VANDALS have daubed sick graffiti mocking Ibrox Disaster victims on the anniversary of the tragedy hours before the Old Firm clash.
Thugs targetted a brick wall near a Tesco store in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, before the Rangers and Celtic match kicked off at Ibrox, in the Govan area of Glasgow.
The Gers finally ended the Hoops’ dominance in the derby fixture with a thumping 3-0 win in front of a sell-out home crowd.
But Hoops-supporting yobs graffitied a sick message on the wall ahead of the Premiership match which mocked the 66 fans killed in a crush at the stadium on January 2, 1971.
Cruel thugs scrawled “F**k the Sevco and the 66 LOL” in black spray paint.
The crush was caused by a partial stadium collapse, which occurred in the closing minutes of the 1971 New Year derby, with more than 200 fans injured.
The youngest death was 8-year-old Nigel Pickup from Merseyside, who had come up to spend New Year with family in Glasgow and was attending his first derby.
Ian Loch, a Gers fan, was one of the lucky ones that day.
Despite being trapped in the crush on Stairway 13, he managed to escape but recalled the horror of the experience.
He previously said: “I wasn’t too sure what was happening but I knew people had fallen and it was a domino effect.
“We started to shout for people to get back.
“But the guys coming from the concourse and off the terracing could have no idea what was happening below them.”
“After shouting, ‘Get back, get back’, I realised I couldn’t shout any more because the air was getting squeezed out of my lungs.
“The pressure was unbearable. It’s at that point I’m thinking, ‘This is it’.
“I said a prayer, ‘Please God don’t let me die’. Those were my exact words.”
It wasn’t the only graffiti attack to take place before the Old Firm match yesterday.
Locals were left disgusted after sectarian vandals also targeted an Orange Hall with vile pro-IRA graffiti yesterday afternoon.
Sickos pounced overnight at the building in New Stevenston, near Motherwell, and scrawled sinister messages on the walls.
Yobs daubed two huge Irish flags on the walls of the New Stevenston Orange Hall and de-faced the entrance with an IRA slogan and KAH – which is understood to stand for ‘Kill all huns”.
Another message on the building reads “Brits out”.
An image of the paint attack was shared online by appalled locals – some of whom will be watching the game at the Rangers-supporting social club.
A local who witnessed the damage said: “It’s a total disgrace that someone decides to do this on the day of the match.
“You’ve got to wonder what goes through their minds.
“Thankfully it’s all been painted over quickly and folk can look forward to the match without having to be confronted with it.”
Images of the building before and after the damage was removed have been shared online.
A PoliceScotland spokesperson said: “Around 10am on Thursday, 2 January, 2025, we received a report of vandalism at a premises in the Clydesdale Street area of New Stevenston. Enquiries are ongoing.”
Tensions have been rising between the two sets of football supporters in recent weeks.
Celtic and Rangers fans clashed after the recent League Cup final saw the Hoops win the cup in Hampden Park.
Violent scenes broke out in Glasgow city centre in front of terrified Christmas shoppers, leading to cops launching a hunt to find those involved in the bust-up.
Police later released nearly 20 mugshots of football hooligans they want to track down.
It comes after ultras took to the streets of Glasgow throwing punches and hurling pyrotechnics on December 15.
