On Saturday, October 9, 1976, Villa Park and Birmingham city centre witnessed some of the most appalling scenes of football violence ever seen in the UK.
It happened during a so-called ‘friendly’ match between Aston Villa and Rangers, which had to be called off after 53 minutes when crowd disorder broke out. Using the Sports Argus and Sunday Mercury reports from that weekend, Mat Kendrick examines what became known as “Sick Saturday”.
“I watched as a young fan was knocked to the ground and kicked unconscious by up to ten assailants on the Villa Park pitch”, an eyewitness said. “It was the most sickening episode I saw in the midst of disgraceful scenes which caused the abandonment of the match between Aston Villa and Glasgow Rangers after 53 minutes.”
Reporter Geoff Beane summarised the events of October 9 1976, in the following day’s Sunday Mercury, reports Birmingham Live.
Dozens of Rangers supporters turned up on the overnight sleeper train from Glasgow, which was itself delayed due to disturbances during the journey. Some fans were ejected at Wigan.
Coaches started reaching Villa Park as early as 3am. Some provided £1.50 fare Daybreak Special deals for the 700-mile return trip. Police raised concerns with road traffic commissioners about coach operators breaking regulations.
Coaches had been instructed not to reach Villa Park until 60 minutes before kick-off. Most of the 50 coaches that undertook the journey were in Birmingham up to nine hours ahead of that deadline.
According to stories in the Sports Argus and the Sunday Mercury, as soon as the off-licences opened, fans purchased whisky, champagne, wine and beer, initiating a debauchery that terrified hundreds and disrupted public transport for thousands.
Some supporters were so intoxicated they could barely stand. A 15-year-old lad who had been consuming bottles of red wine collapsed unconscious.
Four hours before kick-off, two teenage Rangers fans had already appeared in Birmingham Magistrates Court and been fined £135 for using threatening words and behaviour.
Chief Superintendent Colin Sutton, head of Aston Division, stated: “Drink was the major factor. They had been drinking most of the day – wine, spirits, beer and even champagne.”
There were a few incidents during the first half as Villa led 1-0 through a Dennis Mortimer goal, but it was at half-time when trouble erupted with hundreds of Rangers fans on the Holte End.
At the break, supporters at the back of the Holte End surged towards the front, causing scared fans to spill onto the pitch. By that point, some injured fans were being carried away on stretchers, and the second half had kicked off by the time the field was cleared, and all fans returned to the terraces.
On the Holte End, bricks, stones and bottles were hurled by yobs, completely ignoring the match. When Frank Carrodus put Villa 2-0 up at that end of the ground on 52 minutes, the violence exploded.
The goal sparked another surge as missiles were launched. It’s estimated that over 200 Rangers fans stormed the pitch, leading to violent clashes on the field as some Villa fans joined in the fray. Two supporters were stabbed amidst the chaos.
To evade the pitch invasion, Villa manager Ron Saunders and Rangers boss Jock Wallace ushered their players back to the changing rooms, with both teams sprinting towards the tunnel. Referee Derek Civil from Great Barr called off the game for safety reasons.
Police were granted emergency powers to open the gates and turnstiles, enabling terrified fans to escape the stadium. A loudspeaker announcement was made to evacuate Villa Park and the surrounding area.
Edna Thorpe, a resident of Station Road, Aston, near the ground, said: “I have lived here all my life but never have I seen anything like this. They were behaving like wild animals, fighting and running riot all over the place. I was petrified and just didn’t know what to do.”
More than 70 people were injured at the match, with 18 suffering serious injuries. Several fans, including girls, were treated for severe cuts and head injuries caused by projectiles.
Two individuals had stab wounds, and others had suspected broken bones. Thirty police officers were injured. Several fell, and four were taken to hospital – one with a suspected fractured skull.
Thirty St John Ambulance personnel attended to the injured. First aid rooms were overflowing. Eighteen people were transported by ambulance to Birmingham General and Dudley Road hospitals.
