Ibrox Stadium

First Ibrox (1872–1902) Rangers played its first match in May 1872, on Glasgow Green. The club then played home matches on public pitches across Glasgow, first moving to a regular home ground at Burnbank in 1875. The first Ibrox Park was a success in the short term, as three Scotland international matches and the 1890 Scottish Cup f inal were played at the ground. Celtic Park, built in 1892, was more advanced, however. Most people in the stadium were unaware that the (first) Ibrox disaster had happened. The architectural significance of the Main Stand was reflected when it became a Category B listed building in 1987. Original seats in the Main Stand were made of cast iron and oak. The banking of the terracing continued to increase in the 1930s. On 2 January 1939, the Old Firm game against Celtic attracted a crowd of 118,567, the record attendance for any league match played in Britain. After this incident, Rangers installed safety measures, but further injuries were sustained in crushes on Stairway 13 in both 1967 and 1969. 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 due to another crush on Stairway 13. 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. The cut in capacity and boardroom changes led to radical plans by architects Miller Partnership, which were published in November 1977. 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 redevelopment was completed in 1981 with the replacement of the Centenary Stand by the 10,300 capacity Govan Stand. 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 all changed when a new regime, chaired by David Holmes, took control of Rangers in 1986. Graeme Souness was appointed player–manager, while several English stars, including Terry Butcher and Chris Woods, 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 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. ==Structure and facilities==

Stadium design . The Ibrox pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as the Bill Struth Main (south), Broomloan Road (west), Sandy Jardine (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. A marble staircase leads to the boardroom and trophy room. Inglis compared Ibrox to Highbury, in that it combined corporate power with a sense of tradition and solidity. 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. 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. Celtic fans were normally given the whole of the Broomloan Stand for Old Firm derbies until 2018, when Rangers opted to restrict their allocation to the much smaller corner section. 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. Murray commissioned architect Gareth Hutchison to find a way of adding a third tier to the Main Stand. 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. After opening the Club Deck, Ibrox had a capacity of 44,500. The multi-coloured seats were replaced in 1995 with uniform blue seats. The ground was officially renamed Ibrox Stadium after renovations were completed in 1997, when Ibrox had a capacity of just over 50,000. 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. In January 2008, Rangers announced that they were investigating three options to further develop Ibrox. Britain's Casino Advisory Panel reviewed bids from eight short-listed cities, including Glasgow, and in 2007 awarded the first licence to Manchester. 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. 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 . After opening the Bar 72 area in 2006, chief executive Martin Bain said that the scheme could be replicated in the Copland Stand. In January 2023, Rangers added 170 new seats in the Sandy Jardine Rear Stand by removing hospitality boxes in the former Argyle House Restaurant (rebranding it as the Blue Sky Lounge) adding three rows of seats to the rear of the stand and more disabled seating, taking the capacity up to 50,987. In June 2023, a fan engagement meeting at New Edmiston House was told that Rangers were investigating various options to increase capacity. Beyond the previously announced plan to radically improve disabled facilities that would provide a net gain of 600 seats, Rangers costed both partial and complete infills of the corners between the Sandy Jardine stand and the Broomloan and Copland stands. The partial infills could deliver an increase of 1,300 seats per corner (2,600 total), with full infills delivering 3–4,000 seats per corner (6-8,000 total). In addition, there was an option to lower the playing surface to increase capacity by 4,500 seats, but this would involve the team having to relocate for matches until the work was completed. In September 2024 the capacity of Ibrox Stadium increased to 51,700 with the addition of a further 600+ general access seats in the new Copland Rear cantilever and 30 disabled access seats being installed in the Copland Front. Sale of Ibrox Stadium, 2012 Rangers became insolvent in February 2012 and was unable to reach a company voluntary arrangement with its creditors, principally HM Revenue and Customs. Tributes and statues installed in 2024 On 16 July 2014, the club paid a tribute to Sandy Jardine by renaming the Govan Stand in his honour. Jardine won the league championship three times and the Scottish Cup five times with Rangers. On 25 May 2024, a statue of former manager Walter Smith was unveiled in front of Ibrox's Copland Road Stand. Smith won ten league championships and five Scottish Cups with Rangers. ==Other uses==

Football Ibrox has been a home venue for the Scotland national football team 18 times, the third most of any ground. The ground most recently hosted a Scotland game in October 2014 (a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Georgia, won 1–0) when Hampden Park 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. During the second phase of work at Hampden, Scotland won an important 1998 World Cup qualifier against Sweden at Ibrox. During these periods of redevelopment to Hampden, Ibrox also hosted the 1997 Scottish Cup Final, and the 1994 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. Non-football King George V & Queen Mary visited Ibrox Park on 17 September 1917, to thank Glasgow and Clydeside for its efforts in the First World War. For the 1938 Empire Exhibition being held in Bellahouston Park and which attracted over 13 million visitors, his son King George VI 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. Ibrox has been used for athletics competitions, Empire Games, and concerts, including performances by Simple Minds (1986), Frank Sinatra (1990), Rod Stewart (1995), Elton John (1998), Bon Jovi (1996, 2003 & 2007) 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. 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. ==Transport==

The main railway stations in Glasgow, Central and Queen Street, are both approximately two miles from Ibrox. The Ibrox and Cessnock stations on the Glasgow Subway both serve Ibrox. It is also served by First Glasgow 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, on the main line linking Glasgow and Paisley, which was closed in 1967 under the Beeching cuts. ==Notes==