Ibrox Stadium is a
football stadium
Football stadium may refer to:
* A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football
* A soccer-specific stadium
Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...
on the south side of the
River Clyde
The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
in the
Ibrox area of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland. The home of
Rangers Football Club
Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...
, Ibrox is the third largest
football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of .
Opened as Ibrox Park in 1899, it suffered a
disaster in 1902 when a wooden terrace collapsed. Vast earthen terraces were built in its place, and a main stand, now a
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, in 1928. A British record crowd of 118,567 gathered in January 1939 for a league match with
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
. After the
Ibrox disaster of 1971, the stadium was largely rebuilt. The vast bowl-shaped terracing was removed and replaced by three rectangular, all-seated stands by 1981. After renovations were completed in 1997, the ground was renamed Ibrox Stadium.
Ibrox hosted the
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...
when
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
was redeveloped in the 1990s, and three Scottish cup finals in the same period, and has also been a concert venue.
History
Rangers played its first match in May 1872, on
Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge.
History
I ...
.
The club then played home matches on public pitches across Glasgow, first moving to a regular home ground at
Burnbank
Burnbank is an area in the town of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was formerly a separate mining village before being absorbed into the town.
Location and governance
Burnbank, previously an independent settlement, then part of Hamil ...
in 1875.
A year later, Rangers played at the
Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to:
Sports
* Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow
* Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club
* Clydesdale RFC, South ...
cricket ground in
Kinning Park
Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...
.
This ground was improved to give a capacity of 7,000, but it was not owned by Rangers.
After hints by the landlords that they wished to develop the site, Rangers left in February 1887.
The club shared
Cathkin Park
Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to t ...
with
Third Lanark
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...
for the remainder of the 1886–87 season.
Rangers first moved to the Ibrox area later in 1887, playing on a site immediately to the east of the current stadium.
The first match at this stadium was an 8–1 defeat to English side
Preston North End on 20 August 1887, watched by a capacity crowd of over 15,000.
This inaugural match had to be abandoned after 70 minutes due to a pitch invasion.
The
first Ibrox Park
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
was a success in the short term, as three
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
international matches and the
1890 Scottish Cup Final were played at the ground.
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...
, built in 1892, was more advanced, however.
Rangers opted to construct a new stadium, raising funds by forming a limited company.
The last match at the old ground was played on 9 December 1899.
The new Ibrox Park was formally opened with a 3–1 victory over
Hearts on 30 December.
Ibrox Park
Ibrox Park, as it was known between 1899 and 1997,
is almost completely different from the Ibrox Stadium of today.
It followed the model of most Scottish stadiums of the time, comprising an oval track around the pitch, with a pavilion and one stand along one side.
The ground had a capacity of 40,000.
Celtic Park, Ibrox and
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
all competed with each other to host
Scottish Cup Final
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...
s and Scotland matches, one of which could generate up to £1,000 in revenue for the host club.
To aid their chances of gaining that revenue, Rangers constructed a large terracing, holding 36,000 people, behind the western goalmouth.
The terracing, designed by
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing ...
, was formed by wooden planks bolted onto a framework made of iron.
A similar wooden terracing was constructed at the eastern end, giving a total capacity of 75,000.
The structure was passed by the Govan Burgh Surveyor in March 1902, but there were newspaper reports that it was unstable.
A crowd of 68,114 assembled for a Scotland v
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
match on 5 April 1902, but shortly after the kick-off one section of the terracing "collapsed like a
trap door
A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...
".
A gap of 20 square yards appeared, causing about 125 people to fall to the ground 50 feet below the terracing.
Most survived due to the fact they fell on top of other bodies, but 25 people were killed.
517 people were injured, some due to being crushed in the panic caused by the collapse.
Most people in the stadium were unaware that the (first) Ibrox disaster had happened.
People even re-occupied the damaged area, despite the danger of further collapse.
A definite reason for the disaster was not agreed upon, partly because there was no
public inquiry held.
Some experts blamed the quality of wood
and the supplier was tried for
culpable homicide
Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular j ...
, but was acquitted.
The design was also cited as a possible cause.
Generally, wooden structures of that size were not trusted.
Rangers removed the wooden terraces, reducing capacity to 25,000.
