Attendances in Scottish Football
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I saw some interesting attendance figures today for the games that took place in the Scottish top division during the first weekend in December in 1972:
Airdrie v Aberdeen - 4060
Arbroath v Dundee United - 4153
Dumbarton v Celtic - 14488
Dundee v East Fife - 5275
Hibernian v Falkirk - 10606
Kilmarnock v Partick Thistle - 3490
Morton v Motherwell - 3256
Rangers v Hearts - 27350
St Johnstone v Ayr United - 2148
A total of 74826 across 9 games, an average of 8314 per game.
Contrast that to the weekend just past:
St Johnstone v Celtic - 6950 (estimate taken from a Celtic site, no official crowd announced)
Hibs v Aberdeen - 16592
Rangers v St Mirren - 47835
Kilmarnock v Hearts - 5915
Motherwell v Dundee - 4239
A total of 81531 across 5 games, an average of 16306 per game.
The 2 that jump out at me are the Hibs and Rangers crowds . Rangers finished 2nd (by a point) in 72/73 and had won the Cup Winners Cup the summer before yet their crowd seems remarkably poor. The Hibs team finished 3rd, had beaten Rangers in the League Cup semi final a couple of weeks before, would go on to beat Celtic in the final a week later and we were playing in front of 10K?! It doesn't seem an anomaly either, we beat Ayr 8-1 the week after the LC final and only 12K bothered to show up. Our crowds around that whole period just seemed pretty rubbish considering how many people wax lyrical about the quality of the team. Now I know the figure reported wasn't always totally accurate back then but why did more people not want to go out and watch Hibs (and Rangers apparently) week in, week out? My initial thought was maybe the economic climate of the 1970s but then we are hardly living through an age of prosperity now and football is by almost any measure more expensive now than it was then so maybe not.
The other thing to note is that the bigger teams seem to be holding up well and often increasing but not so much the smaller clubs. Because of the impact of the weather this weekend and some clubs who were at home 51 years ago being away this weekend there isn't a like for like comparison for a lot of clubs but using their last home game some of the clubs have seen significant drop offs in crowd and others significant rises:
Airdrie - 4060 v 1418 - down 65%
Arbroath - 4153 v 1753 - down 57%
Dumbarton - 14488 v 526 - down 96% (opposition obviously a factor here)
Dundee - 5275 v 6652 - up 26%
Hibernian - 10606 v 16592 - up 56%
Kilmarnock - 3490 v 5915 - up 69%
Morton - 3256 v 1614 - down 50%
Rangers - 27350 v 47835 - up 74%
St Johnstone -2148 v 6950 - up 223% (again opposition obviously a factor)
It seems we are in a weird place with crowds in Scotland. For the likes of Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen they are holding up well and indeed are often significantly better. You don't get the 30 or 40K who would pitch up at European games anymore or the huge away crowds from Celtic, Rangers and at derbies but the core support seems much more consistent in turning up week in, week out (I suppose the growth in popularity of STs accounts for some of that). For others their crowds have collapsed and I daresay the bigger clubs mentioned above, particularly the Glasgow two, are the beneficiaries.
Airdrie v Aberdeen - 4060
Arbroath v Dundee United - 4153
Dumbarton v Celtic - 14488
Dundee v East Fife - 5275
Hibernian v Falkirk - 10606
Kilmarnock v Partick Thistle - 3490
Morton v Motherwell - 3256
Rangers v Hearts - 27350
St Johnstone v Ayr United - 2148
A total of 74826 across 9 games, an average of 8314 per game.
Contrast that to the weekend just past:
St Johnstone v Celtic - 6950 (estimate taken from a Celtic site, no official crowd announced)
Hibs v Aberdeen - 16592
Rangers v St Mirren - 47835
Kilmarnock v Hearts - 5915
Motherwell v Dundee - 4239
A total of 81531 across 5 games, an average of 16306 per game.
The 2 that jump out at me are the Hibs and Rangers crowds . Rangers finished 2nd (by a point) in 72/73 and had won the Cup Winners Cup the summer before yet their crowd seems remarkably poor. The Hibs team finished 3rd, had beaten Rangers in the League Cup semi final a couple of weeks before, would go on to beat Celtic in the final a week later and we were playing in front of 10K?! It doesn't seem an anomaly either, we beat Ayr 8-1 the week after the LC final and only 12K bothered to show up. Our crowds around that whole period just seemed pretty rubbish considering how many people wax lyrical about the quality of the team. Now I know the figure reported wasn't always totally accurate back then but why did more people not want to go out and watch Hibs (and Rangers apparently) week in, week out? My initial thought was maybe the economic climate of the 1970s but then we are hardly living through an age of prosperity now and football is by almost any measure more expensive now than it was then so maybe not.
The other thing to note is that the bigger teams seem to be holding up well and often increasing but not so much the smaller clubs. Because of the impact of the weather this weekend and some clubs who were at home 51 years ago being away this weekend there isn't a like for like comparison for a lot of clubs but using their last home game some of the clubs have seen significant drop offs in crowd and others significant rises:
Airdrie - 4060 v 1418 - down 65%
Arbroath - 4153 v 1753 - down 57%
Dumbarton - 14488 v 526 - down 96% (opposition obviously a factor here)
Dundee - 5275 v 6652 - up 26%
Hibernian - 10606 v 16592 - up 56%
Kilmarnock - 3490 v 5915 - up 69%
Morton - 3256 v 1614 - down 50%
Rangers - 27350 v 47835 - up 74%
St Johnstone -2148 v 6950 - up 223% (again opposition obviously a factor)
It seems we are in a weird place with crowds in Scotland. For the likes of Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen they are holding up well and indeed are often significantly better. You don't get the 30 or 40K who would pitch up at European games anymore or the huge away crowds from Celtic, Rangers and at derbies but the core support seems much more consistent in turning up week in, week out (I suppose the growth in popularity of STs accounts for some of that). For others their crowds have collapsed and I daresay the bigger clubs mentioned above, particularly the Glasgow two, are the beneficiaries.