Remembering the 66. Brian Hutchison.

[The Moonlighter 3,624]

Two weeks ago we placed at plaque at Daldowie Crematorium in memory of Brian Hutchison.His brother Tommy has shared his thoughts.

Our brother.

I remember one of my 1st Rangers presents, a tracksuit, my best Christmas present ever, when it got wet in the rain I was lucky to be able to walk in it never mind run, it just soaked up the water but i loved it. Birthdays and Christmas presents after that I would ask for a new strip, boots or a mouldy. Anyone who got hit in the inner thigh with a mould master will be cringing reading this. I even remember a wet bladder with laces coming through the air and thinking should i duck or knock myself out?

All we did at the time was kick a ball from morning to night. A ball at your feet on the way to school and home again, any chance we had, at school playtime was kicking a ball, sometimes it was just a tennis ball because full sized balls where banned in the playground, at dinner time we headed to the pitch for a full game. I wasn’t very good so sometimes didn’t get picket to play, I would be devastated but couldn’t show it. One of my classmates was so good he went on to play for Rangers , I’ve always been proud of that and would tell anyone who would listen.

In those days we would leave the house in the morning wether we where going to school or during school holidays and our parents wouldn’t expect to see us until we wanted fed at night. There was no danger, nothing bad ever happened or so a lot of us thought.
There where atrocities happening not far off but we wouldn’t hear about that for a few years.

I remember my brothers going to Rangers games years before i was allowed to go and looked forward to when I could go.
My older brother was 3 years older than me and my eldest brother 3 years older than him.

I was 13 when me and my mate upstairs started to go to Ibrox, i know this was young and i would never let my kids do anything like this at that age but it was a different time. We would get the bus from the east end into glasgow then walk from the town over to the stadium and get a lift over the turnstiles.

We would take in the atmosphere and enjoy the games standing on our tippy toes to see by the big people.
We would join in with the songs that we had heard from a lp record on our radiogram in the living room.
You would find yourselves beside older guys who would relieve themselves into beer cans or miss them and wet someone else’s trousers.
When you left the stadium,being small you could get lifted off your feet with the crowd, we didn’t think much of that at the time but looking back now know how dangerous it was.

After the game we walked back to the town centre and got the bus back to the east end, my big brother would have already been back home on the supporter bus, got changed and went out again.

My big brother would go on a supporters bus that left from a local pub, he would follow The Rangers every week home and away.
When he came back he would tell me about the places he had been watching the Gers.

I answered our new phone a few times and it would be a girl from Dundee or somewhere else i had never been, asking for Brian.

We shared a room and the walls where full of Rangers pictures. We would cut pictures out of the papers or magazines that we could get at the time.

I remember getting excited about my 1st old firm game and I was looking forward to it for ages, we would talk about it all the time.
I knew my brother was going to the game with my mates big brother, we went our separate ways all of us buzzing for the game.

Most reading this will know what happened at the game but at the time we had no idea(no mobile phones, no internet, no social media. We made our way home to the east end after the game the usual way.

Coming off the bus we walked up towards our street, i could see the window open in our flat, remember it was January, it was cold, and saw my mum at the window, when she shouted “where’s Brian”? I knew something was wrong and ran up to our 1st floor flat.
I was told that there was a newsflash on tv and fans had died at Ibrox, i was 13 and I didn’t think that anything could have happened to him.
My thoughts where that he had went to a pub or met a girl or his mates. My mum wouldn’t let me go,she held me close for a while hoping the phone would ring and it would be Brian calling to say he was with a mate or a girl and he would be late home.

It was confirmed to dad by the police that Brian had been one of the fans who had died. Anyone who has had a loss will know how things went after that.

The daily record had a picture of Brian with a headline that said, the boy who lived for Rangers

At the time you could leave school at 15 and Brian had started working at the shipyards in govan and a lot of his fellow workers,neighbours and friends turned up for the funeral, they lined the path from our house to the road where the hearse was waiting. The coffin had a Rangers crest made from flowers on it. Brian was cremated at Daldowie crematorium, Willie Henderson who was a hero of mine at the time was at the ceremony as a representative of the club. I cant help think it must have been hard for players to go to so many funeral services, one of my heroes was near to me and it could have been anyone.

At my age I’ve had many losses since then but i don’t think anyone should go to see their favourite team and not come home.
I don’t say the words to him but I’m glad i still have another brother with us.

Thanks Iain and anyone involved who work hard to keep doing this great work.

 

 

[JCDBigBear 10,810]

33 minutes ago, The Moonlighter said:

Two weeks ago we placed at plaque at Daldowie Crematorium in memory of Brian Hutchison.His brother Tommy has shared his thoughts.

