Scottish Fitba'

[ger147]

At least the many thousands of Tartan Army foot soldiers who will invade Miami for the Brazil game near the end of June will feel right at home as Spanish is nearly as common as English in Miami.

Although they might struggle to find cafes with pictures of the food drawn on the menus and newsagents who stock the Dauly Record...

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Unfortunately money has just killed the league

The media rights issues they had for years , the lack of true talent coming through , Celtic dominating year in year out - all contributed to the league dropping

I lived near Aberdeen in the early 80’s when they were very strong

There were lots of really top quality Scottish players and world class ones

But it’s hard to see where the top class ones are now

 

[rudebhoy]

The Sun are tipping the Scotland manager to become the Celtic manager after the summer. Not sure I’d want that.

No thanks. His teams play some godawful football.

Can't see it myself.

 

[KenL]

No thanks. His teams play some godawful football.

Can't see it myself.

I agree.

 

[chico]

No thanks. His teams play some godawful football.

Can't see it myself.

I'd take the Motherwell manager if he keeps playing the way they are playing. I like his brand of football and think it would be a perfect match for Celtic.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I'd imagine if a few clubs in England had 300,000 seater stadiums, they could still fill them.

hmmmm I don't think so.

Hearts were sold out for all of their home games at the beginning of the season.
They have a nearly 20k seater stadium.
How many English clubs would envy that.

Mind you they once attracted a 55k crowd for a pre- season game at Murrayfield v Barcelona

 

[chico]

Yeah, but is that not just because the population of Scotland is low? And not sure how many clubs in Scotland that stat includes, would it be lower than other countries with many professional sides?

I'd imagine if a few clubs in England had 300,000 seater stadiums, they could still fill them.

Some of England's biggest clubs have built stadiums in recent years that are no bigger or in some cases smaller than Celtic. I'm thinking Arsenal Spurs and Everton. Celtic have 54000 season ticket holders with a waiting list. Probably if Celtic and Rangers played in the EPL they would need much bigger stadiums.

 

[Swango1980]

Some of England's biggest clubs have built stadiums in recent years that are no bigger or in some cases smaller than Celtic. I'm thinking Arsenal Spurs and Everton. Celtic have 54000 season ticket holders with a waiting list. Probably if Celtic and Rangers played in the EPL they would need much bigger stadiums.

I'm sure there would be at least two or three clubs that could sell 54,000 season ticket holders.

I'm no expert on the data. But Google AI tells me Man Utd have a waiting list of over 120,000 for season tickets, Spurs 90,000, Arsenal 110,000.

I'm not surprised Celtic and Rangers have big followings, given football has been big in the UK for over a century and Glasgow is the third biggest city in the UK. Thus, as a proportion of the entire population of Scotland, you are always going to get a much higher proportion of fans compared to total population in Scotland, when comparing to other countries. I mean half the country is the highlands, with a total population of 3 people and a goat.

 

[ger147]

No.1 in the EPL for season tickets is Man Utd on 52K, 2nd is Spurs on 45K. Liverpool limit their total available season tickets to just 27K, so their figures are due to a club policy decision rather than a lack of demand. I'm sure they could easily sell out their entire stadium to season ticket holers if they chose to.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Waiting lists are not to be trusted. Many clubs have found them to very out of date when they do an occasional purge.

Cracking point above by @ger147 about season tickets as well. It's very much down to club choice. Liverpool make more money from tourist packages, any season ticket that goes back disappears into that well.

What size stadium could Celtic and Rangers fill if they expanded? Could they both fill 70k or is 60-65k more realistic?

 

[chico]

Waiting lists are not to be trusted. Many clubs have found them to very out of date when they do an occasional purge.

Cracking point above by @ger147 about season tickets as well. It's very much down to club choice. Liverpool make more money from tourist packages, any season ticket that goes back disappears into that well.

What size stadium could Celtic and Rangers fill if they expanded? Could they both fill 70k or is 60-65k more realistic?

If they played in a different league, ie the EPL probably between 80 and 90000 would be adequate for Celtic or Rangers.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

If they played in a different league, ie the EPL probably between 80 and 90000 would be adequate for Celtic or Rangers.

