On this day in 2008

Jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba, an organisation that acts to commission Gaelic-language content for Scotland, BBC Alba has split headquarters at Glasgow’s Pacific Quay and in Stornoway. It broadcasts in Scottish Gaelic, although English subtitles are available for some programmes.

The BBC News website reported on 27 October, after the channel had been on air for a month, that “BBC Alba has proved an early hit with viewers, with more than 600,000 viewers tuning in over its first week, according to the latest figures… viewers in the Highlands and Islands were the biggest consumers with one in four watching over the first week. Other research carried out amongst Gaelic-speaking viewers showed that 82% of Gaelic speakers with access to the service had watched the channel over the first week.”

 

...and on this day in 1981

Following the 1971 Ibrox crush, in which 66 fans lost their lives and a further 200 were injured, plans were set in motion to redesign and rebuild the stadium to make it safer for capacity crowds.

Reimagining the terraces and access routes was key to this development. The design of the new stadium was based on stadiums in West Germany, which hosted the World Cup in 1974, and saw three of the four stands converted to all-seating accommodation. Not only did this cost several million pounds to implement; it also reduced capacity, which would have an impact on the number of tickets that could be sold.

Construction took several years, with the first new stand erected in 1978, and the second a year later. The final new structure – the Centenary Stand – was erected in 1981, and the new stadium welcomed visitors on 19 September that year. On that occasion, Rangers faced Celtic in front of a crowd of just over 40,000.