Our brother.

I remember one of my 1st Rangers presents, a tracksuit, my best Christmas present ever, when it got wet in the rain I was lucky to be able to walk in it never mind run, it just soaked up the water but i loved it. Birthdays and Christmas presents after that I would ask for a new strip, boots or a mouldy. Anyone who got hit in the inner thigh with a mould master will be cringing reading this. I even remember a wet bladder with laces coming through the air and thinking should i duck or knock myself out?

All we did at the time was kick a ball from morning to night. A ball at your feet on the way to school and home again, any chance we had, at school playtime was kicking a ball, sometimes it was just a tennis ball because full sized balls where banned in the playground, at dinner time we headed to the pitch for a full game. I wasn’t very good so sometimes didn’t get picket to play, I would be devastated but couldn’t show it. One of my classmates was so good he went on to play for Rangers , I’ve always been proud of that and would tell anyone who would listen.

In those days we would leave the house in the morning wether we where going to school or during school holidays and our parents wouldn’t expect to see us until we wanted fed at night. There was no danger, nothing bad ever happened or so a lot of us thought.
There where atrocities happening not far off but we wouldn’t hear about that for a few years.

I remember my brothers going to Rangers games years before i was allowed to go and looked forward to when I could go.
My older brother was 3 years older than me and my eldest brother 3 years older than him.

I was 13 when me and my mate upstairs started to go to Ibrox, i know this was young and i would never let my kids do anything like this at that age but it was a different time. We would get the bus from the east end into glasgow then walk from the town over to the stadium and get a lift over the turnstiles.

We would take in the atmosphere and enjoy the games standing on our tippy toes to see by the big people.
We would join in with the songs that we had heard from a lp record on our radiogram in the living room.
You would find yourselves beside older guys who would relieve themselves into beer cans or miss them and wet someone else’s trousers.
When you left the stadium,being small you could get lifted off your feet with the crowd, we didn’t think much of that at the time but looking back now know how dangerous it was.

After the game we walked back to the town centre and got the bus back to the east end, my big brother would have already been back home on the supporter bus, got changed and went out again.

My big brother would go on a supporters bus that left from a local pub, he would follow The Rangers every week home and away.
When he came back he would tell me about the places he had been watching the Gers.

I answered our new phone a few times and it would be a girl from Dundee or somewhere else i had never been, asking for Brian.

We shared a room and the walls where full of Rangers pictures. We would cut pictures out of the papers or magazines that we could get at the time.

I remember getting excited about my 1st old firm game and I was looking forward to it for ages, we would talk about it all the time.
I knew my brother was going to the game with my mates big brother, we went our separate ways all of us buzzing for the game.

Most reading this will know what happened at the game but at the time we had no idea(no mobile phones, no internet, no social media. We made our way home to the east end after the game the usual way.

Coming off the bus we walked up towards our street, i could see the window open in our flat, remember it was January, it was cold, and saw my mum at the window, when she shouted “where’s Brian”? I knew something was wrong and ran up to our 1st floor flat.
I was told that there was a newsflash on tv and fans had died at Ibrox, i was 13 and I didn’t think that anything could have happened to him.
My thoughts where that he had went to a pub or met a girl or his mates. My mum wouldn’t let me go,she held me close for a while hoping the phone would ring and it would be Brian calling to say he was with a mate or a girl and he would be late home.

It was confirmed to dad by the police that Brian had been one of the fans who had died. Anyone who has had a loss will know how things went after that.

The daily record had a picture of Brian with a headline that said, the boy who lived for Rangers

At the time you could leave school at 15 and Brian had started working at the shipyards in govan and a lot of his fellow workers,neighbours and friends turned up for the funeral, they lined the path from our house to the road where the hearse was waiting. The coffin had a Rangers crest made from flowers on it. Brian was cremated at Daldowie crematorium, Willie Henderson who was a hero of mine at the time was at the ceremony as a representative of the club. I cant help think it must have been hard for players to go to so many funeral services, one of my heroes was near to me and it could have been anyone.

At my age I’ve had many losses since then but i don’t think anyone should go to see their favourite team and not come home.
I don’t say the words to him but I’m glad i still have another brother with us.

Thanks Iain and anyone involved who work hard to keep doing this great work.

 

 

A very moving piece and so much of that is true for many older Bears such as myself.  I was 19  when I was at that game and the events are etched on my mind forever.   Such a tragedy.  

