| Ibrox Stadium at present
has a capacity of 50,411. Rangers have played on
the present site of Ibrox since 1899. Ibrox, as
we know it today, amazingly started to take shape
way back in 1929 when the Main Stand was built.
It was the most presigeous in the world for its
time. The remaining area around Ibrox was
terraced, with a semi-circular arrangement at
either end. 1971 saw one of Britain's
worst football disasters occur at Ibrox, where 66
Rangers fans were suffocated on stairway 13,
after some fans leaving attempted to make their
way back into the Stadium after a late equaliser
by Rangers (Vs. Celtic). This event caused an
immediate rethink into the design of Ibrox, and
forced the eventual reconstruction between 1978
and 1981. During this time, the old terracing was
destroyed and the Govan, Copland and Broomloan
stands were constructed. These new, all seater
stands turned Ibrox into one of the best sporting
arenas in Europe, and more importantly, improved
safety at the ground.
Despite
the first tier of the Main stand being terracing,
it remained in place. However Rangers were
granted permission in 1990 to build a third tier,
"the club deck" on top of the old main
stand, provided the main part of the stand (the
red brick building) was not altered, as it is a
listed building. The club deck cost a total of
£20 million to build, and seated 7000. Also, in
1994, the first tier, containing 2 terraced
enclosures, was ripped out and seated, giving
Ibrox a capacity of 46,900 all seated: a measure
required by law to be in place by 1994 after the
Hillsborugh Disaster in 1989.
However, Rangers were not
finished. Shortly after the main stand was
seated, all three "newer" stands were
re-seated in the one, blue colour, giving Ibrox a
more Majestic look. After this facelift, the
three stands were adapted so that the corners
formed at either end of the Govan stand could be
filled. This was done in 1996, when the bottom
half of the corners (level with the first tiers
of the "newer" stands) was seated and
the top half (level with the second tiers) was
built to house 2 "jumbotrons" - that
is, 2 giant screens. These improvements gave
Ibrox its 50,411 capacity, as well as world class
hospitality and media facilities.
There are currently plans being
drawn up to add a third tier, similar to the club
deck, to the Govan stand. This would boost the
Capacity of Ibrox to around 58,000.
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