120,00 more fans watching Scottish game

Although the national team continues to struggle, spectators are coming back to the club game in increasing numbers.

Figures released by the SPFL show crowds have increased by 120,000 in two seasons.

4.18 million supporters attended 860 games last season – up from 4.06 million in 2013/14.

A number of stats leads SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster to look ahead with some optimism.

Although the quality of football still needs to be improved, those who predicted “financial armageddon” following Rangers’ demotion to the bottom tier have been proved wrong.

Doncaster said: “A lot of financial damage has been caused to a number of clubs as a result of what happened in 2012 and the events that followed.

“But the game has healed well, and that’s down to the robustness of the game, the supporters and the clubs.

“We shouldn’t underestimate the pain some clubs have gone through with the loss of Rangers’ support in particular.

“Equally, I think it’s right to recognise the huge financial good the Rangers support have brought to the lower league clubs on their journey through the divisions.

“So it’s not without an upside but the game has proven itself remarkably robust and we can look forward with confidence.”

Doncaster believes the merger of the SPL and the SFL has been a success.

He went on: “The clubs deserve credit for the leap of faith they took in 2013 to bring the league back together again.

“There were those suggesting that, particularly for the lower league clubs, there would be less money, less influence and they’d be cut adrift.

“The fact we’ve increased the monies payable to all clubs by more than 20% over the past three years vindicates the confidence all 42 clubs had at that time.”

Other new statistics released include –

More than 70,000 fans watched 20 play-off matches, taking total play-off attendances to more than 300,000 during the three years of the SPFL.

There were 11.7 million live TV viewers for Sky Sports and BT Sport combined last season.

The peak audience was 357,000 for Aberdeen v Celtic on Sky (February), and 355,000 for BT Sport’s Rangers v Hibernian (December).

100 million TV viewers saw SPFL football in a variety of forms across all the main broadcast channels during 2015/16.