[shotstopper 765]

Was at the game, standing in the hayshed which was to become the Centenary stand, Govan stand and now The Sandy Jardine stand. Stayed until the final whistle and left via the pathway that led to the bottom of stairway 13 and then onto Harrison Drive. Extremely busy with everyone jostling about as expected but seen nothing out of the ordinary. Wasn't till we got home that news was begining to come to light of the tragic events that were to follow. Will never forget that day - 2nd January 1971 ALWAYS REMEMBERED.

[Carnbroe Bear 258]

Reading Tommy's story was a memory flashback to how we actually lived in those days.  As young lads all we done was kick a ball, if fact, if truth be told. that's all we had to do.  The comment relating to the mould master on the thigh brought back a wry smile, coupled with a distinct rub of my own thigh.

However, that tragic day is and will be etched in all our memories for evermore, and as painful as it is for all Rangers supporters, I cant for one minute imagine the pain the family endured losing Brian.

For Tommy, all I would say is that Brian and the others of the '66' will never, ever be forgotten.

Lovely gesture with the plaque.

 

[bluenoz 30,689]

My mate's father died that day. My dad & uncle were at the game.

I was young but will never forget that day and the look on my mum's face when my dad got home safely. (he was in the main stand)

[WATP-FOREVER 5,231]

I was too young then for an of game. We were staying at my grans in Scotstoun and my Dad told my 3 older brothers that he wasn't taking them to the game. They were bubbling, but he didn't fancy taking them.

When i was taken to lesser games, raith etc we always went up and down 13.

And we always left early too.

Dumbarton road was chaos that night, police, ambulances, fire engines - was mad. And well past dark my Dad and uncle turned up no idea what had happened.

 

RIP people - WATP

[G13 3,038]

Heartbreaking read, I stayed just of Victoria Road then but I had only been to a couple of games then as I was still quite young. Two things I remember from that night were my mum crying and the sheer amount of ambulances blazing by. It must've been horrific to have loved ones there that night.

[LochendBilly 8,410]

What a read! Exactly how I went to and from the games when I was a kid, lift ower and all. 

[broxieman 14]

At that age I'd been going to Ibrox for about 5 years on the Denny & Dunipace bus.

That day my mate and I went in by car.

We had ALWAYS gone in Stairway 13. We did the same that day.

We had ALWAYS came out Stairway 13 ........... EXCEPT that day.

I have no idea why we did that.

That day haunts me to this day, some (many) years later.

We lost one Bear from the bus that day. 

WATP

[Mafeking St. 408]

2 months away from the 50th anniversary, I can still see it in my minds eye.

Sadness is sweeping over me reading that story.

[doc holliday 1,653]

I was at the game with my brother and a pal.Left 5 mins early as I was meeting my  girlfriend who I was keen on(now wife).Got home and my mum had radio on ..6 deaths were being reported  and many seriously  injured .Nest ddor were panicked as their sons hsd not got back yet but they did get home ok.A workmate of my father did die.I will neve forget that day...ever.

[WATP-FOREVER 5,231]

10 hours ago, Mafeking St. said:

2 months away from the 50th anniversary, I can still see it in my minds eye.

Sadness is sweeping over me reading that story.

Mustn't be a fenian in sight of Ibrox on that day.

[andyhrfc 2,242]

We need to pin this thread or an adaption of it right up to the 50th anniversary.  Just over 66 days to go so the timing is right to remember the 66, and for those with memories of the day and those Bears who sadly didn’t return home to express them.  

[hawkfalcons 2,297]

I remember my dad being at that game always came down stairway 13 but not that day. i stayed in garthamlock and because it was at new year my gran my dads mum was there having a wee whisky with mum the news started to come through of what happened, we started to worry, dad came home late bookies or pub and couldn't understand why me and my younger brother run down to hug him as we thought he had been injured or worse and he genuinely didn't have a clue to what had happened as he left by another exit.

[Colin Traive 22,723]

My first game at Ibrox was 1968 against Hibs. Went to other games after that but I was deemed too young for a celtic game. Eventually, nearing my 14th birthday, I talked my uncle (lost my Dad the year before the game) into taking me but he was a joiner finishing a job Saturday morning and would be nearer two before he came for me.

Two came and went, so did half two, three o’clock - bastard let me down and I’m sitting there with my scarf and my blue safety helmet with the players’ names written on it, close to tears. Job ran over, couldn’t get away, blah blah blah...

Couldn't give a fuck, I was gutted, calling him all the names under the sun.

Then the reports started coming in and I realised that’s the stairway we used.

Never been more relieved to have been stood up and, on the anniversary each year, I still thank my uncle’s foreman for keeping him back.

As far as the remembrance goes, after Lennon’s disrespect last time (mind he was away for a pish and missed the start), I want none of those tainted, soiled creatures anywhere our sombre moment of reflection and respect.

