Top flight teams rack up a crowd record

SCOTLAND top-flight sides set a new opening weekend attendance record as fans turned out in force to watch the season get under way.

A whopping 110,583 supporters attended six Premiership matches across Saturday and Sunday, smashing the previous best set four years ago by more than 25,000. And the crowds ensured Scotland’s was the best supported league in Europe for the size of population.

More than two per cent of the Scottish public went to a top-flight game with next best Iceland more than 0.5 per cent behind. The 58,843 supporters who took in Celtic’s 4-1 victory over Hearts made up more than half the total while 17,634 watched Hibs beat Partick on their top-flight return.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “After so much anticipation ahead of the 2017-18 season, the opening weekend of SPFL action lived up to the hype and it’s a huge positive for Scottish football this was reflected in such a marked increase in Ladbrokes Premiership attendances.

“This continues the trend of last season when total fans attending SPFL league games including play-offs rose by 12 per cent yearon-year to more than 4.2million. All of this good news is a very powerful endorsement of Scottish football and a reminder we have some of the most committed and passionate supporters in the world.”

The news came as SPFL chiefs agreed a streaming deal with Chinese internet giants Tencent Sports.