SPFL attendances for opening weekend: Celtic and Hibs amongst biggest crowds in Scotland

There were some eye-catching attendances posted by the likes of Celtic, Hibs and Arbroath as league action returned across Scotland.

By Mark Carruthers

Published 7th Aug 2023, 17:21 BST

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The new season is underway and there were some remarkable attendances posted across all four tiers of the Scottish game as clubs made their long-awaited return to competitive league action.

It is rather unsurprising to find Celtic marked the start of their Premiership title defence by posting the highest attendance across the country as over 58,000 witnessed a David Turnbull brace and a goal apiece from Kyogo Furuhashi and Matt O’Riley helped Brendan Rodgers’ side to a 4-2 win against Ross County.

Hibs were the best of the rest as 17,586 supporters made their way to Easter Road to see Lee Johnson’s men fall to a defeat by the odd goal in five against St Mirren on Sunday. Rangers also got off to a losing start as a crowd of 9, 256 were on hand as a second-half goal from Bradley Lyons gave Kilmarnock a narrow home win against last season’s runners-up.

The biggest attendance outside of the top tier came on Friday night as Dundee United’s Championship opener at Arbroath attracted a crowd of 5,558. Falkirk topped the table in League One with over 4,000 supporters witnessing their 3-0 home win against Annan Athletic and League Two new boys Spartans posted an impressive 627 for their debut draw against Clyde.

Attendances across the Premiership, Championship, League One and League Two

21. Stenhousemuir v Forfar Athletic - 402

20. East Fife v Peterhead - 542

19. Montrose v Kelty Hearts - 565

18. Bonnyrigg Rose v Dumbarton - 682

17. Elgin City v Stranraer - 686

16. The Spartans v Clyde - 627

15. Stirling Albion v Edinburgh City - 806

14. Hamilton Academical v Cove Rangers - 1,087

13. Queen of the South v Alloa Athletic - 1,135

12. Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Queen’s Park - 2,030

11. Falkirk v Annan Athletic - 4,056

10. Partick Thistle v Raith Rovers - 3,468

9. Greenock Morton v Ayr United - 2,512

8. Dunfermline Athletic v Airdrieonians - 4,977

7. Arbroath v Dundee United - 5,558

6. Livingston v Aberdeen - 5,630

5. Dundee v Motherwell - 6,391

4. St Johnstone v Hearts - 6,818

3. Kilmarnock v Rangers - 9,256

2. Hibs v St Mirren - 17,586

1: Celtic v Ross County - 58,772

Ross County Hibs Kilmarnock

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