Over 130,000 fans turned out to watch their teams across all four Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) divisions as capacity crowds were welcomed on the opening
weekend of a League season for the first time in three years.
Bumper attendances flocked to stadia across the cinch Premiership, cinch Championship, cinch League 1 and cinch League 2 to mark the start of the 2022/23 League campaign.
A total of 130,983 fans attended matches across the divisions, with 106,173 supporters at games in the cinch Premiership, with another 11,883 attending games in the cinch Championship, and a further 12,927 across cinch League 1 and cinch League 2.
The largest crowd of the opening weekend was at Celtic Park, where 58,824 fans witnessed the champions’ 2-0 win against Aberdeen.
Elsewhere, 18,202 people were inside Tynecastle to watch Heart of Midlothian defeat Ross County 2-1, while another 9,672 packed out the Tony Macaroni Arena as Rangers won 2-1 against Livingston.
It was the first League season since 2019/20 to be permitted to start with full stadia, after Covid restrictions led to empty stadia in 2020/21, and reduced attendances at the start of 2021/22.
Neil Doncaster, SPFL chief executive, said: “The start of a new cinch SPFL season is always an exciting time, and it was made even better by the fact we’ve started it for the first time in three years with capacity crowds.
“It is hugely impressive for over 130,000 fans to have attended matches across our four divisions and another reminder of the huge commitment of Scottish football fans.
“Having fans back in stadia has been a real boost for supporters themselves, players and the clubs, and dramatically improves the experience for all involved.
“It’s been a tough time for our 42 member clubs since the pandemic began, so to have ticket and hospitality revenue from the beginning of the season again is a real bonus."
