In Rememberence of the 66

[BouncingBear 23]

And GREAT for the TEAM to honour their memory a year later and win the ECWC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets raise a glass, to Absent Friends!

[D'Artagnan 13,319]

[Iserdo 1]

Lest we forget.

[J_RFC87 761]

[WVB 2,560]

The list of those who lost their lives on that day:

GLASGOW

DAVID ANDERSON [45], JOHN BUCHANAN [32], RICHARD BARKE [15], DAVID DUFF [23), PETER FARRIES [26], JOHN GARDINER [32], THOMAS GRANT [16], CHARLES LIVINGSTON [30], BRIAN HUTCHINSON [16], JOHN JEFFREY [16], ANDREW LINDSAY [18], THOMAS MELVILLE [17], FRANCIS DOVER [16], ROBERT MULHOLLAND [16], DUNCAN McBREARTY [17], DONALD McPHERSON [30], THOMAS McROBBIE [17], ROBERT RAE [25], WILLIAM SHAW [30], WALTER SHIELDS, GEORGE SMITH [40], WILLIAM SOMERHILL [17], JAMES TRAINER [20]

JOHN CRAWFORD [23], GEORGE FINDLAY [21], JOHN NEIL.

LIVERPOOL

NIGEL PICKUP [9]

EDINBURGH

WALTER RAEBURN [36], JAMES SIBBALD [28], ROBERT C CAIRNS [17].

LANARKSHIRE

THOMAS DICKSON [32], IAN FREW [21], JAMES GREY [37], IAN HUNTER [14], JAMES MAIR [19], ROBERT MAXWELL [15], ALEXANDER ORR [16], MATTHEW RIED [49], CHARLES STIRLING [20], PETER WRIGHT [31]

ARGYLL

GEORGE IRWIN [22]

FIFE

PETER EASTON [13], MARTIN PATON [14], MASON PHILLIPS [14], BRIAN TODD [14], DOUGLAS MORRISON [15]

RENFREWSHIRE

HUGH ADDIE [33], ROBERT GRANT [21], ALEX McINTYRE [29], GEORGE WILSON [15]

STIRLINGSHIRE

MARGARET FERGUSON [18], ROBERT McADAM [36], RICHARD McLEAY [28], JOHN McLEAY [23]

WEST LOTHIAN

RUSSEL MALCOLM [16]

DUMBARTONSHIRE

GEORGE ADAMS [43], ROBERT CARRIGAN [13], CHARLES DOUGAN [31], ADAM HENDERSON, DAVID McGHEE [14], THOMAS MORGAN [14], JAMES RAE [19], JOHN SEMPLE [18], THOMAS STIRLING [16], DONALD SUTHERLAND [14].

EAST LOTHIAN

JAMES McGOVERN [24]

RIP Absent Friends.

[Big C 0]

RIP to the 66

[Antwilhar 4]

Gone but never Forgotten. RIP!

[CanadianBacon 2,088]

To absent friends.

R.I.P.

[Mikhailichenko 90]

The list of those who lost their lives on that day:

GLASGOW

DAVID ANDERSON [45], JOHN BUCHANAN [32], RICHARD BARKE [15], DAVID DUFF [23), PETER FARRIES [26], JOHN GARDINER [32], THOMAS GRANT [16], CHARLES LIVINGSTON [30], BRIAN HUTCHINSON [16], JOHN JEFFREY [16], ANDREW LINDSAY [18], THOMAS MELVILLE [17], FRANCIS DOVER [16], ROBERT MULHOLLAND [16], DUNCAN McBREARTY [17], DONALD McPHERSON [30], THOMAS McROBBIE [17], ROBERT RAE [25], WILLIAM SHAW [30], WALTER SHIELDS, GEORGE SMITH [40], WILLIAM SOMERHILL [17], JAMES TRAINER [20]

JOHN CRAWFORD [23], GEORGE FINDLAY [21], JOHN NEIL.

LIVERPOOL

NIGEL PICKUP [9]

EDINBURGH

WALTER RAEBURN [36], JAMES SIBBALD [28], ROBERT C CAIRNS [17].

