The Ibrox Football Stadium Park Disaster 1971 | Plainly Difficult Documentary

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Want to see more Football disasters? Let me know This weeks outro song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3nKgmunf7iojLs

[@ImperatorSomnium]

More of those, please 🙏 🙂

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Try the 1946 Burnden Park disaster. 33 died and interestingly the game continued on.

[@bennymutant]

Yes, but no more Football disasters in the UK please. 40 mins live and the ghouls are already commenting on here

[@nodisalsi]

Hillsborough does need special mention, but rather than concentrating on football parks - focus on overcrowding and crush asphixiation disasters. Some recent and horrible incidents come to mind, like Ataewon Hallowe'en show (2022), the Akashi fireworks show (2021), and the Mecca tunnel (2015)…

[@deanothemanc5281]

Hysel 85 would be interesting.

[@mattwhelan13]

I find crushes one of the most terrifying types of disater because they can spring up so quickly and seem fairly inoccuous until they are deadly. There is no clear external danger to life such as a fire, explosion, debris, natural disaster ect, you could quite feasibly be stood mere feet away from people dying while being in no danger yourself, it's scary

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Pretty terrifying

[@nolanmcleod2619]

I agree, things that don't look dangerous are scary. In a similar vein, I dislike electricity. Invisible and can kill you

[@suzyrottencrotch5132]

Like oh I’m around a giant crowd … I would be surprised if they freak out… because my Brain is a jelly

[@cvp5882]

The situation is not inoccuous. You surround yourself with over 100000 fans, many of whom are drunk, overly excited hooligans that have little to no respect for your health and well-being. If you respect people's space, you would be pushing anyone forward and there would be no crush. It's tens of thousands of poor decisions made by ignorant assholes that force their way forward regardless of anyone in their way. Unfortunately, this tragedy is a selfish one.

[@bocahdongo7769]

And worst part, people will blame literally everything being suddenly deadly but the stampede itself. Last time when the worst football tragedy in history (Kanjuruhan Incident) people rather blame CS gas being as deadly as Mustard gas instead of people literally pilling up for 2 meters. Which surprisingly a big deal because it left the supporter team pretty unscathed. Really, stampede is really-really very perfect way to kill dozen to hundred of people efficiently without any spectacular thing

[@duelbraids]

As a small child, I remember my mom insisting we wait ~10 minutes before leaving American Football games because of crushes - I didn't understand it at the time, but I certainly do now.

[@marksaunderson3042]

I am the same in any crowded space. Bus, train, aeroplane, cinema, etc. i wait until most everyone has left, then I get up, and leave myself. I am not in a hurry to be the first casualty.

[@holyassbutts]

And then there's my Dad... "hUrRy Up! rUn DoWn ThEm StAiRs! wE gOt To BeAt ThE tRaFFiC!"

[@neuralmute]

@@holyassbutts Your dad must be related to mine... We never got to see the end of anything - movies, concerts, nope! The last few minutes were for getting out before everyone else!

[@sshza2143]

@@marksaunderson3042 👏🙏I am not in a hurry to be the first casualty😁🙋‍♂✌😎

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

Go early or stay late. The cool kids get exploded in the rush.

[@SK22000]

Crowds are so deceptively safe, as evidenced by the tragedy on Halloween in S. Korea. I love the varied topics you cover

[@PlainlyDifficult]

They are very scary well for me they are!!

[@Bigtimecharlie1349]

@@PlainlyDifficult you have never been to millwall

[@GM-xk1nw]

@@Bigtimecharlie1349 ?

[@i-_-am-_-g1467]

@@PlainlyDifficult do Hillsborough next!!!!

[@i-_-am-_-g1467]

@@PlainlyDifficult huge scandal with the Sun newspaper blaming it on "drunken fans" and spreading more lies

[@unvergebeneid]

When you hear "a crowd crush is a common occurrence" about a place, that's a terrifying sign of neglect on part of the authorities and a huge red flag never to go anywhere near that place.

[@sophiesgopro8979]

Your a green nose it shoes

[@gionniblood]

What can "authorities" realistically do? Remove gravity?

[@showbizsam4440]

It was common everywhere, and it was so until the 1990s when boards of directors were dragged, kicking and screaming, and forced to upgrade their facilities. I mentioned up the page about suffering broken ribs at Dens & Brockville in the late 80s/early 90s. However, Rangers had prior warning of this, and had it been at the other end of the park I'm certain that the families of the deceased visitors, whoever they were, would've sued the Ibrox club out of existence. Only the goodwill of the home support towards the club stopped that from ever becoming a reality. Granted, it couldn't have been forecast, but the odds were far higher than they should've been. There's something eerily similar to the tale of Celtic's Boys Club in the way that something should've been done much, much, sooner. Unlike Celtic, Rangers didn't turn their backs on the victims, but it's comparing apples with oranges because the victims at Ibrox didn't have revenge anywhere near the top of their agendas. They thought it could've been any ground, and it could well have been, but they probably didn't realise how much higher the chances were at Ibrox.

[@skorza212]

Old Roker park was exactly the same. Every match, on the way out, you could lift up both feet and still be carried along by the pressure of the crowd. I’m amazed that disasters like this didn’t happen more often. There were pillars in most of the “corridors” that stuck out from the wall on the way out. Getting crushed against it was something everyone did exactly once, you quickly learned to avoid it like the plague. Every Sunderland fan of a certain age will remember those damn pillars

[@Ken-er9cq]

@@gionniblood They could control the rate at which spectators entered the stairway. The design also should have been for a larger number of narrower stairways.

[@lewispaterson9840]

My grandad was at this exact game and he would usually exit via stairway 13 but thankfully noticed how busy it was and went else where. Had no clue what happened until he heard it on the radio when he got home. No one should go to the football and not return home R.I.P to the 66 we will never forget

[@david1731048]

My dad was at the game too and left early. He said they started hearing it on the radio on the supporter's bus on the way home.

