The collapse caused the deaths of 25 supporters, and injuries to 500 more during an international association football match between Scotland and England on 5 April 1902 as part of the 1901–02 British Home Championship.

Despite the collapse, the match was eventually resumed after a break as officials feared emptying crowds could interfere with rescue attempts and lead to further panic.

A replay was hastily organised and played a month later at Villa Park in Birmingham with all proceeds from the match being donated to a relief fund for victims of the disaster.

The disaster led to an overhaul in stadium design, with wooden terraced stands being largely replaced by earth or concrete embankments.

However, the ground's capacity, originally 2,000 but later expanded to 7,000, was struggling to meet demand for the club's fixtures, and the venue's landlords eventually looked to move Rangers on to develop the site.

[5] The new stadium was built partially overlapping the previous site and was officially opened on 30 December 1899 when Rangers defeated Heart of Midlothian 3–1.

[6] The West Tribune Stand was designed by Scottish architect Archibald Leitch, a boyhood Rangers fan who offered his services free of charge,[7] and had a capacity of 35,913.

[8] However, Leitch himself had expressed concerns over the maximum capacity and visited the site prior to the match to inspect the stand, but a surveyor passed the ground fit for purpose.

Scotland played their first match of the competition on 1 March, defeating Ireland 5–1 in Belfast, while reigning holders England were held to a goalless draw in their first fixture two days later against Wales.

With only one match to be played Scotland led the group by a single point, needing only to avoid defeat against England at Ibrox to win their second title in three seasons.

[8][9] Early in the match, supporters briefly surged toward the front of the terracing, and the on-duty police were forced to intervene in order to regulate the crowd and disperse them from one area.

[8] Newspaper reports and later studies place the incident occurring around 30 minutes into the first half of the match,[5][6] when the back of the newly built West Tribune Stand collapsed, sending hundreds of supporters up to 40 feet (12 metres) to the ground below.

Several factors have been reasoned for the collapse, including heavy rainfall the previous night and the large crowd stamping and swaying as the match progressed.

Regarded as an exciting attacking player, Templeton was making his debut for the Scotland national team and had gained possession of the ball moments prior to the collapse.

[12] It was also noted that the bottom ten rows of the stand had been left vacant as people had filled the racing track surrounding the pitch.

[13] Newspaper reporters visiting the scene in the following days remarked on the lack of debris at the site as vast amounts of the shattered metal and wood had been used to form makeshift stretchers to carry injured spectators.

[17] A large number of injuries were described as cuts and gashes to the heads of spectators, believed to have been caused by the jagged edging of the wooden decking left by the collapse.

[8] William Dewar from Kirkcaldy was also seriously injured in the disaster and the Dundee Evening Telegraph reported that he never recovered from his injuries before dying suddenly in July 1904.

[9] Leitch himself was distraught over the incident and begged Rangers for a chance to fix the mistakes made, stating "I need hardly say what unutterable anguish the accident caused me.

[23] Following the accident, the use of wooden frameworks on steel frames for football grounds was largely discredited, and replaced throughout the United Kingdom by terracing supported by earthworks or reinforced concrete.

[5][14] Rangers had won four consecutive Scottish league championships prior to the disaster,[25] but following the accident the club sold several of their best players to raise funds for a major redevelopment of Ibrox.

The replay was held four weeks later at Villa Park in Birmingham on 3 May 1902 and ended in a 2–2 draw, with the majority of the players remaining unchanged from the original match, Scotland making three changes.

[11] Several events were arranged to raise funds: Rangers' Old Firm rivals Celtic quickly organised a match against English side Blackburn Rovers on 16 April,[5][27] the British League Cup – a one-off tournament between the leading clubs – was played in May,[28] a multi-date domestic benefit tournament took place at the start of the following season[29] and an additional 'benefit international' against Ireland was played on 9 August in Belfast (Scotland won 3–0).