The criticism of the design did not deter Rangers from hiring Leitch in the future.
He designed an expansion of Ibrox to a 63,000 capacity by 1910, using slopes made of earth.
By this point, the city of Glasgow had the three largest purpose-built football grounds in the world.
The next major redevelopment occurred in 1928, after Rangers had won their first
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
.
A new Main Stand, to the south side of the ground, was opened on 1 January 1929.
The Main Stand, which has the familiar Leitch style criss-cross balcony and a red-brick facade, seated 10,000 people and provided standing accommodation in an enclosure.
Simon Inglis, a writer on football stadia, commented in 2005 that the Main Stand is Leitch's "greatest work" and is "still resplendent today in its red brick glory under a modern mantle of glass and steel".
The architectural significance of the Main Stand was reflected when it became a Category B
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
in 1987.
Original seats in the Main Stand were made of cast iron and oak.
One was auctioned in 2011 for £1,080.
The banking of the terracing continued to increase in the 1930s.
On 2 January 1939, the
Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
game against Celtic attracted a crowd of 118,567, the record attendance for any league match played in Britain.
At this point, Ibrox was the second-largest stadium in Britain.
Post-war
Floodlights were first used at Ibrox in December 1953, for a friendly match against
Arsenal.
The first floodlit Scottish league match was played at Ibrox, in March 1956.
Covers were built over the north and east terracing during the 1960s.
No structural changes were made to Ibrox, but capacity was cut to approximately 80,000 by safety legislation.
Ibrox Park had the worst fan safety record in Britain before its complete redesign and renaming in 1997.
Two fans died in September 1961 when a barrier collapsed on Stairway 13, resulting in a crush.
Stairway 13 was a popular exit from the East Terracing due to its proximity to Copland Road subway station and parking areas for the Rangers supporters' coaches, but it was often overcrowded and very steep. After this incident, Rangers installed safety measures, but further injuries were sustained in crushes on Stairway 13 in both 1967 and 1969.
On 23 October 1968, the main stand at Ibrox was hit by fire. Just seven months later there was another fire, which destroyed more than 200 seats behind the directors box.
The worst disaster to date to affect football in Britain happened after the Old Firm game on 2 January 1971, when 66 people died of
asphyxiation
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...
due to another crush on Stairway 13.
The game itself ended in a 1–1 draw, with
Colin Stein
Colin Anderson Stein (born 10 May 1947) is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Hibernian, Rangers (two spells), Coventry City and Kilmarnock. Stein was part of the Rangers team that won the 1971–72 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and he ...
scoring a late equalising goal for Rangers.
This led to a widespread belief that the crush had been caused by fans who had left the game early, but had turned back when they heard the roar that greeted the Rangers goal.
A public inquiry discounted this initial story.
It established that the crowd had been travelling in the same direction when the crush happened, with it perhaps being precipitated by some bending over to pick up items that had been discarded during the goal celebrations.
The downward force of the crowd leaving the stadium meant that when people started to fall there was no means of preventing a crush.
The inquiry and subsequent compensation cases found that Rangers had been inept in their administration and complacent after the incidents in the 1960s.
The disaster also highlighted, however, the fact that there were no established safety standards that should be adhered to, let alone any means of enforcing such standards.
This had been first recommended nearly 50 years earlier, after the
1923 FA Cup Final.
The Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds was published in 1973, and legislation was enacted with the
Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are two slightly dif ...
.
This law cut the capacity of Ibrox to 65,000.
In the short term, Rangers took the stopgap measure of installing benches in the North Stand, which was renamed the Centenary Stand.
Ibrox Stadium
![Ibrox](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Ibrox.jpg)
The
1971 Ibrox disaster led to the club developing a modern, safe stadium.
Willie Waddell
William Waddell (7 March 1921 – 14 October 1992) was a professional football player and manager. His only club in a 16-year career as a player in the outside right position (interrupted by World War II) was Rangers which yielded six major w ...
visited modern grounds in West Germany during the
1974 World Cup and believed that steep terracing and exits, such as Stairway 13, had to be replaced.
The cut in capacity and boardroom changes led to radical plans by architects Miller Partnership, which were published in November 1977.
The plans were modelled on the
Westfalenstadion
Westfalenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA competitions, the n ...
, home ground of
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...