[@lajardiere1]

Must have been horrific for them. As a Celtic fan it's one of those rare events that united the city both then & now - apart from the scumbags who indulge in tragedy mocking. Rest in peace to the 66🍀❤️

[@emneeson3419]

My Granda was there. He was, thankfully, pulled out. He lost his friend though

[@Ostinat0]

I found that picture of the bent railings to be the most captivating and sobering bit. It can be hard to appreciate just how much a crowd of people weighs without actually doing the math, but one can imagine being pinned with enough force to mangle that piping and it makes for some quality nightmare fuel.

[@JKM395]

If you're going to large events, DO NOT be in a rush to leave. Stay put and sober up for a while. You're not going to get out any quicker by standing in a line with 10K+ people. Just hang out and let the crowd thin. I've been to many large events and never come close to this stuff. Be patient. It could save your life.

[@MrGersboy72]

That has no relevance here. The disaster happened because rangers were getting beat so people started leaving, a last minute goal cause people to turn around and try get back in to see what happened, they met the people at the top coming down.

[@ispoilers9535]

I luv your rum.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

Sober up? I'm not drinking & driving. Drinking & drinking is more my game.

[@JKM395]

@@MrGersboy72 If they hadn't been in a rush to leave, they'd still be alive today. They had to hurry up and get out. They got further out than they planned.

[@JKM395]

@@ispoilers9535 Tips cap.

[@emojack]

i have never been in a crowd that was close to a disaster like this. But i had moments where i realised that i am no longer in control of my own movement. As someone who doesnt like big crowds these have been nerve wrecking moments. I cant imagine the horror of those people involved. Thats not like being hit by a car where you are fine up until the moment everything goes wrong - this is a rather slow process where you have plenty of time to think and go through the pure helplessness before any injury occurs. Such a dreadful way to die. RIP

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Pretty terrifying

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

And to think that they all died because _sports_ What a complete waste of life over an inflated ball being kicked around endlessly

[@RCAvhstape]

@@CantHandleThisCanYa Hey, you shall not disrespect our beloved Sportsball Team, don't you know that Sportsball is important enough to start drunken brawls and riots over? You must be one of that other city's Sportsball fans! You probably wear the wrong color shirt, and therefore need to be taught a lesson in a barfight!

[@neonjaystones1992]

I was in a big crowd like this at Reading Festival 2021. I believe it was between the sets of Catfish and the Bottlemen (who are a relatively indie artist, that mostly young adults and middle aged people went to see) and KSI (who I’m sure we all know, is a very different type of artist with a very different audience). The crushing effect of people trying to push towards the exits, and those trying to enter at the same time, was absolutely terrifying. Genuinely thought I was going to die in that moment

[@youprettywow]

@@CantHandleThisCanYa yeah exactly. A lot of other crushes have happened in buildings on fire. Still tragic but a lot more understandable than this.

[@janoginski5557]

Here we go. That stairway at Ibrox was a perennial problem at the end of games where there was a big crowd. Myself & an old friend were caught in a crush going down that very stairway, we were probably 16 or 17years old at the time & very fit & strong, we were both pushed against that barrier with such a pressure from the crowd that we had to physically push back to prevent ourselves from being crushed against these railings, we could not let go & to illustrate how bad it was I watched my Rangers scarf slip away & l could not take my hands off the rail as I would have been in real trouble, as we approached the base of the stairway we witnessed around 30+ individuals lying against the wall with a variety of injuries, some were bleeding. In retrospect that was a scary few minutes descending Stairway 13. After that incident we always held back until the crowd thinned. My friend lost one or 2 of his shoes as well. Thinking back it is sobering to think that if someone had fallen it may have turned out differently, it wasn’t so bad losing that scarf.

[@alistairthow1384]

Jan I posted a similar comment about leaving that stairway in the early 70s, certainly was an unnerving experience.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

That's so adorably cool that soccer merch includes scarves!

[@mattb6646]

The scarf was the real hero that day

[@janoginski5557]

@@mattb6646 hi Matt, it most certainly was 😂, we were very fortunate

[@janoginski5557]

@@alistairthow1384 hi Alistair wasn't it half it was bloody ridiculous. The Club must have been well aware of that issue, I'm a Rangers fan and have been for 60+ years & I would not want to bring shit to their door but they should have addressed the issue. When you set out to go & watch a game you should have a high expectation of enjoying the match and surviving the experience, on reflection in the Old Days people just got on with Life and toughed it out and that's okay up to a point but in that kind of circumstance it isn't acceptable to put your own supporters, (or any supporting fans), at risk of injury & Life & make them responsible for dealing with it. Thinking back quite un - bloody believable.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

There are lots of harrowing stories around the Ibrox disaster. Being the early 1970s there were no mobile phones and very little TV coverage, so families waiting at home for the return of their loved ones were either unaware or received no news, meaning that they sat for hours just waiting and waiting for a Dad, son or brother who wasn't coming home. Five teenage victims, all friends, came from one tiny village in Fife named Markinch - it's an awful story within a story, which has still left a mark on the village 51 years later. RIP the 66 victims.

[@cookiechaina1238]

I hadn’t even thought of that. heartbreaking

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

@@cookiechaina1238 You certainly aren't alone - a lot of people have either forgotten or are too young to remember life before mass global communication. Hearing, possibly unconfirmed, reports of an awful event then nothing until either your loved one, (or a police officer) appears, or you'd maybe have to start going round hospitals looking for news. The mental anguish must have been intolerable.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

Holy crap. I grew up in a small town, and I can see how that would leave an impact.

