The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has hailed the setting of a new yearly attendance record for the second season running, stating it has the highest figure across Europe in terms of the percentage of the population attending games.
A total of 5,151,522 supporters turned out to watch their teams across all SPFL competitions in 2023-24 – the highest figure in the SPFL era – with 25 member clubs reporting season-on-season attendance rises for league matches.
Attendances in the second-tier Championship grew by more than 50% – up from 397,373 in 2022-23 to 609,823 in 2023-24. The highest percentage increase in support of any SPFL club was Championship side Raith Rovers, whose average support for its 18 home league games rose from 1,982 in 2022-23 to 4,192 in 2023-24.
The year-on-year figure for SPFL matches is a rise of 64,122 supporters on the previous record set in 2022-23, when 5,087,400 fans attended games – the first time the five million barrier had been broken in the SPFL era.
A total of 4,746,052 fans attended games across the Premiership, Championship, League 1 and League 2, including play-off fixtures, in 2023-24. Premiership games accounted for 3,760,765 of this total.
In League 1, 215,260 fans attended matches, with 107,775 watching games in League 2 – the highest yearly figure for the Scottish fourth tier in the SPFL era. A further 52,429 supporters attended matches across the various SPFL play-offs this season.
Another 405,470 fans passed through the turnstiles across the Premier Sports Cup and SPFL Trust Trophy competitions.
The SPFL said stats last year showed that Scotland had 21.3 attendees per 1,000 people at matches across its top four divisions – the highest figure across Europe. This attendance per capita was over 65% higher than second placed country, the Netherlands, which has 12.9 attendees per 1,000 people.
Neil Doncaster, SPFL group chief executive, said: “After topping five million fans across an SPFL season for the first time in season 2022-23, it is hugely promising to see attendances growing even further this season.
“Our supporters are renowned across the world for their dedication and passion and regularly record the highest per capita attendance in Europe.
“I’d like to thank supporters across the country for their continued support of our game, and our clubs look forward to welcoming them back in strong numbers when season 2024-25 kicks off again later this summer.”