A lot of teams could sell out huge stadiums but some Prem clubs with big stadiums play a lot of matches with empty seats

 

[Doon frae Troon]

A lot of teams could sell out huge stadiums but some Prem clubs with big stadiums play a lot of matches with empty seats

Which was my point in an earlier post re Hearts.

When I occasionally watch English football I note many empty seats other than the big 4 or 5 clubs.
Scottish clubs Rangers Celtic Hearts and Hibs have full crowds for nearly all games. The others struggle to fill their stadiums except when the previously mentioned 4 clubs fill up the empty seats.
IE Rangers/Celtic usually fill 3 stands at Livingston. Hearts away support is around 3-4000 strong.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Which was my point in an earlier post re Hearts.

When I occasionally watch English football I note many empty seats other than the big 4 or 5 clubs.
Scottish clubs Rangers Celtic Hearts and Hibs have full crowds for nearly all games. The others struggle to fill their stadiums except when the previously mentioned 4 clubs fill up the empty seats.
IE Rangers/Celtic usually fill 3 stands at Livingston. Hearts away support is around 3-4000 strong.

If you Google the percentage of seats filled in the PL it's high 90's across the board, year after year. There will be games that people can't attend but grounds are largely full.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

If you Google the percentage of seats filled in the PL it's high 90's across the board, year after year. There will be games that people can't attend but grounds are largely full.

As I said the top clubs are generally pretty full
Or the likes of Luton when they played in the EPL with a tiny ground [entry through a back garden if I remember correctly.]
When I watch an English Championship game I generally note plenty of vacant seats

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Which was my point in an earlier post re Hearts.

When I occasionally watch English football I note many empty seats other than the big 4 or 5 clubs.
Scottish clubs Rangers Celtic Hearts and Hibs have full crowds for nearly all games. The others struggle to fill their stadiums except when the previously mentioned 4 clubs fill up the empty seats.
IE Rangers/Celtic usually fill 3 stands at Livingston. Hearts away support is around 3-4000 strong.

When in the SPL many St Johnstone season ticket holders and regulars didn’t attend OF matches..couldn’t stand the hassle and bile.

Anyway…crowds in the Scottish Championshio are ok. StJ has 4500 vs Arbroath last weekend…maybe 500 Arbroath fans. In the previous away fixture StJ took over 2000 fans. The primary catchment area for StJ is Perth & Kinross - population 150,000 but over a huge area - and because of that many will support the OF. Perth itself has a pop of about 47500. Not huge.

Also teams such as Dunfermline and Raith can attract decent crowds as they are in quite big towns with strong identities.

However key to the health of Scottish football outside of the OF and Edinburgh is that most clubs try and live within their means - limited as they are. That brings with it very different expectations of the fans in respect of recruitment. Success is always being sought, but not at no expense spared.

 

[KenL]

Interesting stats seen online.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Interesting stats seen online.
View attachment 60586

I think this proves what a bunch of dirty hackers Rangers are.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Whatever! As a South coast neutral, I enjoyed the OF recent match.
I prefer the way Scottish play, rather than the tippy-tappy sideways rubbish now prevalent in the premier league.
It seems to me that those most enthusiastic about premier league are those to whom their team winning is the most important aspect.
Play crap and win , and everything’s ok!
No thanks…..not for this old dinosaur, who was spoiled watching the likes of Charlton, Best, Moore, Rodney Marsh. etc.
Proof I’m right.? Listen to premier league commentators. Most of the time they are having a chat about football, not talking about who is doing what on the pitch.
Cos there ain’t anything happening worth talking about

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Whatever! As a South coast neutral, I enjoyed the OF recent match.
I prefer the way Scottish play, rather than the tippy-tappy sideways rubbish now prevalent in the premier league.
It seems to me that those most enthusiastic about premier league are those to whom their team winning is the most important aspect.
Play crap and win , and everything’s ok!
No thanks…..not for this old dinosaur, who was spoiled watching the likes of Charlton, Best, Moore, Rodney Marsh. etc.
Proof I’m right.? Listen to premier league commentators. Most of the time they are having a chat about football, not talking about who is doing what on the pitch.
Cos there ain’t anything happening worth talking about

The EPL is desperately in need of the influence of Blood and Snotters Fitba
Far to much Chuckle Brothers to you to me namby pamby stuff