[@3cheersforsweetrevenge]

i used to live there. we have a memorial as you come into the village with one tree planted for each boy

[@hassanchop7096]

Just a shame that there were no mobile phones around then or social media as KZbin would have been full of videos of flat people🤣🤣

[@tonedeaftachankagaming457]

There are a lot of disaster style channels but none of them deliver the consistent, respectful, and highly informative content you do. Keep it up

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@mauricedavis2160]

I'm going to jump in here and add my two cents, this channel is TOP SHELF, keep em coming I'll be watching 👀👻

[@Saxophone_King]

This channel and fascinating horror are my gotos for this kind of content. Both respectful and well researched. I prefer this account though.

[@fourutubez7294]

I'll add my praise too. No clickbait , no hyperbole, no fake emotion - just a thoughtful, respectful , fact rich documentary.

[@amagab2346]

These are good. I also like Fascinating Horror

[@sarahr9894]

I remember watching a documentary on this disaster which interviewed some of the players. They were still broken up about it 40+ years later. They also mentioned how they tried to get at least one or two players at each funeral to show their support, which I thought was very sweet of them.

[@johngreen6567]

Sarah rangers football club were found culpable for the death's of those poor rangers fans, others had lost their lives at the very same staircase before the major disaster , there was also another major disaster at the same stadium in 1925 when part of the terracing collapsed and 25 fans were killed and hundreds were injured , that disaster happened at the opposite end of the stadium from the one in 1971 , Ibrox should be renamed the stadium of sorrow.

[@sarahr9894]

@@johngreen6567 I don't doubt the club was culpable. The stadium should have been upkept better and safety standards should have been much higher. But that's not on the players, it's on the club committee/management. I also think the players themselves can still be devestated after the loss of their fans. It's a tragedy all around, truly.

[@johngreen6567]

@@sarahr9894 of course Sarah the players would have been totally devestated but my post as about the club , it is a subject that the rangers fans won't engage in yet their club were out of order before and after the terrible tragedy , rangers tried to get the compensation claims from the victims cut to the minimum, they then tried to get to use the money collected by the Scottish public for the disaster fund to pay the compensation, that was deplorable.

[@ayrshireman1314]

@@johngreen6567 I think you are confusing Ibrox with Aberfan, in the latter what you claimed Rangers did is what the NCB did.

[@calder1141]

my grandpa was at this match. thankfully he drove so wasnt involved. heard about it on the radio in the car home - cant imagine how worried my grandma was

[@calder1141]

@*Uncle Joe* nah my mum was already born - would majorly change her life having 3 less siblings tho lol

[@toocutepuppies6535]

I was in a dance club once where there was a crush on the dance floor. As soon as I started feeling like breathing might become a problem I escaped. I have never felt anything like that before or since, it was terrifying. Nobody got hurt but it was so fast and the crowd wasn't even that large. But, be careful in crowds because crushes can happen in the most unexpected places. Better to be patient and wait in your seats until the crowd clears.

[@toocutepuppies6535]

@@jnln552 Thanks! We think so too. They're pandemic rescues!

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

Damn.. myself I prefer it when there's a party on the dance floor.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@@jnln552 those _are_ cute floofy woofers.

[@Makaponpon]

incredibly scary thing to happen, glad nobody got hurt also, give them puppies a nice big pat for me, way too cute

[@Werevampiwolf]

If you ever fall in a crowd, try to roll onto your side and curl up into a ball with your arms over your face and head. It's a lot harder to compress your chest from the sides, and your hands protect your head from being stepped on. It isn't guaranteed to save you, but it gives your a better chance than laying flat

[@highland42]

laying down is not a good idea, you won't be able to get up and will be an obstacle for people walking over you. experts say to put your arms parallel up and down in front of your chest to make sure you always have room to breathe

[@_kaleido]

@@highland42 They did say “*if* you fall,” obviously it’s best to try and stay upright as much as possible, but if you do trip or get pushed to the ground and can’t get up it’s important to do whatever else you can to defend yourself.

[@ArDeeMee]

@@highland42 If you fall, you will NOT be able to get up. That‘s where rolling on your side to minimize lethal damage comes into play. Because even if anyone notices you, the crowd pushes them onwards and over you. It‘s better to have broken arms and ribs and a concussion, than being dead.

[@highland42]

@@ArDeeMee yeah i didn’t realize he said IF you fall which makes sense

[@JennRighter]

Crush/trampling events are my biggest fear in life. When I was a kid I saw footage of the disaster at The Who concert and it freaked me out. I’ve been to hundreds if not over a thousand concerts (worked security for several years at concerts and music festivals). I have ALWAYS thought about the event of a crush at every concert I’ve been to and think about an exit just in case. Of course, planning does not guarantee in any way escaping a crush. The recent crush in South Korea reignited my always present fear of large crowd issues. Terrifying.

[@joespitler3929]

Why there's no more festival seating at US events. In hindsight festival seating (1st come 1st serve) is just a disaster waiting to happen.

[@JennRighter]

@@joespitler3929 Every music festival I know of has festival seating. Bonnaroo, ACL, etc. Maybe you're referring to concert venues? Places that have specific seating and maybe "pit" seating? But music festivals still have festival seating.

[@joespitler3929]

@@JennRighter yeah indoor concert venues. They might still have "festival seating" but it's not 1st come 1st serve like it was.

[@oatsroasted6759]

Whenever I hear about events and people dying from the crush. Reminds me when I was a kid in 1979. My older brother wanted to go to The Who concert in Cincinnati. I'm still glad mom did not let my brother go. That's when a group of people were killed by the crush. I think there were no seating arrangements. The first people in the coliseum would get front row stage. The band was warming up and the fans thought the concert started. So everybody near any open door rushed into the coliseum at one time.

[@nlwilson4892]

I don't think the doors were open when it started, people were pushing towards the doors because they thought it had started. There is a video on YT about it, might be Fascinating History channel.

[@pvanpelt1]

I was reading the comments to see if anyone else mentioned this one. I was a kid in California so the story was in a far-off place, but my mom is a Cincinnati native, and we watched WKRP every week. I still remember the episode they did on it, how excited everyone was for the concert, then hearing the news. The city changed the laws around concert seating, and the band was devastated when they heard people had died trying to see them.