The roads surrounding the stadium resembled a war zone with bodies sprawled across the tarmac, scattered on footpaths and strewn throughout nearby car parks.
Alfred Eggington, division superintendent in charge of the St John Ambulance first aid unit: “I have never seen anything like it in over 30 years of nursing. I was on duty for the Bay City Rollers concert and it was nothing compared to this.”
During the peak of the chaos, 130 officers were stationed at Villa Park. Ninety additional constables had been brought into the city to handle the disorder.
At the stadium police seized cans and bottles. Officers made 50 arrests throughout the day When the violence erupted inside the venue, helmeted police engaged in up to five minutes of combat to clear the ground.
Dog handlers emerged from the Witton End to push supporters back and once some measure of calm had been restored at Villa Park officers formed a line along the track.
Beyond the ground mounted police pursued troublemakers through the streets. The hooliganism wasn’t merely confined to Villa Park and its immediate vicinity. It also extended into Birmingham city centre.
Some well-behaved supporters went ahead of the mob and appealed to city centre shopkeepers “please close your shops, they are behaving like animals” A representative for Peter Dominic shop in Priory Ringway stated: “These lads came in to buy drinks and we sold it to them. They caused no trouble (in the shop). Our business was quite a lot higher than most Saturdays.”
However, an irate Birmingham shopkeeper vented: “Trade is bad enough without the busiest day of the week being plagued by hooliganism. Why Aston Villa felt it necessary to fix up this match, which meant importing Scottish rowdies, is beyond us.”
Eight buses were vandalised with windows smashed and in one instance, a roof damaged. West Midlands Passenger Transport halted buses running on nine routes which led towards the ground leaving many Saturday shoppers stranded in the city centre.
A gang of fans bombarded shoppers with bread after snatching a basket of rolls in a subway. One woman and her 17 year old daughter had their hair yanked and milk splashed over them by a mob in the Bull Ring.
Most of the pubs and bars in the city centre shut their doors. Teddy’s, the city centre pub, was emptied by police after 150 fans began throwing glasses in a bar brawl.
The front door of the Red Lion pub in Lichfield Road, Aston, was torn off its hinges, while other pubs also suffered vandalism.
Michael Evans, landlord of the Golden Cross at Aston Cross, Aston, said: “I have never been more terrified in my life. They went berserk. The language they used was vile, they grabbed bottles from the shelves, wouldn’t pay for drinks and ripped down the curtains.”
Alan Bennett, Aston Villa club secretary: “It is our job to arrange attractive football matches for the public and I think we have done that today. Aston Villa and Rangers are two of the oldest football clubs in Britain and this is the first time they have played each other for 90 years.”
Aston Villa chairman Sir William Dugdale: “I don’t regret it (staging the match) at all. What I do regret is all the trouble.”
Rangers vice chairman Willie Waddell: “I am disgusted. When that happens your guts fall down to your knees and your tongue just closes up. It is the louts that are killing us. It is a bloody tragedy.”
Sports minister Dennis Howell, a spectator at the game, having telephoned the home secretary who immediately ordered an inquiry into the violent scenes, said: “I found it absolutely appalling. It is impossible to be too strong about the disgraceful behaviour which I was unfortunate enough to witness.”
Here under the headline ‘…Villa so superior’ is the part of the Sunday Mercury report which focused on the football, rather than the violence
Aston Villa 2 Rangers 0 (Match abandoned after 53 minutes) Ron Saunders must have been considerably more content before the 53rd minute abandonment as Villa – even in the absence of Andy Gray and Chris Nicholl – delivered a sharp, tactically superior performance. It was Dennis Mortimer who netted Villa’s opener on 29 minutes when he rounded off a slick, rapid and decisive move.
Alex Cropley initiated it when he lofted the ball out to Leighton Phillips who had advanced on the left. Phillips spotted the gap in the Rangers’ defence, threaded the ball through to where Mortimer dashed in and swept the ball past Kennedy.
In the 52nd minute, a Ray Graydon corner was headed back by John Deehan to Carrodus who spun and hammered a left volley into the corner of the net.