.
They involved a radical reshaping of the stadium, with the old bowl-shaped terracing to be replaced by three new all-seated structures.
Only the old Main Stand would remain, with its enclosure providing the only standing room in the ground.
Although later events, such as the
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
and the subsequent
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
, vindicated this plan, Rangers were taking a significant risk.
The whole plan was estimated to cost £6 million, which no other club could have afforded in a short period of time.
The development was funded by the Rangers
football pool
In the United Kingdom, the football pools, often referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of association football matches taking place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, and may encou ...
s operation, which was the largest club-based scheme in Britain.
The first phase of the plan, which began in 1978, was the removal of the east terracing and its replacement with the Copland Road stand.
The same process was repeated on the west side of the ground a year later, with the two identical stands each holding 7,500 seats.
The redevelopment was completed in 1981 with the replacement of the Centenary Stand by the 10,300 capacity Govan Stand.
The new Ibrox had a capacity of 44,000 and was opened with an Old Firm game played on 19 September 1981.
By this time, however, the development cost had risen to £10 million, which depleted the club financially.
This resulted in a difficult period in the history of Rangers, as the average attendance fell to 17,500 in the 1981–82 season, including a crowd of only 4,500 for a game against
St Mirren.
[Rangers: The Complete Record (Breedon Books, 2005) states the attendance for the match against St Mirren was 6,000.] The redeveloped stadium was partly blamed for this, as some fans felt that the new ground lacked atmosphere due to the spaces between the stands.
This was during a period of low attendances in Scottish football in general. Despite the relatively low attendance at Ibrox, Rangers had the highest average home attendances in the
Premier Division in both
1983–84 and
1984–85.
This all changed when a new regime, chaired by
David Holmes, took control of Rangers in 1986.
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit.
A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...
was appointed player–
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
, while several English stars, including
Terry Butcher
Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town.
During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...
and
Chris Woods
Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team.
As a player, he was a goalkeeper who played in the Football Leag ...
, were signed.
Season ticket sales rose from 7,000 in 1986 to over 30,000 in the 1990s,
while commercial income increased from £239,000 in 1986 to over £2 million in 1989.
The introduction of computerised ticketing, zonal
public address systems and
closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
for monitoring turnstile areas meant that Ibrox was at the forefront of stadium management.
Rangers also adopted the American technique of analysing the types of fans in each area of the stadium and adjusted their food stalls accordingly.
Greater success on the pitch meant that Ibrox demonstrated that seated stadiums would be welcomed by most fans, if designed and fitted well.
Club Deck
David Murray acquired control of Rangers in November 1988.
Argyle House, a £4 million extension behind the Govan Stand, was opened in 1990.
This added executive boxes, office space and hospitality suites.
A further series of developments was started in the early 1990s to increase capacity to over 50,000.
Murray commissioned architect Gareth Hutchison to find a way of adding a third tier to the Main Stand.
This was a highly complex process, as the Main Stand facade had become a listed building and Murray wanted the existing structure to remain open during construction.
The contractors removed the original roof and added a temporary cover while the work carried on above.
The Club Deck, which cost approximately £20 million, was opened with a league match against
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in December 1991.
The redevelopment of the Main Stand was partially financed by a
Football Trust
The Football Trust was a Government funded body to improve the safety of sports stadiums in the United Kingdom.
It was set up by the Labour Government in 1975, with the assistance of the pools companies and the English Football League. Its origina ...
grant of £2 million and a debenture issue that raised £8.5 million.
Ordinary fans bought debentures for between £1,000 and £1,650 each, which guaranteed the right to buy season tickets for at least 30 years, along with some other minor benefits.
![Ibrox Stadium façade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Ibrox_Stadium_fa%C3%A7ade.jpg)
Four columns were built through the existing Main Stand to support the Club Deck, which resulted in approximately 1,000 seats having a restricted view.
After opening the Club Deck, Ibrox had a capacity of 44,500.
When a new playing surface was installed in 1992, Rangers were able to add a further 1,300 seats to the front of three stands by lowering the pitch slightly.
The only standing area of the ground, the enclosure of the Main Stand, was seated in 1994 to comply with the
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
and
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
regulations.
The multi-coloured seats were replaced in 1995 with uniform blue seats.