[@Klynch111]

@@nlwilson4892 yeah I def think I warvhd a video about that on his chsnnel

[@3rdalbum]

Fascinating Horror did a video on that. Utterly chilling. But fascinating.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@Oats Roasted I've viewed programs covering that tragedy.

[@TheGelasiaBlythe]

I think that, if I had lived through being in a crush like that, I'd hate crowds even more than I currently do. RIP to the 66, and I hope others who survived were able to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives. This was supposed to be a good time at the pitch; it wasn't supposed to be a tragedy waiting to strike.

[@MjauDuuude]

I have some Swedish cases I would love for you to cover; 1. The tjörnbridge catastrophe 2. The tram accident in Gothenburg 3. The landslide in Tuve 4. The discotheque fire in Gothenburg If you'd need translations and such I would be happy to help

[@ceicli]

There was a train crash in Lerum too. I think he already covered the fire, or if I confuse it with someone else, it's on KZbin anyway.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

For one that is more funny than tragic,, the Stockholm runaway train would be a good one, the one where the train basically kiddnaped a cleaner. To be totally fair, it did make a handful of people homeless, but if you look at it, it could have been a lot, lot worse.

[@limehawk4989]

Vad är det för fel på p3 dokumentärerna?

[@limehawk4989]

Vad är det för fel på p3 dokumentärerna?

[@ceicli]

@@limehawk4989 Are they in English? (Är de på engelska?)

[@TheDriftdog]

My dad and Grampa were both at this game. My dad was there as a first aider with St Andrew’s Ambulance and his dad there as a spectator. Because of how busy it was leaving Ibrox they both would travel home separately. My poor Gran heard about it from a bus driver and was worried sick until they both got home,both knowing nothing about what had happened. One of the changes implemented because of this disaster was that the first aides were to remain in the stadium until all the spectators had left.

[@verniceaure4865]

Among the many reasons that I enjoy your videos is the little 'weather report' as you sign off. Thank you for the in-depth research, including locations/diagrams/blueprints/charts, comments on each incident's effect on the future, and the funny illustrations that you add.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@verniceaure4865]

@@PlainlyDifficult : You are most welcome. You truly deserve it. You rock.

[@pvanpelt1]

I live in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s funny how often we’re having the same weather, lol.

[@Seanmcdhuibhne]

Respect to the victims and family of those who died and those affected by this tragedy. 💙💚 From a Celtic fan.

[@lylukk]

my dad's older cousin was at the game that day, he went off to the pub after the game and had absolutely no idea that the disaster had even happened. he got an absolute bollocking from his mother by the time he got home late that night. she was so worried and had no idea if he was ok all that time

[@hassanchop7096]

The only bad encounter he had that night was probably a flat pint!🤣

[@pjmcgoldrick1967]

Excellent and factual video of what happened. I was over from Dublin to see the match but in the main stand enclosure at the other (Celtic) end. At the end of the match, my friends and I went to the flat of a Rangers-supporting pal on Copland Road to discuss what had been a dull game that we felt Celtic had thrown away. Almost an hour after the match, a friend of his family came in and told us there had been an accident at Stairway 13. She said she'd heard there were two people dead. My best pal and I immediately started to walk quickly to his home at Govan Cross, where our wives and my first baby were spending the afternoon with his mother. No cell phones in those days. As we walked, people rushing to the scene told us first there were five dead, then six, then 10. By the time we reached his home, with the waiting women going frantic with worry, the toll had reached 14. While waiting on a taxi, we heard on the TV the toll was now 40. In the taxi, the driver told us he had heard it was now over 60. The final toll was 66 poor souls. I will never, ever forget that night. The sound of screaming ambulances racing through the mist on that walk in darkened streets remains with me yet. 🇮🇪

[@davey6024]

I'm glad you gave this terrible day some exposure as it is always overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster.

[@CodyDoesIt]

Your voice is so comforting to an Oklahoman here in the USA. These videos humble yet baffles me at the same time.

[@SSFproductions1]

I always wait until the end of the video. So i know what the weather was like in London.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@thesloaneranger1]

The Rangers manager at the time, Willie Waddell, also made sure that the players were at every funeral and also visited the injured fans in hospital. There is a good documentary made by Rangers, if anyone wants to learn more. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaPVn6CYrKeMoNE

[@SeverityOne]

In 1989, I was in a bit of a crush at the Amiga '89 expo in Cologne, Germany. This was a home computer that was very popular at the time, so they organised an expo. It proved much more popular than expected, so when I arrived first thing (by train from the Netherlands, no less), there was a bit of a crowd waiting for the ticket sale points to open. When they did, everybody started pushing. But there were fences at the front. Now I'm not exactly a short guy at 1.85m/6'1", but there is absolutely nothing you can do. You just get pushed, and things get very tight. In the end, nothing serious happened, and nobody got injured. The people at the front got seriously pressed against, though. These things keep happening - as seem recently in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea. And it seems that we never learn.

[@Canleaf08]

The gamescom which happened just recently at the Cologne tradegrounds recently had a door when trying exit the long hallway between hall 3 and 11 which acted as a funnel and all of sudden the people behind me began to rush and crush. Why is that still allowed? Have Germans not learned about the Loveparade disaster?

[@SeverityOne]

@@Canleaf08 Mind, I was outside at the time. But yeah, nobody seems to ever learn from the past. Especially when it comes to crushes.

[@LeviathanRX]

Most of the large scale high traffic stairwells I've seen tend to fan out towards the bottom which probably helps the crowd density were such a thing to happen.

