left him without a name 

[Glenconner]

29 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

How're you doing young man?  Haven't seen you posting for ages.

Fighting the good fight as always.

And freezing ma haw maws aff watching Junior fitba.

[The_Kincardine]

5 minutes ago, Glenconner said:

And freezing ma haw maws aff watching Junior fitba.

I got off lightly.  I was going to go and watch Wycombe vs Crawley Town tomorrow but my son has decided he's going to Oxford with some bit of skirt instead.  So I'll watch the Accies' game from the comfort of my laptop.  These young yins, eh?

[Brother Blades]

George Nelson from Penilee?
I was in company recently and your uncle's name came up. The person said he lived in Penilee in 1961 and his older brother was a mate of your uncle. 

@Glenconner many apologies, I've had a username change & didn't get the notification you had quoted my post.
Yes, George was from Penilee, father was also George (my grans brother) & mother was called Agnes. It's a small world right enough.
As far as I can tell, George had a brother - maybe Robert? And a sister - maybe Margaret?
If you are ever in the same company again, I'd really like to learn more.
Thanks for the post.

[Jakes Pal]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2015 at 13:21, forever_blue said:

I know their was an area referred to at ibrox as "the Derry"

Copland Road terrace was The Derry, watched my first games at Ibrox sitting on a crush barrier just in front of a support pillar of the roof not far from stairway 13. Seems that Dundee FC are under some pressure from the PC mob about their fans still referring to their traditional hardcore area as The Derry.

Sticks & stones and all that.

[Glenconner]

3 hours ago, Jakes Pal said:

Copland Road terrace was The Derry, watched my first games at Ibrox sitting on a crush barrier just in front of a support pillar of the roof not far from stairway 13. Seems that Dundee FC are under some pressure from the PC mob about their fans still referring to their traditional hardcore area as The Derry.

Sticks & stones and all that.

JP, and Dundee fan i knew always said it was the Dens Dairy. Come to think of it, shouldn't it be the Londonderry at Ibrox?

[RedRob72]

47 years today. Was too young to be taken to an Old Firm game back then, but faint memories of the talk in the house afterwards. The thought that SO many people could set off to a football match (Bradford & Hillsborough to Follow in the 80’s) and not return home after the game just sends shivers through you.

[Daydream]

Copland Road terrace was The Derry, watched my first games at Ibrox sitting on a crush barrier just in front of a support pillar of the roof not far from stairway 13. Seems that Dundee FC are under some pressure from the PC mob about their fans still referring to their traditional hardcore area as The Derry.
Sticks & stones and all that.

Any ideas where the name ‘The Derry’ comes from?

[Glenconner]

On 27 November 2017 at 13:46, Brother Blades said:

@Glenconner many apologies, I've had a username change & didn't get the notification you had quoted my post.
Yes, George was from Penilee, father was also George (my grans brother) & mother was called Agnes. It's a small world right enough.
As far as I can tell, George had a brother - maybe Robert? And a sister - maybe Margaret?
If you are ever in the same company again, I'd really like to learn more.
Thanks for the post.

Maybe inquiries, BB. The family name was Osborne and they lived across the road from the Nelson's in 1961. The chap who was friendly with George is now himself dead. Believe a younger generation of the Osborne family still live in the house although they of course wouldn't have been around in 1961.

[dardo]

The subway loyal heading out early doors even back then. 

MODS?

[Jimboyjones1976]

On 13/12/2015 at 19:11, Glenconner said:

Think the penning system in England was orginally a safety feature all be it a cheap and nasty one.

Which appeared after the Ibrox disaster.

Theory was so many safely in each pen and it stops movement across the terracing.

Nobody thought to ask, what if you lose control of the crowd?

Reading this thread with interest. Ironically, the only flaw in the safety systems in those days was the fact that they herded fans in groups rather than treat them as individuals. Post Taylor report, experts cited the main reason for all seating was that each supporter would be allocated a ‘cell of safety’ within the ground which couldn’t be moved. More than one fan in a cell leads to movement of people when that is exactly what stadium designers don’t want, unless they have designed the flow of movement. Effectively, football grounds working on this principle could have virtually limitless capacity, and be safe. I remember some terraced games at Hampden that were frankly terrifying, and that was in the 80’s. Whilst the surge of supporters was exciting, there was no doubt it was dangerous. 

[Glenconner]

48 years ago today. Almost half a century ago. The fog, the mist. Fire engines on Paisley Rd West?  No motorway. No radio on the bus, no mobile phones. The strange site of the supporters bus arriving back to find a couple of hundred men, women and children standing waiting. Why are they standing there? What’s happened? 48 years later.......

[KJB]

My dad was at the match. He was 14 at the time and it's not something he likes to ever speak about although only a couple of times- after a few too many- has he talked openly to me about what happened.

His recollection was being swept up and away as they went over the hill before darkness as he any many others fell on top of each other. He had his foot crushed and stuck under the weight of the barriers that folded under the weight; he has a massive scar on his ankle from this. He says he remembers being dragged out to the sides and being gripped by others still lying down, their faces blue trying to catch a breath looking to him for help. He says he never felt so useless as others just died around him. After some time in hospital he was welcomed home by the other fellas from the supporters bus. They had all rallied round and chipped in some money and they gave him £75 and bought him a new pair of shoes as he'd lost his during the ordeal. I cannot imagine what that day and those images must do to the inside of a 14year olds head; I'm just grateful to whoever that was that dragged him out; I may never have been here myself if it weren't for them.

Such a sad day when all those people go to watch their team yet never make it home. RIP

[Monkey Tennis]

3 hours ago, Glenconner said:

48 years ago today. Almost half a century ago. The fog, the mist. Fire engines on Paisley Rd West?  No motorway. No radio on the bus, no mobile phones. The strange site of the supporters bus arriving back to find a couple of hundred men, women and children standing waiting. Why are they standing there? What’s happened? 48 years later.......

That's nicely done.

[The_Kincardine]

6 hours ago, Glenconner said:

48 years ago today. Almost half a century ago. The fog, the mist. Fire engines on Paisley Rd West?  No motorway. No radio on the bus, no mobile phones. The strange site of the supporters bus arriving back to find a couple of hundred men, women and children standing waiting. Why are they standing there? What’s happened? 48 years later.......

Thanks for keeping this thread going, Bro Glenconner.  And, yes, it was such a foggy/misty/grey/dreich day in The Weege.  My auld man was forbidden to take me to Ibrox as we had to go to his sisters' flat in West End Park Street for a late Ne'erday family dinner which included about a dozen of us.  Tears and snotters from me before the game (because I didn't get to go) followed by tears and snotters from my maiden aunts when we arrived late as they had thought the worst.

Particularly poignant for me this year as I'm going to Motherwell tomorrow to bury my auld dear who died just before Christmas.  No great trauma as she was 91 but was the 'last of a generation' and the last surviving adult of that Ne'erday dinner.

I hope you bump the thread again next year as it has significance for a few on here but is also a reminder of how much stadium design has come on in the past 50 years - with special mention to The Deedle who was a bit of a visionary in the redevelopment of Ibrox.