On January 2 1971, a traditional New Year derby between Rangers and Celtic was notable on the field for a late goal apiece from either side after 89 minutes of deadlock. Yet it is the disastrous consequences of what happened afterwards that the fixture is eternally remembered for, as retold in episode five of The Football Years, airing on STV on Thursday February 4 at 9pm.
As Rangers fans made their exit from Ibrox buoyed by Colin Stein’s injury time equaliser against their rivals, tragedy struck on Stairway 13. A crush, caused by a single fan falling on their way down the steps, claimed the lives of 66 people.
“The railing supports were going and the pressure was getting intense,” recalls Iain Loch, who was caught up in the disaster, in the programme. “You heard the people shouting ‘get back, get back’ but then it went silent because nobody could shout.
“Everything was getting squashed from you, squeezed from me. The air was getting squeezed out your lungs. I crawled over people at the height of the pillars and fell down the grass slopes.
“By that time all hell had let loose. Everyone was running everywhere. There was people and police, the ambulance men, trying to dig their way in to get people away.”
John Greig was Rangers’ captain at the time and also has vivid memories of the disaster unfolding. Last out of the Ibrox dressing room after the match, he was faced with the sight of bodies from the accident being brought in.
“The disaster lives with me all the time because I was the last person in the dressing room, they were bringing bodies into the dressing room,” said Greig. “I couldn’t envisage what had happened.
In the weeks afterwards, Rangers players and staff attended the funerals of those who perished. Greig himself was also in frequent attendance and can still remember the pain of the families who had lost their loved ones.
“Most of the time the families were pleased to see us,” he recalls. “Well I say pleased, they weren’t pleased but they respected the fact that we came along.
“There was a couple of occasions when they were angry and I can fully understand that because their loved ones go to a football match and don’t come back. How can you go to a football match and not come back from it?”
In the face of that adversity, the Rangers team rallied and went on to win the 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup, battling to victory in the memory of those caught up on Stairway 13.
The Football Years’ look at the years of 1971 and 1972, titled Tragedy to Triumph, will be shown on STV on Thursday February 4 at 9pm. For video extras from the programme, visit stv.tv/footballyears
