Therefore it was a young side that took to the field in the Old Firm game on January 2nd 1971. Capable of beating any team on their day but lacking the consistency needed to maintain a title challenge against their rivals. What was to happen that day, put football into perspective.
The match was not particularly bad natured, indeed there were only two arrests. Jimmy Johnstone opened the scoring late on for Celtic, but Colin Stein equalised for Rangers. The steel barriers at stairway 13 gave way, crushing 66 people to death and injuring many more.
At first it was thought that the barriers collapsed as a result of leaving fans rushing back to celebrate Stein's goal. However an enquiry into the disaster found this not to be the case. Fans had remained until the end and were all heading in the same direction. It was also believed that that the diaster resulted from only a single person falling on the stairs and because the steps were so steep, people were unaware of what was happening and continued to move.
Willie Waddell co-ordinated the relief operation and acted as club spokesman. Afterwards he arranged for the club to be represented at every funeral and vowed to make Ibrox a stadium both safe and comfortable. He embarked on a plan to modernise the stadium and current Ibrox is a testament to the work he started. A match match between Scotland and a Rangers/Celtic XI took place at Hampden in front of a crowd of 81,405.
The 1971 disaster was not the only one. In April 1902 25 people were killed when the west terracing collapsed during a Scotland vs England match. In September 1961, two people were killed on stairway 13. In September 1967 8 were injured and on 2nd January 1969 24 were injured. However, the lessons from the 1971 were learned and the club acted to make sure such a disaster never occured again.
The following are those who lost their lives:
DAVID ANDERSON [45] EASTERHOUSE
JOHN BUCHANAN [37] CASTLEMILK
RICHARD BARKE [15] SHETTLESON
DAVID DUFF [23] POSSIL
PETER FARRIES [26] SANDYHILLS
JOHN GARDINER [32] CLYDEBANK, DALMUIR
THOMAS GRANT [16] YOKER
CHARLES GRIFFITHS LIVINGSTON [30] TOLLCROSS
BRIAN HUTCHINSON [16] BARLANARK
JOHN JEFFREY [16] YOKER
ANDREW LINDSAY [18] EASTERHOUSE
THOMAS MELVILLE [17] POSSIL
FRANCIS DOVER [16] POSSILPARK
ROBERT MULHOLLAND [16] DRUMCHAPEL
DUNCAN McBREARTY [17] SHETTLESTON
DONALD McPHERSON [30] CRAIGTON
THOMAS McROBBIE [17] BRIDGETON
ROBERT RAE [25] PARTICK
WILLIAM SHAW [38] RUCHAZIE
WALTER SHIELDS [ ] PARTICK
GEORGE SMITH [40] CARDONALD
WILLIAM SOMERHILL [17] GALLOWGATE
JAMES TRAINER [20] BRIDGETON
JOHN CRAWFORD [23] SPRINGBURN
GEORGE FINDLAY [21] TOWNHEAD
JOHN NEIL [ ] SHETTLESTON
NIGEL PICKUP [9] LIVERPOOL
WALTER RAEBURN [36] BROUGHTON
JAMES SIBBALD [28] RESTALRIG
ROBERT C CAIRNS [17] EDINBURGH
THOMAS DICKSON [32] AIRDRIE
IAN FREW [21] AIRDRIE
JAMES GREY [37] LARKHALL
IAN HUNTER [14] NEWMAINS
JAMES MAIR [19] LARKHALL
ROBERT MAXWELL [15] BLANTYRE
ALEXANDER ORR [16] AIRDRIE
MATTHEW RIED [49] CALDERCRUIX
CHARLES STIRLING [20] CHAPELHALL
PETER WRIGHT [31] UDDINGSTON
GEORGE IRWIN [22] DUNOON
PETER EASTON [13] MARKINCH
MARTIN PATON [14] MARKINCH
MASON PHILLIPS [14] MARKINCH
BRIAN TODD [14] MARKINCH
DOUGLAS MORRISON [15] MARKINCH
HUGH ADDIE [33] BARRHEAD
ROBERT GRANT [21] BISHOPTON
ALEX McINTYRE [29] BARRHEAD
GEORGE WILSON [15] GREENOCK
MARGARET FERGUSON [18] FALKIRK
ROBERT McADAM [36] DENNY
RICHARD McLEAY [28] SLAMMANAN
JOHN McLEAY [23] SLAMMANAN
RUSSEL MALCOLM [16] BROXBURN
GEORGE ADAMS [43] CLYDEBANK
ROBERT CARRIGAN [13] KIRKINTILLOCH
CHARLES DOUGAN [31] CLYDEBANK
ADAM HENDERSON [ ] CUMBERNAULD
DAVID McGHEE [14] BEARSDEN
THOMAS MORGAN [14] BEARSDEN
JAMES RAE [19] KIRKINTILLOCH
JOHN SEMPLE [18] KIRKINTILLOCH
THOMAS STIRLING [16] KIRKINTILLOCH
DONALD SUTHERLAND [14] BEARSDEN
JAMES McGOVERN [24] TRANENT
If anyone would like to contact Craig Smith then please do so by emailing him at craig@livingston29.freeserve.co.uk