A further 1,200 seats were added in this process by reconfiguring passageways, giving a total capacity of 47,998.
![Ibrox Stadium gates](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Ibrox_Stadium_gates.jpg)
The two spaces between the Govan, Copland and Broomloan Stands were filled in with seats and
Jumbotron screens.
The ground was officially renamed Ibrox Stadium after renovations were completed in 1997,
when Ibrox had a capacity of just over 50,000.
21st century
Three rows of seating were added to the front of the Govan Stand upper tier in 2006, linked to a new 'Bar
72' area, increasing the capacity to its present figure of .
The Main Stand was renamed the
Bill Struth
William Struth (16 June 1875 – 21 September 1956) was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder of a number of other posi ...
Main Stand in September 2006, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death. The Jumbotron screens were replaced in 2011 with modern LED screens.
Rangers became insolvent in February 2012 and was unable to reach a
company voluntary arrangement
Under UK insolvency law an insolvent company can enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The CVA is a form of composition, similar to the personal IVA ( individual voluntary arrangement), where an insolvency procedure allows a compa ...
with its creditors, principally
HM Revenue and Customs
HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...
.
Ibrox Stadium, along with the business and other assets of Rangers, was sold in June 2012 to a new company run by
Charles Green.
The
new company obtained the SFA membership of the old Rangers FC company and gained entry to the
Scottish Football League Third Division
The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013.
History
The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fr ...
.
On 9 April 2013 it was announced that the Jumbotron screens were to be replaced; the previous screens were inferior and had become pixelated. On 16 July 2014 the club paid a lasting tribute to
Sandy Jardine
William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine (31 December 1948 – 24 April 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland. He played over 1000 professional games and twice won the Scottish Football Wri ...
by renaming the Govan Stand in his honour.
In 2016, the club added large banners to the stadium exterior (covering the separate Edmiston House office building, then the Copland Stand/Sandy Jardine Stand corner) depicting images of past players, entitled 'Icons Of Ibrox'. The following year, some supporters were displeased when further banners were added over the
glass block
Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. The appearance of glass blocks can vary in color, size, texture and form. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light. The modern glass block w ...
-walled staircase towers on either side of the main stand leading up to the Club Deck; the banners were removed within a few months, with the club stating it was a marketing exercise to highlight the potential of the staircases as advertising space.
Structure and facilities
![Ibrox trophy room](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Ibrox_trophy_room.jpg)
The Ibrox pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as the Bill Struth Main (south), Broomloan Road (west),
Sandy Jardine
William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine (31 December 1948 – 24 April 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland. He played over 1000 professional games and twice won the Scottish Football Wri ...
(north) and Copland Road (east) Stands.
Each stand has two tiers, with the exception of the Bill Struth Main Stand, which has had three tiers since the Club Deck was added in 1991.
The two corner areas, known as the West and East areas of the Sandy Jardine Stand, have one tier of seating below a JumboTron screen.
The Bill Struth Main Stand, formerly known as the Main Stand, faces onto Edmiston Drive (
A8 road
A8, A08, A 8 or A-8 may refer to:
Electronics
* ARM Cortex-A8, a processor used in mobile devices
* Apple A8, a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.
*AMD A8, an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit
* Samsung Galaxy A8, various smartpho ...
).
The red-brick facade, designed by
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing ...
, is a Category B listed building.
Simon Inglis, writing in 1996, described it as an "imposing red-brick facade, with its mock
neo-classical arched, square and pedimented windows, exudes prestige and power."
On each end wall the club crest is depicted in a blue and gold mosaic.
Stairtowers leading to the Club Deck (third tier) stand at each end of the Main Stand.
These towers are also framed in red-brick, but deliberately contrast with the main body of the stand.
The two stairtowers also support a long and truss, claimed to be the longest and heaviest clear span girder in the world.
Through the main doors of the Main Stand is a wood-panelled hallway.
A marble staircase leads to the boardroom and trophy room.
Inglis compared Ibrox to
Highbury
Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington
in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads.
The manor house was sit ...
, in that it combined corporate power with a sense of tradition and solidity.