[@alistairthow1384]

I started going to Ibrox with my father in 1973 and stairway 13 was our usual exit to the then named Copeland rd underground station. The end of a big match was an unnerving experience as we sumitted the terracing and went down the steep stairway with my feet leaving the ground for a second or so because the crowd was so tightly packed. I was only twelve at the time and was staring at the shoulder of the person in front until the moment you took the first step down. You had to put your hand on the back of that person in front to stop yourself stumbling forward. As I said earlier that step over the top was always a nervy moment. RIP to all victims of these types of crush events, sadly they are still happening to this day.

[@RCAvhstape]

I have always hated crowds because of stuff like this, as well as what happens when riot police are around and things get kinetic. When I was a kid we used to horse around in the yard playing "Pileup", where we would pick out one of us and everyone jumps on top of him (as boys it takes us a while to grow a functioning brain lol). Having been at the bottom of that stack of people, unable to breath or even call for help, feeling the panic, was enough to teach me to avoid situations like the one in this video.

[@gpoplingregpoplin5682]

Hey John, My grandfather died in a training accident with with the US navy. My father went to great lengths to recover the information with the Freedom of Information act, and made it publicly open. I feel like it could/would make a good episode for your channel, and I'd be happy to give you the information. I'm not really sure how to DM in KZbin?.

[@stiflers_mom]

my dad was a big rangers man he always told me about this one , scary thing is the streets can still get pretty packed after the old firm games i usually stay home to avoid it all

[@mrkipling2201]

To put it in to perspective, crowds at the time in Scotland were huge. Celtic played Leeds in the European Cup in 1970 and there was a crowd of 136,000 at Hampden Park.

[@JarlRagnaar]

The fact that you can use fluid dynamics to model the movement of large and dense crowds like this just makes this even more chilling. If you get caught in the crush, you become nothing more than a particle in the flow, only that you won't survive that pressure spike

[@tgrules565]

You should cover Monsters of Rock Festival 1988. Not a massive death toll but it had a massive impact on crowd control and barriers for concerts afterwards.

[@jamescole6846]

This happened to me at Reunion Arena in Dallas about 30 years ago. So man people leaving a concert and you had to cross the overpass and walk down the stairs to the parking area. The stairs from the overpass to the ground were like 3 stories high so many people tried to go down everyone started falling. Luckily no one got really hurt other than bruises. Never under estimate the stupidity of people in large crowds.

[@catprog]

I would not call it stupidity. I would call it a lack of knowlege of what is in front of you..

[@jamessones4044]

I remember being at school the day after the hillsborogh disaster. I will never forget the feeling of helplessness as your seeing people squashed up against the fence. I don’t know how the fences aren’t designed to be opened in emergencies? No worry about being in any football or concert crowds as most are priced out of going these days!

[@fensoxx]

I enjoy these videos so much. When I see the slowly fading in Plainly Difficult text and that theme music on a Saturday night here in the states, I know I’m about to get tucked into some good docudrama content. Thank you so much for doing these. Never change man.

[@yvesrongy4355]

Thanks a lot for the quality of the search and the production of your videos! I've never heard of this disaster before.

[@Kae6502]

How horrific! I've been at Disney World and EAA in Oshkosh at closing time and know how confining large crowds can get. I think of disasters like this and it always makes me more than a little apprehensive. I can't even imagine the terror these people felt that day. Rest in Peace to victims of this awful tragedy. :(

[@amazinggrace5692]

We were caught at Disney World when Brazil had won the World Cup and the crowd was full of people shouting Bra-zil over and over. It was dark and rainy and the security couldn’t be seen. I was pushing my daughter in a stroller and we were utterly swept along. I feared for her, but couldn’t even stop to try and pick her up. We were lucky not to be hurt, but we remained terrified.

[@mattb6646]

Yeah I dont fuck with large crowds

[@caitchri2426]

I have always thought that amusement parks need to further limit the number of tickets they sell per day to avoid overcrowding. But they’d rather make a few more dollars than worry about the safety and enjoyment of their customers

[@flygirl6048]

They seem to have eased the crowds at OSH some, which is good. My dad and i still either leave early or hang back if we attend the shows. Things can happen so quickly.

[@MistaSkilla692]

Not gonna lie I saw the thumbnail and audibly said "bruhs making videos about stairs now"

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😂😂

[@Steve-se1wb]

I would really be interested in a coverage of the 1955 Le Mans catastrophe. That aside, great video.

[@Only_Nub]

For sure! Such a horrible yet interesting accident!

[@hassanchop7096]

How many people were flattened that day??

[@Steve-se1wb]

@@hassanchop7096 About 80

[@hassanchop7096]

@@Steve-se1wb 66 flattened clown!

[@ajfurnari2448]

Good to see hazmat suit guy taking a day off and catching a Rangers match 😃

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😬

[@darksu6947]

It's never good to see Mr. Hazmat Dude Ph.D. Esq.

[@AeroGuy07]

This is why I don't like crowds. I have friends that were at Roskilde, Denmark in 2000 when 9 people died during Pearl Jams set. My cousin, several years older than me, lost a friend during The Who concert in 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'll go to a big concert, but I'm happy to watch from a safe distance.

[@p4ngolin]

On the topic of crushes, can't wait for you to cover the Itaewon crush from the last halloween in seoul, korea, once they have done their investigation. As for stairs... having been in a stairway crush myself (no casualty, thanksfully, security reacted quickly in establishing a better flow), I avoid overcrowded stairs like the plague. Having to chose between being the crusher or the crushee and step on others for fear of being under is awful.

[@YouveBeenMiddled]

Now, sports stadiums are built with *ramps* and carefully placed *entry choke points* to regulate the speed and number of people flowing through the exits. This ensures that the lanes of travel can never allow the entry of more people than they are designed to handle.

[@gregsbiplays9899]

It’s rare to find a channel as consistently good as yours! This story reminds me just a little of the great crush that happened recently for some reason.

[@HWFG1872]

This was nicely and informatively done. Thank you. Lest we forget, the 66.