LANARKSHIRE

THOMAS DICKSON [32], IAN FREW [21], JAMES GREY [37], IAN HUNTER [14], JAMES MAIR [19], ROBERT MAXWELL [15], ALEXANDER ORR [16], MATTHEW RIED [49], CHARLES STIRLING [20], PETER WRIGHT [31]

ARGYLL

GEORGE IRWIN [22]

FIFE

PETER EASTON [13], MARTIN PATON [14], MASON PHILLIPS [14], BRIAN TODD [14], DOUGLAS MORRISON [15]

RENFREWSHIRE

HUGH ADDIE [33], ROBERT GRANT [21], ALEX McINTYRE [29], GEORGE WILSON [15]

STIRLINGSHIRE

MARGARET FERGUSON [18], ROBERT McADAM [36], RICHARD McLEAY [28], JOHN McLEAY [23]

WEST LOTHIAN

RUSSEL MALCOLM [16]

DUMBARTONSHIRE

GEORGE ADAMS [43], ROBERT CARRIGAN [13], CHARLES DOUGAN [31], ADAM HENDERSON, DAVID McGHEE [14], THOMAS MORGAN [14], JAMES RAE [19], JOHN SEMPLE [18], THOMAS STIRLING [16], DONALD SUTHERLAND [14].

EAST LOTHIAN

JAMES McGOVERN [24]

RIP Absent Friends.

A very tragic event made worse by the amount of youngsters amongst the victims.

Never forgotten.

[RFE 35]

I will never get my head round someone leaving to follow the team they love and never returning, to Absent Friends!

If admin have no objections I will leave this, it's matters not where it came from but be assured there is no objections with it being posted elsewhere.

Sadly, there have been many tragedies at football grounds, going back many years. In 1946, 33 Bolton fans were crushed to death when an estimated 85,000 fans filled a 65,000 capacity ground. In 1964, 300 fans were killed and over 500 injured in Lima, Peru when fans reacted to a controversial refereeing decision. In 1982 340 died on a stairway at the end of a European Cup game. In Bradford in 1985, a single cigarette burned down a stand, killing 56 fans and injuring 200 more.

The same year 39 fans were killed during rioting between Liverpool and Juventus fans as a brick wall collapsed. Liverpool were to suffer more anguish only three years later when during a game against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough 96 people lost their lives in a crush that still demands answers. In Accra, Ghana in 2001, over 120 people died in a disturbance which involved police firing tear gas. The thoughts of every right minded football fan, nay human being, go out to those who suffered, those who lost family or friends.

We Rangers fans have had to come to terms with grief, not once but twice. On 5 April 1902, during a Scotland v England football match the back of the newly built West Tribune Stand collapsed due to heavy rainfall the previous night. Hundreds of supporters fell up to 40 feet to the ground below. 25 people died and 517 were injured. The stand at the time consisted of wooden terracing supported by a steel girder frame.

Following the accident such frameworks were discredited, and replaced throughout the United Kingdom by terracing supported by earthworks or reinforced concrete. The tragedy occurred after 51 minutes of the match, which was declared void by the two Football Associations. All proceeds of the replayed match at Villa Park, Birmingham on 3 May 1902 went to the disaster fund.

We are now at the anniversary of the second Ibrox disaster on January 2nd 1971. On that horrible day, 66 Rangers fans never made it home. The details of the tragedy are well documented, and were the subject of a book "Stairway 13" written by Paul Collier and Donald S. Taylor. Football legend George Best wrote a poignant foreword.

For those who don't know the details, a game against Celtic was nearing its conclusion. A 0 - 0 draw looked the likely result until Celtic scored through a Jimmy Johnstone goal in the 89th minute. Disillusioned fans left but as they stepped down Stairway 13, and the match drew to a close, Colin Stein, the prolific Rangers number 9 equalised.

The tales that spread after the game and that lingered for years were that Rangers fans turned to rush back up to see what the cheering was about. The official inquiry into the disaster indicated that there was no truth in this theory, as the bodies, many deep, were all facing the same way. Another theory was that it all started with a single fan tripping.

Many thousands made their way home unaware of what had happened. In those days where mobile phones and little transistor radios were not yet available, word did not reach the majority until they were in their homes or had stopped off for a post match beer. Indeed the teams were unaware until well after the event. Willie Waddell, the Rangers manager went to the Stairway and saw the carnage. Jock Stein, the Celtic manager attended the injured and dying on the pitch.

Stein later wrote in the Celtic View "This terrible tragedy must help to curb the bigotry and bitterness of Old Firm matches. When human life is at stake this kind of hatred seems sordid and little. Fans of both sides will never forget this disaster."Regretfully, not all fans heed his words. Small picture I know and in case you can’t see it, this sicko has “Ha Ha 66” on his mhanky top.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2jeut00.jpg

Inside Ibrox, the dressing rooms and gym were cleared to take the injured and dying. The offices were used too as the extent of the horror unfolded. The dead, the dying and the injured were taken to the nearby Southern General Hospital, where staff struggled to cope.

