SPFL away tickets cost up to £34 as fans demand a cap the league refuses to discuss
An adult Kilmarnock supporter heading to Ibrox this Saturday will be asked to hand over £34 to watch their team. Hibernian fans eager to be at their new manager's debut match at Tannadice will have to part with £30. Dundee punters at Falkirk face a £28 bill, as do St Mirren followers at Tynecastle — all before travel, food and the rest of a day at the football are factored in.
Those figures come from a BBC Scotland survey that asked all 42 SPFL clubs how much they charge visiting supporters, and they have reignited the question that stalks every away end: how much is too much for a match ticket?
The price of following your team
The entry fee drops further down the SPFL pyramid, but not dramatically. Morton fans could still pay £24 at Arbroath in the Championship, Hamilton supporters £21 at Alloa in League 1, and Kelty Hearts followers £18 at Stirling Albion in League 2.
Within each of the four divisions, adult ticket prices are broadly similar between clubs. The greater variation comes among concession prices, with many clubs offering free child entry with a paying adult among other deals — promotions not captured by the survey's price ranges, which reflect only individually-bought tickets. The actual figure any supporter pays changes based on the opponent, the location in the stadium and whether the ticket is bought in advance.
The SPFL regularly trumpets the fact that Scotland's top flight is the best attended in Europe per head of population. But does the rising cost of going to games put that status at risk?
'Bleeding themselves dry': what the fans say
The frustration among supporters is emphatic — and the calls for a ceiling near-universal.
"I'd like to see an away ticket cap," said Aberdeen fan Glen Schreuder. "One of the reasons I don't do much away travel anymore is because it is becoming unaffordable with the rise in not just ticket prices but general prices."
Dundee supporter Ethan Hampton fears for the very culture of the away day: "I really like how there is an away-day culture in British football. You want it to stay intact, but how much more can you ask of supporters when they are bleeding themselves dry to follow their team? In England, they can maybe take the hit on ticket prices, but Scotland is not the same."
Dundee United fan Paul McNicoll did not mince his words: "The cost of away tickets is borderline scandalous — some of the venues are a lot higher than others. It would be good if there was a standard price, but it feels like we are miles away from that."
The appetite for a specific limit is strong. Rangers fan Jamie Currie, who travels home and away, said: "I find away pricing vastly overpriced given the product. It should be capped at £20, but it's the biggest earner for clubs, so it's a catch 22." Kilmarnock's Sandy Armour suggested the same figure, adding: "Maybe you could get six or seven clubs — the non-city clubs, shall we say — together and say 'how about we have an agreement between us?'" St Mirren's Mark Jardine said he finds himself "siding more probably with the Twenty's Plenty, £25 cap side of things".
Not everyone is convinced a cap is workable. Hearts fan Greg Playfair warned: "If you cap away prices, home supporters will say 'hold on, why is that supporter paying less than me?'. It is a tricky one." Hibernian's Matty Fairnie was blunt about club motives: "Some clubs try and keep the price down, but I think others just see the fans as a commodity to milk. Gate receipts are a huge part of the income for Scottish clubs, so they would almost be turkeys voting for Christmas."
Celtic supporter Paddy Loughran called for collective action — "Fans should be in unison in trying to put this argument to the league... making sure we are holding the right people accountable" — while Falkirk's Grant Heaney acknowledged both sides: "Away ticket prices are excessive... everything is going up in price and clubs are obviously affected by that as well." St Johnstone's Sam Miller suggested fans might be more understanding "if it was made clearer" what clubs need to run on a day-to-day basis.
The English precedent: a £30 cap that worked
Supporters calling for a price limit in Scotland do not have to look far to see one in operation. A £30 cap on away tickets has been in place in the English Premier League for the last decade and, in March, clubs voted unanimously to keep it in place for another two seasons.
It was introduced amid a recognition that ticket prices had become too high and that away fans were "essential for match atmosphere", according to the league. Since its introduction in 2016, away attendances have increased from 82% to 91%.
Michael Brunskill of the Football Supporters' Association told BBC Scotland there was initially some grumbling from home fans, who sometimes had to pay more, but that the mood soon changed.
"The money clubs lost is minimal and the reason the Premier League engaged is that executives understood the arguments we were making," he said. "They came to the conclusion that marginally lower prices means full away ends. That means stadiums look fantastic on TV and more pies and pints sold as well, so it all added up."
Why no cap in Scotland — for now
The harsh answer for Scottish supporters is that a cap on away ticket prices is not on the SPFL's agenda and has not been discussed by the clubs any time recently.
Comparisons with England perhaps fall down when you consider that Scottish clubs are far more reliant on matchday revenue, given their smaller broadcasting deals. Furthermore, despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures, attendances in Scotland are continuing to rise — so clubs will likely be reluctant to introduce a measure which, initially at least, could lead to a drop in income.
The issue has attracted political interest, with the Scottish Greens calling for a £25 cap prior to the Holyrood election in May. But while a cap does not exist, those in power might point out there is already a safeguard in place: the SPFL prevents clubs from charging visiting supporters more than home fans pay for equivalent seating.
A number of clubs also offer various concessions and offers, and away fans can attend games at various levels of the SPFL for less than £25.
The debate in Scotland also mirrors a wider squeeze across UK sport. Earlier BBC reporting this month highlighted how Ashes day tickets have risen to £115 and Silverstone's Grand Prix Sunday general admission to £289, up from £189 in 2021 — evidence that the cost of live sport is climbing across the board.
The harsh reality, as the survey concludes, is that the cost of everything seems to be going up at the moment — and perhaps any campaign for a cap will only gain real traction when fans stop going.
What away tickets cost this weekend
- Rangers v Kilmarnock (Ibrox, Premiership): £34
- Dundee United v Hibernian (Tannadice, Premiership): £30
- Falkirk v Dundee (Premiership): £28
- Hearts v St Mirren (Tynecastle, Premiership): £28
- Arbroath v Morton (Championship): £24
- Alloa v Hamilton (League 1): £21
- Stirling Albion v Kelty Hearts (League 2): £18
The bottom line
The numbers tell one story, the fans another, and the league a third. Away tickets of £34 at Ibrox, £30 at Tannadice and £28 at Tynecastle and Falkirk sit at the sharp end of a pricing landscape that stretches down to £18 in League 2. England's £30 cap — kept unanimously in March and credited with pushing away attendances from 82% to 91% — shows what is possible. Scotland's smaller broadcasting deals, heavier matchday reliance and still-rising crowds explain why, for now, the SPFL is choosing not to follow.
Have your say: should the SPFL cap away ticket prices?