Price of Football: Scottish Premiership sees ticket prices fall

Around 75% of tickets analysed in Scotland have stayed the same or fallen in price

Three-quarters of tickets across Scotland's top four leagues have fallen or remained the same compared with a year ago, a BBC study has learned.

The Price of Football, the largest study of its type in Europe, analysed 164 ticket prices to find 41 rising.

The cheapest adult match-day tickets available in the Premiership fell to an average cost of £20.17, from £20.42.

That is less than in the top three English leagues and the SPFL say attendances are up 4.3% this season.

The BBC Sport's Price of Football study gathers data from 227 clubs in 13 leagues across the UK to find prices on match tickets, away tickets, season tickets, replica shirts, pies, cups of tea and even match programmes.

Click here to play with the Price of Football calculator and see what your support is costing you.

Season ticket prices are rising across Scotland's four divisions, with 15 of the 42 clubs increasing either their cheapest or most expensive season pass price this summer.

The study found the average prices of tickets, replica shirts, tea, pies and match programmes in all four Scottish leagues are lower than in England.

SPFL chief-executive Neil Doncaster said the BBC's findings show clubs "continue to invest significant time, money and effort in making the game as affordable and attractive as possible to fans".

Premiership match days nearly £30 cheaper than England...

Hearts raised the price of their cheapest and dearest season and match-day tickets this summer after being promoted from the Championship.

Along with Celtic, they are the only clubs in the top tier that offer match-day tickets for more than £30 - albeit for their biggest fixtures.

But even the most expensive match-day tickets in the Scottish Premiership come in at an average of £26.75, nearly £30 cheaper than the same category in the English Premier League.

Annan Athletic and Elgin City in League Two are the places to head if you are on a budget, with entry available for £10 - nowhere can you watch men's football cheaper in the top four leagues in England and Scotland.

Are season ticket prices a worry?

Eleven of the 24 season ticket prices BBC Sport gathered from the Premiership went up year on year - and the price increase in those cases averaged £30.

The cheapest season ticket in the league now costs £299.75 on average, while the dearest reached £403.67, a rise of 4.7%.

But it is through season tickets that many clubs do their best to attract young fans and both Hamilton Academical and Inverness Caledonian Thistle offer free entry for two children with any adult season ticket purchase.

As many as 26 of the 42 Scottish clubs offered a reduction for buying your season pass early.

And, if you really want to save money, Annan (£120) and Queen's Park (£140) offer season tickets at what works out at £6.66 and £7.77 a game respectively.

Eat, drink and count the pennies...

Football fans north of the border should smile because the likelihood is either the tea or pie you consume at your club's ground will be cheaper this season.

The average price of a pie fell by nearly 5% to £1.86 in the Championship and 1.61% to £2.04 in the Premiership. If pastry isn't your thing, tea fell by more than 6% in both of the two lower leagues.

At £2.50, Rangers have the most expensive cuppa, while Elgin's 60p offering is the lowest we found across the UK.

But it's not all good news as replica shirt prices rose across the leagues, most notably by 3.8% in the Premiership. The average shirt in the top flight now costs £44.73, just under £5 cheaper than in England's Premier League.

Watch the Bhoys and feel the noise...

Hibernian and St Mirren gave away 5,000 and 3,000 tickets respectively last season in their drive to work with local schools, clubs and communities to engage supporters.

At Premiership level, season ticket purchases can throw up quirky deals, with Celtic offering a free night at Glasgow Tigers speedway. Dundee, meanwhile, build discounts on haircuts into their season pass price.

You can download the full results for 2015 here (pdf 536 KB).