Glasgow Herald football reporter Andrew Young described the aftermath of Scotland's worst ever football disaster: “Eventually at the top of the terrace the true horror became apparent. Half a dozen lifeless forms were lying on the ground. Rescuers were tripping over the dead and injured as they struggled back with more victims. A wedge of emptiness had been created part of the way down the long steep flight of steps leading to the Copland Road exit. In it were the twisted remains of the heavy steel division barriers.

They had been mangled out of shape and pressed to the ground by the weight of the bodies. Lying all over the steps were scores of shoes that had been ripped off in the crush. Beyond, the steps were still dense with groaning people. There was almost complete shocked silence at this stage. Occasionally we would hear the sounds of coins falling from the victims’ pockets as they were lifted away.”

The club, management and players were represented at every funeral. If such a tragic event can have a lowest point, it is, I feel, that every one of the fans was under the age of 50. Indeed 33 of the souls were under 21. Many were school-kids, one an 18 year old girl. From the horror, under the guidance of Waddell, grew the new Ibrox, which of course has been subsequently improved again.

It is not just my opinion but it took far too long for the club to do anything to mark the event. Some 30 years later a fine memorial was unveiled to replace the small plaque originally put up. A fine statue of Rangers Greatest Ever Player and captain of the 1971 team, John Greig stands on a brick plinth where the names of the 66 fans are displayed.

Teams

Rangers:- Neef, Jardine, Mathieson, Greig, McKinnon, Jackson, Henderson (MacDonald), Conn, D Johnstone, Smith, Stein.

Rangers scorer:- Stein (90)

Celtic:- Williams, Craig, Gemmell, Brogan, Connelly, Hay, Johnstone, Hood, Wallace, Callaghan, Lennox Celtic scorer:- Johnstone (89)

Att:- 80,000

To this day, one thing sickens me more than anything else in football. We from Ibrox will stand silent to pay tribute, as we do on every anniversary. Celtic's fans will applaud. That is not a proper thing to do, and truth to tell it is only done to mask the jeering and cat-calls we have heard year after year from those scum who do not know how to conduct themselves properly.

"Fans" of Aberdeen F.C. sing a song every time they play Rangers. That song mocks the dead of the disaster. The media in this country have rarely if ever touched on these team's supporters' atrocities. These sick bastards should be found, named and shamed.

Vanguardbears has many fine writers. I offered to write this one. My motivation is simple. My cousin died that day on Stairway 13. He was a fine young man, husband and father. He loved his football and he loved the Rangers.

If no one objects, I'd like to say this article is dedicated with love and respect to the following men, girl and boys:

DAVID ANDERSON [45] EASTERHOUSE

JOHN BUCHANAN [37] CASTLEMILK

RICHARD BARKE [15] SHETTLESON

DAVID DUFF [23] POSSIL

PETER FARRIES [26] SANDYHILLS

JOHN GARDINER [32] CLYDEBANK

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 [15] PARTICK

GEORGE SMITH [40] CARDONALD

WILLIAM SOMERHILL [17] GALLOWGATE

JAMES TRAINER [20] BRIDGETON

JOHN CRAWFORD [23] SPRINGBURN

GEORGE FINDLAY [21] TOWNHEAD

JOHN NEIL [29] 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 [42] 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

[J_RFC87 761]

Small picture I know and in case you can’t see it, this sicko has “Ha Ha 66” on his mhanky top.

Good article, very touching.

But I wish I hadn't seen that picture and cropped up our remembrance thread. I wonder what his answer, with the Jock Stein quote in the article, would be if questioned on his rationale and justification.

[BRICKY1872 118]

To absent friends. Important to remember at this time of year especially.

[mark_ni 12]

absent friends

[KingKai 439]

Saddest day in our History.

RIP.

You know, it wasnt uncommon back then to be carried out by the crowd after the game. The crushes trying to get out were pretty terrifying when I think back on it, you could actually lift your feet off the ground and youd still be moving.

[mrwin 393]

R.I.P.

[StevenDavis 112]

Lest We Forget.

RIP those 66, always in our thoughts.

[Amac9 2,060]

R.I.P

To absent friends

[BLUEDIGNITY 33,647]

To Absent Friends. RIP.

[SuperRangers 2]

Great article RFE, brings a lump tp your throat reading it, never knew that three of boys who died were Possil boys like myself.

To Absent Friends, R.I.P

[WVB 2,560]

Just bumping an important thread.

[TexasGers 96]

Never forget the 66

RIP

[lewisb72 50]

R.I.P

WATP

[keithgersbear 3,225]

14 years of age ffs. It's just so sad.

[WVB 2,560]

14 years of age ffs. It's just so sad.

1 poor wee soul was only 9 and had travelled from Liverpool.

[Scott-RFC 308]

Gone but never ever forgotten.

RIP