It was originally constructed as a 10,000-seat stand above a standing enclosure. It was redeveloped in the early 1990s with the addition of the Club Deck and seating in the enclosure. It is now a three-tier all-seated structure, accommodating approximately 21,000 spectators. The front wall of the middle tier is one of the last surviving examples of the Leitch style of criss-cross detailing.
The middle tier is split into front and rear sections, while the enclosure is split into east and west sections, either side of the retractable tunnel cover.
Opposite the Bill Struth Main Stand is the Sandy Jardine Stand formerly known as the Govan Stand.
It is a two-tier stand, similar in style to the two end stands, which was completed in 1981.
To the rear of the Govan Stand is the Argyle House extension, completed in 1990, which provides executive boxes, hospitality areas and office space.
The Bar 72 area was added to the rear section of the Govan Stand in 2006. The Copland Road Stand, at the east end of the stadium, was completed in 1979 and now accommodates just over 8,000 fans.
It is traditionally the 'Rangers end' of the ground and the team normally chooses to attack that end in the second half of matches. The western Broomloan Road Stand, which was completed in 1980, is identical to the opposite end.
Although constructed as separate structures, the three stands have been linked since the mid-1990s, when two additional areas of seating were added to the corner areas.
All of the stands are designed using the 'goalpost' structure, in which a large portal frame supports perpendicular beams on which roof cladding is secured. ''The Rangers Store'' is located in the corner between the Copland Road and Govan Stands.
Away fans are normally accommodated in the corner of the ground between the Broomloan and Govan Stands.
Ibrox is seen as being an intimidating ground for visiting supporters.
Rangers banned
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
fans in 1994 from attending games at Ibrox, citing the damage caused to the Broomloan Stand by the visitors in previous derbies.
The ban was lifted after one game, as the
Scottish Football League passed a resolution preventing clubs from taking that action.
Before the corners were filled in, away fans were accommodated in the lower tier of the Broomloan Stand.
Rangers had to take action in 1996 to prevent their fans in the upper deck from throwing items at visitors.
Celtic fans were normally given the whole of the Broomloan Stand for
Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
derbies until 2018, when Rangers opted to restrict their allocation to the much smaller corner section.
Future developments
Since the redevelopments to Celtic Park and Hampden Park were completed in the late 1990s, Ibrox has had the smallest capacity of the three major stadiums in Glasgow.
Rangers have since explored options to increase capacity.
After opening the Bar 72 area in 2006, chief executive
Martin Bain
Martin Edward Bain (born c. 1968) is the CEO of FSDL, the organising company of Indian Super League. He has also served as the CEO of English club Sunderland A.F.C, Scottish club Rangers and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Life and career
Bain modelled part- ...
said that the scheme could be replicated in the Copland Stand.
A report in the ''
Daily Record'' in April 2007 claimed that Rangers were planning to increase capacity to 57,000, principally by removing the
JumboTron screens and lowering the pitch to accommodate more seating.
These plans were said to be dependent for finance upon improved performance by the team.
In January 2008, Rangers announced that they were investigating three options to further develop Ibrox.
One of the proposals would have resulted in a capacity of 70,000, by replacing three of the stands with a bowl-type structure.
These plans were shelved by October 2008, however, due to the
late-2000s financial crisis.
Alongside changes to the stadium itself, Rangers have also sought to develop land around Ibrox. In partnership with the
Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodation, ...
corporation, the club received outline planning permission from Glasgow City Council for the development of land adjoining Ibrox as the home of a
super casino
In the United Kingdom, a regional casino (super casino or mega casino) was the largest category of casino permitted under law – equivalent in size to the larger casinos in Las Vegas. The first regional casino was proposed in 2007 for Manchester ...
.
The casino was planned to be accompanied by a Rangers-themed leisure complex.
Britain's Casino Advisory Panel reviewed bids from eight short-listed cities, including Glasgow, and in 2007 awarded the first licence to
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
There is no immediate prospect of the Ibrox proposal being resurrected, as
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
dropped the plans for super casinos soon after becoming
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. Rangers were given approval by Glasgow City Council in October 2008 to purchase land around Ibrox and redevelop the area with hotel and retail outlets.
This scheme stalled, however, as regulations constrained what could be built in the area.
Other uses
Football
Ibrox has been a
home venue for the
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...
18 times, the third most of any ground.
