Scottish Premiership crowds pass four million as UEFA figures highlight playing-time gap

Scottish Premiership attendances passed four million for the first time in the 2025-26 season, according to UEFA figures reported by BBC Sport. The top flight recorded a total of 4.1 million and an average crowd of 17,903, an increase of 3%. The figures cover a campaign in which Celtic retained the title with a final-day home win over challengers Hearts.

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Scotland continued to lead Europe when attendances were adjusted for population. On that measure, average crowds amounted to almost 20 attendees for every 1,000 residents, close to twice Norway's figure in second place. In overall audience numbers, however, six countries ranked above Scotland: England, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands. The population-adjusted ranking therefore tells a different story from the comparison of total crowds.

The Premiership accounted for the largest portion of roughly six million attendances at men's football matches in Scotland during the campaign. BBC Sport reported that the UEFA breakdown also included 900,000 in the lower leagues, 200,000 at domestic cup matches and 800,000 at European fixtures. Those figures put the top-flight milestone alongside the audiences drawn by competitions elsewhere in the Scottish game.

Celtic's home Premiership attendance total exceeded one million. They were the only club outside Europe's five biggest leagues to reach that mark for home league matches. Rangers also passed one million, although their figure covered all competitions rather than Premiership fixtures alone. The two club totals therefore relate to different sets of matches.

The UEFA findings also highlighted the makeup of teams on the pitch. Just over two-thirds of Premiership playing minutes went to non-Scots, BBC Sport reported, against a European average of 47% for non-domestic players. Only Greece, Portugal and Turkey had a smaller share of locally trained talent than Scotland, while Norway, Spain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Sweden recorded figures above 60%.

That playing-time picture comes as the Scottish FA seeks changes aimed at increasing opportunities for young players. It has submitted proposals to boost their minutes, with SPFL clubs scheduled to vote in November.