One fan’s lucky escape which saw him leave the match through a different exit

COMING and going through stairway 13 was something Rangers fan William Inglis never gave a second thought. It was part of his Saturday routine as he headed to matches to see his beloved team.

Fifty years ago, the traditional Old Firm derby day started out like any other. On January 2, 1971, Mr Inglis had been due to meet a friend in the Copeland Road terracing.

However, by sheer luck he ended up moving places that day when his friend didn’t turn up. It meant Mr Inglis then left the ground by a different exit, which could well have saved his life that day.

“I remember leaving my parents’ home in Bellshill and travelled alone to the Rangers against Celtic match, parking my car as usual, around the Woodville Street, Woodville Crescent area to the north and east of Ibrox Park,” Mr Inglis said.

“I had become accustomed to entering and exiting Ibrox through entrance 13, as I had done, even as a boy with my father. So, as usual, I entered at gate 13 turnstiles and climbed the steps to the top of the terracing, then made my way to and down isle number six, towards an area behind the goal in the Copeland Road terracing, where I was in the habit of meeting a workmate.”

The game got under way. Mr Inglis, 77, from Carluke, found his workmate had failed to turn up and, at half-time, he decided to move over towards the south side of the Copeland Road terracing.

He added: “I thought he might have been on the south side so swapped over in the hope to sharing the remainder of the game with him. Fate – perhaps?”

Unusually for Mr Inglis, he left the match at gates leading on to Edmiston Drive.

“When the final whistle sounded, and I was still unable to meet up with my friend,” added Mr Inglis, “I made my way out of the ground with the crowd, through the blue gates exit, on to Edmiston Drive at the south-east corner of Ibrox.

“That is the only occasion, before or since that day, I ever used that particular exit at Ibrox. I walked along Copeland Road, passed gate 13 entrance, to my old and radio-less

A40 car, and drove back home to Bellshill.

“I had a shower, dressed, and drove to my girlfriend’s home in Easterhouse, where there was a family gathering that night to celebrate bringing in the New Year.”

Many fans left Ibrox that day not knowing what had happened, including Mr Inglis.

When people began arriving for the New Year party, Mr Inglis could hear them talking about some kind of incident at Ibrox.

Mr Inglis added: “It was only then, several hours after the match, that I was made aware of the horrendous incident that had occurred on stairway 13. As the night went on, the death and injury counts became larger as more people arrived with the latest horrific news.

“My girlfriend’s family were mainly Celtic fans, and as such I was the only one at the gathering that night to have been in the Copeland Road end of Ibrox during that day’s game. The general mood was, understandably, sombre.”

For Mr Inglis’ parents they had an anxious wait to find out if he was all right after the game.

“My mother and father had been out shopping in Glasgow all that day, and had arrived home after I had left for the gathering in Easterhouse,” he added. “So it was with great relief to my mother and father when I arrived home at around 5am on January 3, safe and well. My parents had no knowledge of my whereabouts and feared I had been caught up in the horror that became the Ibrox Disaster.

“Back at work, after the New Year holiday, my mother reminded me to thank my workmate for missing the game that day. I still attend Ibrox along with my son, and on occasion, I have a silent word or two with the memorial near those same blue gates, in respect of the 66 souls who never returned home from the match.”