The first Ibrox Park (1887–99) hosted three internationals, giving an overall Ibrox total of 21.
[This includes the game abandoned due to the 1902 Ibrox disaster.] The ground most recently hosted a Scotland game in October 2014 (a
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, won 1–0) when
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
was unavailable due to its temporary conversion to hold athletics in the
2014 Commonwealth Games. Ibrox hosted several internationals during the 1990s, particularly during two phases of redevelopment works at Hampden.
Ibrox hosted four Scotland games in the first phase, starting with a
1994 World Cup qualifier against
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in October 1992.
It was not a happy interlude for Scotland fans, however, as the team failed to qualify for the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
for the first time since
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
.
Although the attendances at Ibrox were higher than at Hampden, some fans resented the fact that they were helping the finances of Rangers.
and there were complaints about high ticket prices.
During the second phase of work at Hampden, Scotland won an important
1998 World Cup qualifier against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
at Ibrox.
During these periods of redevelopment to Hampden, Ibrox also hosted the
1997 Scottish Cup Final, and the
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
and
1997 Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
Finals. Ibrox was on the approved
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
list to host major European finals in the 1990s, but it lost out in a bid to host the
1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final because a convention threatened a shortage of hotel rooms in Glasgow.
Ibrox continued to hold the top UEFA rating, but the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
instead proposed Hampden as a venue for European finals during the 2000s.
Non-football
King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
&
Queen Mary visited Ibrox Park on 17 September 1917, to thank Glasgow and Clydeside for its efforts in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
In the first ever public investiture in Scotland, and in front of 100,000, the King awarded medals to servicemen including three Victoria Crosses, 46 Military Medals and 33 Military Crosses. Four-fifths of the gathering were women - munitions workers, nurses and other war workers.
For the
1938 Empire Exhibition being held in Bellahouston Park and which attracted over 13 million visitors, his son King
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
suggested the official opening ceremony be held in Ibrox Park, allowing 146,000 spectators to see the opening. His speech was broadcast live to the nation and throughout the Empire on the morning of 3 May 1938.
This was used as source material by
Colin Firth for his performance in ''
The King's Speech
''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...
'' movie.
Ibrox has been used for athletics competitions, Empire Games, and concerts, including performances by
Simple Minds (1986),
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
(1990),
Rod Stewart (1995),
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
(1998),
[ ]Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
(also 1998), Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
(1996, 2003 & 2007)[ and ]Harry Styles
Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...
(2022).
In 1980, Ibrox hosted a world championship boxing match between Jim Watt and Howard Davis. Ibrox hosted the rugby sevens event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, won by South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. There was a total attendance of 171,000 for the four sessions of play, which set a new record for a rugby sevens tournament.
The stadium hosted the 1983 Centenary Celebrations of The Boys' Brigade
The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inceptio ...
.
Transport
The main railway stations in Glasgow, Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and Queen Street, are both approximately two miles from Ibrox. The Ibrox and Cessnock stations on the Glasgow Subway
The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the fourth-oldest underground rail transit system in Europe after the London Underground, Liverpool's Mersey Railway and the Budapes ...
both serve Ibrox. It is also served by First Glasgow
First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for h ...
buses on Paisley Road West. Ibrox sits near to the M8 motorway, with junction 23 being the closest exit, but the roads around Ibrox become congested on matchdays. There was an Ibrox railway station
Ibrox railway station was a railway station in Ibrox, a district of Glasgow, Scotland. The station was originally part of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway.
History
The station opened on 6 November 1843 and was known as Bellahouston.Butt ...
, on the main line linking Glasgow and Paisley, which was closed in 1967 under the Beeching Plan.
Notes
References
; Sources
*
*
External links
Ibrox Stadium
at Rangers.co.uk
{{Football venues in Scotland
Sports venues completed in 1899
Category B listed buildings in Glasgow
Football venues in Glasgow
Rugby union stadiums in Scotland
Govan
Listed sports venues in Scotland
Rangers F.C.
Sports venues in Glasgow
1899 establishments in Scotland
2014 Commonwealth Games venues
Scottish Premier League venues
Scottish Football League venues
Scottish Professional Football League venues
Scotland national football team venues
Commonwealth Games rugby union venues
Sports museums in Scotland
Music venues completed in 1899