[@souralba2727]

My friends Grandad died in this, never got to meet him but the family still hold a vigil every year. Such a sad day.

[@zetectic7968]

I remember this being on the front pages of the newspapers. Utter negligence of the directors of the club who wouldn't undertake any safety measures until forced to.

[@BinoDist]

Thank you for this video. I live in a small country where we seldom have the massive crowds that occur elsewhere but nevertheless, in future, I'll keep in mind this disaster and will take my time standing up and leaving any event after most people have gone.

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

The lessons that should have been learned from this, and so many other similar occurrences, still remain apparently unlearned. These deadly crushes keep happening. I wonder if you have, or will in future, do one on the football stadium that burned and killed a huge number of people. I'd be interested in refreshing my memory about that one--I think a video about it was shown to me when I was going through firefighting training in the navy.

[@DavidCowie2022]

I think that was the Bradford stadium disaster. At one place that I worked, one of the managers had been on a fire prevention course, and he said that they had to watch the video of the whole thing, to show them how quickly fires can spread, and why they should take fire safety seriously. A sobering moment.

[@Edd1872]

We at Rangers learned alright, Ibrox was hugely redeveloped after this and still haunts the club. The new stadium is a memorial to the dead.

[@moxiemaxie3543]

Its because we want to believe humans have common sense in self control but people are not that. Youd think you see and FEEL you're stepping on someone

[@incognitoburrito6020]

@@moxiemaxie3543 Even if you do, theres not always something you can do about it.

[@ryano.5149]

@@moxiemaxie3543 Yeah, if you're at a point when you're stepping on people, you already can't do anything about your situation. As mentioned in the video, large, tightly-packed crowds behave more like a liquid. That's the insidious thing about a crush. You can't always tell there is one until it's too late. The best way to be safe from one is to be at a venue with enough exits and staff to mitigate the crowds. Also, it's important to actually LISTEN to venue staff.

[@dougieblackwood]

I was one of the lucky ones. My pal and I got down stairway 13 after the final whistle, went to the toilet that was there at the time and then, as we walked out of the ground, I heard louder than usual shouting from the stairs. We thought nothing of it but it was probably the beginning of the disaster. We went to a nearby pub and saw a special news report of the story on the TV in there.

[@FunkBallGX]

Thanks for this. A request I made some time ago. One Love Glasgow Rangers

[@alexmcphee8199]

Thank you. As a gers fan. This means a lot. The rivalry is out of my interest. But the disaster was a shame. Doesn’t matter what team it is. When innocent children are there I just. I’m only human guys and it’s just a a team to me

[@sbcinema]

This reminds me of the love parade, where the police set up barriers to better control the "flow of people" and that's why so many people were killed. Unfortunately, it is also foreseeable here in Munich that there will be such an accident, since the same mistake is made at the Oktoberfest, where a fence has been erected around the entire site to protect against terrorist attacks. but which has the disadvantage that the meadow, which was previously freely accessible from all directions, now only has a few relatively narrow entrances (but the government doesn't listen to my warnings)

[@sbcinema]

@@samarnadra This "safety" precaution was taken in Germany after the attack in France, in which a truck drove into a crowd of people. Escape routes were also planned in, but in my opinion it's still too little for the large amount of people, I'll give you a few links to pictures that I found online 2006: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Wiesn2006_Luftaufnahme.jpg NOW: verkehrsforschung.dlr.de/public/styles/lg_16_9/public/previews/article/2016/vabene_wiesn_16_mosaik.jpg?itok=H5pyvDIz The barjere consists of mobile fences but also of solid ones. www.tz.de/bilder/2022/09/23/91806778/29907320-oktoberfest-wiesn-muenchen-wildpinkler-abwehr-wasserpistole-2xec.jpg

[@trueblue72-ul6lo]

The picture of the then Celtic manager Jock Stein assisting with the injured rangers fans is truly touching 😥

[@johnladuke6475]

For what little I know about Rangers/Celtics rivalry, I have to admit that I'm kind of surprised fan violence apparently played no part in this disaster. The first time I heard of the rivalry, I was shown a photo of a large section of seating where the supporters of the two clubs were divided by a large empty space... with a solid line of riot cops between them.

[@ayrshireman1314]

The sets of fans were at opposite ends of the stadium, as they are now still.

[@alexfleming2175]

Violence between fans is very unusual at the stadium. That, dort of thing happens well away from areas with a large police presence. The biggest factor here was the late equaliser, so a lot of people turned back into the flow of traffic causing a mass crush.

[@johnladuke6475]

@@alexfleming2175 I gathered from the video, and know exactly what you mean... I've stopped leaving at the top of the stairs with 17 seconds on the clock to see my team turn it around. I just half expected any disaster involving these teams to be "they finally all got hold of each other".

[@ayrshireman1314]

@@alexfleming2175 I have explained what happened, the fans rushing back meets fans leaving is a myth, the tragedy happened minutes after the end of the game. What happened was proven by the 1971 inquest and the witnesses living in Harrison Drive.

[@foreverandever5548]

The fans are segregated from each other.

[@hendyo_98]

Today was the 53rd anniversary. And honestly, I had no idea until I was told that there were would be a minute’s silence whilst I working at one of the kiosks preparing the pies for today’s match against Kilmarnock. What’s weird is, I watched this video before I headed into work today and completely missed out the date. Was it a coincidence? No clue, but yeah, today was the anniversary. Told mum about it after I came home from work and she told me that my granda and dad were there that day but granda decided to leave some point after halftime. Scary stuff in all honesty

[@thejudgmentalcat]

I went to The Palace At Auburn Hills (basketball) in the 90's to see Rush. I remember thinking if someone lost their footing near the top, they'd roll down hundreds of feet on steep concrete stairs. After that I never went to another concert.

