Gerrard urges fans to stay away for Ibrox tributes
Steven Gerrard says Rangers fans should stay away on Saturday despite the emotional pull of it being the 50th anniversary of the Ibrox tragedy that resulted in 66 fans dying.
Gerrard can relate to the loss as his cousin, Jon-Paul Gilhooley, 10, was the youngest victim of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 96 Liverpool fans died.
However, the Rangers manager said it would be foolhardy for fans of the Scottish Professional Football League leader to come and pay their respects because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Rangers is planning a scaled-back tribute to remember the fans that lost their lives on 2 January, 1971, in a crush as they left after the 1-1 draw with bitter rival Celtic.
Several children were among the victims with the youngest eight-year-old Nigel Pickup from Liverpool.
Celtic, which trails Rangers by 16 points although it has three games in hand, is also its opponent on Saturday.
"In a normal situation, we'd have a lot of people around the ground and we'd obviously put a full service on so we could pay our respects that way," Gerrard said.
"But because of COVID-19, things will look slightly different. However, as a club we still want to pay our full respects to everyone involved and to all the names that are no longer with us.
"It's a very special day tomorrow (Saturday), myself and the players are all aware of that – but I would ask all our fans to stay away.
"I know that's tough but we also have to pay respect to the situation we're all in at the moment and stay safe at home."
Gerrard said he could sympathise with their loss on a personal level.
"Yeah for sure, there's certainly a relation from my point of view with my connection to the Hillsborough disaster as well," Gerrard said.
"I certainly know what this disaster means to people and I want to send my full respects to all the families and the survivors.
"I also want to pay my respects to the people who passed away.
"It's a very poignant day tomorrow, the 50th year as well."
