ON THIS DAY

Blackpool thrashed West Ham 4-0 in the FA Cup. That was bad enough for the Hammers but then it was discovered that four of their players - and the club physio - had been drinking at the nightclub of former boxer Brian London until the early hours of the match-day. Manager Ron Greenwood had wanted to sack the players - Bobby Moore, Brian Dear, Jimmy Greaves and Clyde Best - but they received bans and fines. Dear and Greaves soon left the club and it was said that the working relationship between manager Greenwood and club captain Moore was never the same again.

Tradegy returned to Ibrox. The Scottish League match between Rangers and Celtic was goalless until Jimmy Johnstone gave Celtic the lead in the 89th minute at which point many home fans in the 80,000 crowd headed for the exits. In the last seconds of injury time Colin Stein equalized but the headlines weren't about the result but about a crush of fans on Stairway 13 which resulted in 66 deaths and injuries to over 200 others, the worst tragedy in Scottish football history. The original speculation was that the crush occurred when excited fans tried to get back into the ground on hearing the cheers for the Rangers goals but a subsequent inquiry concluded that the tragedy was solely the result of the pressure of fans leaving the ground. Stairway 13 had seen similar safety problems in earlier years - two fans had been killed at an Old Firm match in September 1961, 8 were injured in September 1967 and another 24 had suffered injuries in January 1969.

The crowd of 118,567 at Ibrox for their ‘Old Firm’ match between Rangers and Celtic was, and still is, the highest attendance for a League match in Britain. Rangers won 2-1 and went on to win the Scottish title with Celtic as runners-up.