[@grmpEqweer]

FWIW, I work concerts (and also sports games) and one of the duties I've been posted to is keeping people from dancing in the aisles/blocking the aisles. (Also, screaming obscenities at sports matches, we ask them to keep it clean for the kids.🤗) This is obviously both really annoying to the fans 😆 and critical to maintain fire safety. Plus I don't want the often drunk/stoned/high heel wearing people (fabulous!) falling down any steep stairs, if that's present in the venue. I want my folks to have a great time.🤗 If they get hurt, that's not a great time.

[@saragrant9749]

It’s amazing how many times a terrible event has to occur sometimes before something is done to fix a problem.

[@LilyKittyCatto]

oh didnt expect to see this on here. ive lived my whole life in Glasgow, everyone here knows about this even to this day kids know about it

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😬

[@hendyo_98]

You sure that's true? I've never heard of this, no even from my Rangers fan dad or Celtic fan mum

[@eggy6745]

@@hendyo_98 how tf does your dad not know about it, every match at the start of the new year there's a minute silence for those who died and a memorial dedicated to them

[@hendyo_98]

@eggy My dad knows about it, he's just never told me about it. He was also 8 at the time.

[@tinderbox218]

This is one of the many reasons I avoid crowds. And there is no way to completely prevent things like this no matter how safe the environment is in general, as we saw in South Korea recently.

[@PatricioGarcia1973]

Eerily similar to the Puerta 12 (door #12) Disaster on the River Plate stadium in Argentina in the late 60s, during a match between Boca Juniors and River Plate. More than 70 people died and 160 hurt

[@andrewballard780]

Amazingly well produced videos. Thanks John

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@bobcloset7963]

I hate when people disregard safety because it’s cheaper. May those poor people rest in peace.

[@skorza212]

I remember the old crushes at roker park (the old Sunderland stadium). Every match, on the way out, people were so tightly packed you could literally lift both feet up and the crowd pressure would carry you along. I remember there was about a one foot square pillar connected to the wall on the way out, you quickly learned to get as far away from that as soon as possible or you’d get crushed against it and have no chance of getting back into the flow of fans.

[@blackcoffy83]

Great video as always and RIP to the victims 🙏🏾 💖🙏🏾

[@Mu-vm4ij]

Staircases, especially crowded ones, have always made me anxious. It’s really scary how all it takes is one person to cause a chain reaction sometimes - how you can be as careful as possible yet still get swept up in the madness.

[@DBL8061]

My Dad was at the game and the same supporters bus as the 5 Markinch boys who died. We heard it on the news and had no idea if he was alive or dead until he came home 4/5 hours later. The bus waited for a long time on the boys then left. He said the bus was silent on the way home as they all thought the boys were dead but wouldn’t find out for some time after 😢

[@DavidBroadley-tw7ks]

I was at the game was 14 was at the celtic end left at 0 0 to get to govan Cross to get a bus to drumchapel just got the bottom off the stairs and celtic scored headed to govan cross heard a roar thot it was full time but it was rangers equalising got on the bus didn't know rangers had scored till I got in and it was all over the news

[@YellowFreesias]

I have a new appreciation for the almost kilometer long ramp going Into our stadium now...

[@mateobonavento3939]

I've never been to any kind of stadium, but I had to deal with stairs and rushing crowds from a very young age. When the bell rang in my elementary school, there was always a stampede of children running down the stairs and it was quite scary. There were no accidents while I studied there, and I honestly don't know if any happened after I moved on to high school, but most people were super complacent about it. Some teachers would ask the children to be patient and walk down normally, but they eventually got tired of asking because no one ever listened. I was a frail and sickly boy so I had to wait 5-10 minutes until it was safe for me to leave. I think that's the reason why I'm so cautious and have avoided suffering major injuries until adulthood. That experience sure left an impression on me. I had nightmares of trying to go down those damned stairs, but I never made it to the end for years. It was so damn satisfying the time I actually made it out and I never had that nightmare again after that.

[@ruth4376]

There are many instances of child crowd crushes, one of the worst was Victoria Hall in the late 1800s where almost 200 small children (2-4yr olds) died because a side door hadn't been unlocked

[@moxiemaxie3543]

I'm sure no deaths or crushes happened if it was never a problem. It comes of as exaggerated parent.Its fine to not experience the video subject. Its more about kids falling down the stairs not crushes.

[@KassieR329]

this type of disaster is probably one of the most frustrating ones bc it literally could be prevented by people just being patient. if people just stopped pushing, those who had fallen could've gotten up with little to no injury. it just feels so easily preventable.

[@moh8483]

No one was pushing purposely no one at the back or middle knew the crush was happening the only way the crush could have been prevented is if there was better exit points designed. Expecting 60k+ people to leave down the same stairway is asking for something like this to happen the blame lies on the stadium designers and the boardroom for not fixing it.

[@KassieR329]

@@moh8483 I know, I'm not trying to put the blame on the people involved. I said it ~feels~ easily preventable. Of course those at the top couldn't know that those at the bottom had fallen. And I agree, there should've been more exits as well, which would've prevented this. My mind is just not wanting to wrap itself around the fact that this is possible and happens 😅

[@aliceleiper5584]

Thanks for your informative summary of this disaster. Unfortunately it wasn't the last crushing disaster at a football game in the UK, and I think I saw in your video a photo from the other major football ground crushing event, the Hillborough Disaster of 1989. Where large numbers of people are involved, organisations like football clubs, concert organisers, etc must put safety at the top of their agenda, because failure to do so has catastrophic consequences as you have have shown here. JFT96.

[@robertmurray6043]

You got the location of 13 wrong early in the film and the popular egress route was not all about the nearby Subway, but that the streets east of the stadium is where Rangers supporter's buses parked. I was there that day, I was 17, and was very lucky. Thank you for posting.

[@carlmanvers5009]

Concise and informative. I noticed more than a few hazmat suit wearing fans in the graphic. :)

[@darrenbrashaw8409]

With the 70th anniversary coming up in January you should have a look at the sinking of the MV Princess Victoria, it was one of the first if not the first Ro-Ro ferry disaster but is largely forgotten today.

