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. It was the worst British football disaster until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989. Rangers F. C. was later ruled to be at fault in a sheriff’s judgement on one of the deaths.
About 1971 Ibrox disaster in brief
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. It was the worst British football disaster until the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, England, in 1989. The stadium’s owner, Rangers F. C., was later ruled to be at fault in a sheriff’s judgement on one of the deaths. Rangers did not dispute this ruling, and was sued for damages in 60 other cases brought by relatives of the dead. The disaster spurred the UK government to look into safety at sports grounds. In February 1971, Scottish judge Lord Wheatley was asked to conduct an inquiry. His findings formed the basis for the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds, which opened in 1973. After three years’ reconstruction, three-quarters of the modern ground was replaced by all-seater stands.
The 44,000-capacity stadium was converted to a 44-capacity by 1981. Further work in the 1990s led to the inspiration for Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion for the 1990 World Cup. The first disaster at IbroX occurred during a 1902 home international match between Scotland and England. The back of the wooden West Tribune Stand collapsed due to heavy rainfall the previous night, causing 25 deaths and over 500 injuries. On 16 September 1961, two people were killed in a crush on the stairway. In 1969, 26 were injured in an accident on Stairway 13 during egress. No steps were taken to consult a professional firm to discuss the potential dangers from crowds on Stairsway 13 following these events.
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This page is based on the article 1971 Ibrox disaster published in Wikipedia (as of Jan. 04, 2021) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
