2023-08-08 21:10:09
– Welcome to Ibrox, theater of drama and glory
Servette FC will play on Wednesday in Glasgow on one of the oldest and most famous stages in European football. Death struck there long ago, passion will always reign there.
Published: 08.08.2023, 23:10
The Ibrox Stadium can now accommodate some 50,000 spectators. But they have already been more than double, in the past, to massage in the august enclosure.
AFP/PAUL ELLIS
While waiting to see the quality of the show and the behavior of the actors, one thing is certain: the theater which hosts the first leg between Glasgow Rangers and Servette, Wednesday evening in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League, belongs to the most old and prestigious of the continent. In other words, the Ibrox stadium is a historic football monument – also in the literal sense, since the south stand and its sublime brick facade are classified.
Built in 1899 on the south bank of the Clyde, Ibrox Park, which became Ibrox Stadium in 1997, then served as the home of Rangers – who celebrated 53 of their 55 Scottish championship titles there. That sets the scene for you, gives you a pedigree. With just over 50,000 breasts inside, it might even get overwhelming – for Servettians, most of whom have no experience with it, to handle.
death strikes
Ibrox is more than a century of history, glory and drama. If the passion for the game and the sliding tackle will never desert the scene, death, too, struck there very early. On April 2, 1902, during a match between Scotland and England, the collapse of a stand caused 25 deaths and some 500 injuries.
The tragedy marks the beginning of a phase of mutation(s), which will make the enclosure evolve with the times. In 1929, it was under the pencil of Archibald Leitch, the architect who had already designed all or part of Old Trafford (Manchester United), Stamford Bridge (Chelsea), Highbury (Arsenal) or Goodison Park (Everton), that the south stand is erected. She is still standing, after having seen so many disheveled matches, so many frenzied crowds.
More than 118,000 spectators
The crown jewel, of course, is when it’s time for the Old Firm; the famous derby against the hated neighbors of Celtic. It was on one of these occasions, in 1939, that the historic record for spectators was set, with 118,567 souls officially counted in Ibrox. A figure that comes from another world, recorded in other bays. But in the same stadium.
It is another tragedy, remained in the books as “the disaster of Ibrox”, which will precipitate new installations. On January 2, 1971, as Rangers lost a derby to Celtic, thousands of disgruntled fans left the stands. But when Colin Stein equalized shortly before the end (1-1), the jubilation and the crowd were very bad bedfellows: 66 dead, 200 injured.
The decades have continued to pass in the Ibrox district, the Rangers have never stopped writing their rich legend there. And when misfortune strikes, as in 2012 with the receivership that led the club to the 4th division, the flame remains, stronger than ever; and they are 50,000 to support their proteges, between these walls which mean so much.
In addition to eleven guys in royal blue, that’s all that René Weiler’s Servette FC is preparing to face on Wednesday evening in the first leg of the third qualifying round for the Champions League.
Simon Meier began his career as a sports journalist in 2000 at the newspaper Le Temps before becoming the head of the section. In 2013, he joined the sports editorial staff of Le Matin and Le Matin Dimanche then joined that of Sport-Center for the various titles of Tamedia and 20 minutes.More info
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