[ayrshireranger 8,050]

Lost a cousin on my mum's side (her second cousin), he didnt die that day, but died months later from his crush injuries.  As far as I know (I was born 18m after the tragedy)  the family has never been involved in any official commemoration by the club, and they kept the death within the family, so to speak. 

[ronniescu 2,965]

18 hours ago, JCDBigBear said:

A very moving piece and so much of that is true for many older Bears such as myself.  I was 19  when I was at that game and the events are etched on my mind forever.   Such a tragedy.  

100%. I was 19. My brother and I were there separately but thankfully we both made it home. 

[ps95v7 387]

This is a true account and a flashback to how thousands of ‘wee boys’ myself included lived for Rangers,Rangers and Rangers. I was 10 years of age and went to all home games then, apart from against ‘them’ my Mum wouldn’t let me go “to much trouble” she said I listened to the game on the radio with my Dad and younger brothers. It was a really foggy miserable day and after the game the news started to trickle through remember our house being numb and my Dad in tears it is as raw today as it was 50 years ago.

[doc holliday 1,653]

I remember vividly  the cold cloying fog of that early and late evening ...like a cloak of death and misery.Makes me shiver to think about the  terribletragedy and misery inflicted on so many innocent and decent people and families whose loved ones did not return.

[bluenoz 30,689]

13 hours ago, ps95v7 said:

This is a true account and a flashback to how thousands of ‘wee boys’ myself included lived for Rangers,Rangers and Rangers. I was 10 years of age and went to all home games then, apart from against ‘them’ my Mum wouldn’t let me go “to much trouble” she said I listened to the game on the radio with my Dad and younger brothers. It was a really foggy miserable day and after the game the news started to trickle through remember our house being numb and my Dad in tears it is as raw today as it was 50 years ago.

I am similar mate. I was 8 and had already attended a few games (mesmorized by the experience) but wasn't allowed to attend the OF game. Instead, I listened to that game on the transistor radio. Colin Stein was my favourite player and I ran around the couch like a mad child when he scored. I had no idea what happened until an hour later. And then we waited for my dad to return...

[Ibroxholm 2,276]

Similar to that of Mrs Easton who lost her son, Tommy’s story really  brings a tear to your eye recollecting that day and the tragic events that occurred.  I think all Rangers fans who were around at the time have their own distinct memories of that day/evening.  
Although only thirteen at the time, I was a regular at Ibrox by that time.  Fortunately, I wasn’t there that day but at a friends house and remember the news coming through on the tv and the casualty  numbers increasing in every bulletin.  I remember my mum phoning up at just after six, worried in case I had slipped off with my mate to the match without telling her.  I suspect similar phone calls were being made throughout Scotland that night. Unfortunately too many had tragic news in store.

 

[Jamie29 764]

On 26/10/2020 at 20:26, WATP-FOREVER said:

Mustn't be a fenian in sight of Ibrox on that day.

Were playing them that day.

[Jamie29 764]

https://www.Rangers.co.uk/article/ibrox-disaster-50th-anniversary/55eEK3PMSV8GgqQ4Rn2nXM

[Tom0411 1,226]

I lived in the high flats in Drumoyne and had a ticket for the game but as I drew the short straw I had to work that day & I gave the ticket away to a mate. I listened to the 2nd half when I got home and was delighted when Stein scored. I then waited on my Dad & Brother to come home to tell about the game and started getting ready to go out partying. My Mum shouted to me "Those idiots must be fighting up there as loads of police cars and ambulances are going up the wrong side of Shieldhall Road" Then the news began to filter through thankfully my Dad & Brother were ok. As I worked in the P O International Telegrams I phoned the office and ended up going in to work as the place was so busy due to people sending & receiving messages abroad.

My future wife told the story of running round the pubs in Maryhill trying to find her brother who knew absolutely nothing about what had happened and again thankfully he was ok.

As a wee aside what the groin lot don't realise is that this was probably the one and only time that Glasgow stood together.

[Prince George 601]

Travelled on the Gartcosh supporters bus that day. Came down stairway 13 as usual and made way to the bus. Was only aware that there had been a crush when my friends father returned to the bus minus a shoe. Although everyone on the bus was aware that there had been a crush on the stairway we did not know the severity until we got home. When I got home my mother was overjoyed and informed me that there had been a  crush on the stairway and lives had been lost. My older sister was frantic as her boyfriend ( now husband ) was also at the match and she had not heard from him. He had went straight to the pub on return and as many others did not here about disaster until back at the pub. It was a terrible day for the club and as others have already stated Glasgow came together. There has always been rivalry however things have now became hostile. Can’t believe it is nearly 50 years ago.