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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Fahad Tariq

Remembering the Ibrox Park disaster which killed 25 and shook the city over a century ago

Large crowds of football fans made their way into Ibrox Stadium to watch Scotland go head-to-head against England in the British Home Championship match over a century ago but nobody could've predicted the disaster that would follow on the 5th April, in 1902.

Lives were cut short and families left broken after a stand collapsed, leaving 25 people dead and hundreds injured.

It was a dark day with loved-ones mourning and hearts shattered following the tragic events which saw one of the biggest crowds Ibrox stadium had ever seen.

Thousands of supporters travelled to Glasgow from all over the country to watch the clash against Auld Enemy. The traumatic incident which unfolded was far beyond anyone's expectations.

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Prior to that day in 1902, Ibrox's 80,000 capacity had never reached 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.

TheScotsman 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.

Rangers FC tweeted the names of fans who lost their lives in the tragedy, with the caption: "Forever Remembered."

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.

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.

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