[@mack.attack]

"For nearly 88 minutes, not much has happened" Me, an American: "Exactly"

[@erik_dk842]

Every soccer game ever

[@nicholasaslanides9703]

Simpsons sum up soccer perfectly

[@gprime7210]

Likely because Americans are more used to the excitement of kids getting murdered in your schools.

[@mack.attack]

@@gprime7210 Oh, I get it, it's funny because our voting system allows a minority political party outsized control over policy, leaving the majority of us essentially helplessly watching in horror because no matter what we do, nothing changes. That is very funny! We're not our politicians, more Americans voted for Hillary, most Americans support gun control, so it's more probable you'll run into one of us who agrees with you.

[@maddiesutherland9331]

So interesting having a plainly difficult video on something so nearby!

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

Would you do something on the Bradford football stand fire.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Maybe thanks for the suggestion

[@LegionF99]

Every year we do a minutes silence at Ibrox to remember those who lost there lives to this tragic accident. RIP.

[@Susie_Floozie]

I had to laugh when the badger popped up to explain the derivation of "Ibrox." I've referred to badgers as "brocks" ever since my preteen mania for Beatrix Potter stories. "The Tale of Mister Tod" features the noisome Tommy Brock, a right bastard of a badger who invades the homes of other woodland creatures to sleep in their beds with his boots on and kidnap entire litters of rabbit babies to bake into huge pies. He's found in the bed of Mr Tod ("tod" is Scottish for "fox"), who thrashes Tommy Brock out the door and into the roadway to the cheering delight of every critter in the neighborhood.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Although it has been known for Tommy Brock and Mr Tod to form a defensive alliance against the rabbits.......

[@bethanybrookes8479]

The largest crowd I've ever been in was at alton towers, leaving after the November fireworks display. I was tired and cold (an adrenaline feuled day followed by a fireworks display that finished around about 9pm, and it was so wet my waterproof coat stopped being waterproof), and can't really remember much, just gripping my mum's hand tightly and trying to not get pulled away from her by the large amounts of people heading into the bottleneck. Everyone was just slowly shuffling towards in, and it was tightly packed. It wasn't a crush, really, but just that made me terrified of the potential of it happening.

[@mor4y]

"All of the victims were under the age of 50" 50 was the average age of death for a man in that area of Glasgow back then, it was only 55 in the early 2000's 👀 there weren't too many old men at the game, because they aren't that many old men in the area

[@profhortsunlover1536]

that's scary, it means you have no Wise Elders who have 90 years of lived experience

[@RadioactiveSherbet]

It's amazing how often the writing is on the wall for major disasters due to previous minor ones, yet the powers-that-be never seem to get the hint that maybe, just maybe, some expense right now could save them a major expense (and PR disaster) in the future.

[@richardconnor2871]

Wow, I've never been in a crowd of people like that... I cannot imagine how one person tripping could cause 66 deaths, that's insane! I went into this video wondering how a stairway could collapse XD

[@yourmam69]

No need for the xd pal👍🏽

[@blendpinexus1416]

i'm starting to realize why escalators are more common than i would have predicted.

[@MyYoutubeChannelBabyyyy]

I can’t believe 60+ people died in this and I’ve never heard of this. I didn’t even know what a crush is. They need too talk about this in schools wtf

[@moh8483]

The only one that ever gets spoken about is Liverpool cause they are massive victims

[@Spineburger]

Would love to see a video on the 1979 Who concert tragedy in Cincinnati. It effectively ended festival seating in the states.

[@Punisher9419]

How many people have been killed inadvertently by football?

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

Far too many.... can you imagine how pathetic and meaningless a death that would be? "How did you die?" _"sports"_

[@osvaldogreco]

Argentina had a similar disaster in 1968, in River Plate stadium; we remember it as the door 12 disaster, with 71 dead and 113 injured. The causes and responsabilities of this were never properly established, and the event was tabboo in the football community and just in 2018, Boca Juniors, the other team whose fans were the victims, apologized for not remember the victims...

[@Cecily-Pimprenelle]

There are Guys In Hazmat Suits on the stairs - as if a crush wasn’t dreadful enough. Eeep. (Definitely wary of crowds now...)

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

"My foot!"

[@littleloner1159]

The hazmat guys are really what you should look out for Wherever they go there is trouble on the horizon and you wouldn't want to stick around for that

[@ZexyObserver]

I was once participant in a naked men festival in Japan (look it up). I was somewhere outside the main temple floor, and up top was something similar to a mosh pit. When the action started and the crowd shifted, I saw people spilling over the sides of the platform. No one died but I noted that the people packed as tightly as they were behaved more like a fluid than like a crowd. That's what happened here.

[@craigh5236]

I don't understand being that interested in sports to go to these games.

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

A large portion of society has been raised to believe that sports are a very important part of life. While sports do have a social community component, virtually all other group activities also have that.

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

In the modern world, it's largely due to capitalism, taking over and making sports about money as opposed to about community and physical activity and fitness/health. People are tribalized by their own families to exclude people who do not identify with the same sports team. It's all rather quite disgusting over something that is literally the most meaningless activity that human beings do.

[@sumame47]

You should cover the Hillsborough disaster. Such a tragic event. I remember pictures which showed victims.

[@SWISS-1337]

Stuff like this is especially sad, because people losing their lives after what should have been a very exciting and happy evening, you'd never expect something like this to happen.

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

Extra especially sad because it's a bunch of people dead because _sports_ What a waste of life

[@SWISS-1337]

@@CantHandleThisCanYa exactly, I hate sport, find it so boring, but likely because I an antisocial autistic nihilistic loner, but even still, everyone can and should enjoy what they want in life, without that potential risk to life.

[@65charliemopic]

Keep them coming John. I look forward to all your posts.