Price of Football 2017: Prices rise in three of four Scottish leagues

The most expensive single matchday ticket is £49 for Celtic and Rangers fans both home and away at Old Firm games

Average season ticket prices have risen in three of the four divisions in Scottish football for 2017-18, the BBC's Price of Football study has found.

The cheapest and most expensive season ticket prices are, on average, up in every league except the Championship, where both have fallen.

Lowest home and away matchday ticket averages have also increased in the top three divisions, but both categories have decreased in League Two.

However, across all 42 clubs in Scotland, 63.5% of tickets in six price categories have been frozen or cut.

Now in its seventh year, the BBC Sport study requested information from 232 clubs across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Europe - a wider spectrum than in any previous year.

The study looked at cheapest and dearest home matchday tickets, cheapest and dearest away tickets, cheapest and dearest season tickets - as well as pies, teas, programmes and junior and adult shirt prices.

For the first time, clubs were also asked to provide information on whether they offer special ticket prices for young adult fans aged between 16-24.

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In the Scottish Premiership, the average cost in all 11 pricing areas has risen, after most fell between 2015 and 2016.

The average cheapest season ticket is now £302.42, up from £293.83 in 2016, with seven clubs raising their prices in this category and only Ross County lowering theirs.

Lowest home matchday tickets are slightly up, on average, for the second year running - from £21.25 to £21.90 - as is the average cheapest away ticket, rising from £21.58 to £22.83.

The average adult and junior home shirt prices have increased by £2 and £1.50, taking them to £46.58 and £36.25 respectively.

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Other findings in the Scottish Premiership:

• The cheapest season ticket is £180 at Hamilton while Rangers has the most expensive season ticket in the top flight at £660.

• Rangers also sell the most expensive adult shirt (£54.99), with Celtic and Aberdeen selling the most expensive junior shirt (£40).

• The lowest single matchday ticket is £19, available to both Hearts and Motherwall fans, while Tynecastle is the cheapest for away fans, with a £19 ticket on offer.

• The most expensive single matchday ticket is £49 for Celtic and Rangers fans both home and away at Old Firm games.

In the Championship, 33 of 60 ticket price categories have increased for this season - the only league in men's football across England and Scotland to see more rises than freezes and cuts.

Despite this, the average cheapest season ticket is down, from £253 to £248.70.

Relegated side Inverness Caledonian Thistle reduced all six ticket price categories, while Dundee United, Queen of the South and St Mirren froze all theirs.

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Other key findings in the Championship:

• Dundee United has the dearest season ticket at £440 - the same as last season but more expensive than every side in the Premiership except Celtic, Hearts and Rangers.

• The Terrors also offer the highest single home ticket at £25, although most fans pay £20 at Tannadice.

• Brechin City offer the lowest single matchday ticket at £15 and also the lowest away ticket, at the same price.

• The cheapest pie will set you back £1.70 at Queen of the South, with the most expensive available for £2.30 at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

In League One, seven clubs either froze or cut their cheapest and dearest season, home and away tickets, resulting in 44 of 60 ticket price categories staying the same or coming down this year.

However, there was a 12% rise in the average cheapest season ticket across the league - from £182.20 to £204 - with six sides offering a ticket costing £200 or more, compared to one last season.

This is explained by price rises at Arbroath (£180 to £200), East Fife (£162 to £220) and Queen's Park (£160 to £200), while relegated sides Ayr United (£220) and Raith Rovers (£230) are both above league average, although they have frozen and reduced their cheapest season ticket respectively.

Other key findings in League One:

• Albion Rovers and Forfar Athletic offer the cheapest season ticket at £180, Raith Rovers sell the most expensive at £270.

• Forfar Athletic offer a cup of tea for 85p but a 5p rise means they are no longer the cheapest in the entire study - Oxford United Women offering a brew for 80p.

• Ayr United sell the most expensive adult and junior shirts at £49.99 and £39.99 respectively - dearer than all Premiership sides except Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers.

League Two is the only Scottish division to see a fall in the average cheapest home matchday ticket - from £12.30 to £11.70 - while there is a 8.9% fall in the average price of a cheapest away ticket, from £12.30 to £11.20 - and 50 of 60 ticket price categories are frozen or down.

Edinburgh City sell the cheapest pie in the entire Price of Football study, at just £1.

At £6, they also offer the joint-lowest single home ticket in men's football across the United Kingdom, together with Bala Town and Cardiff Metropolitan University in the Welsh Premier League.

Other key findings in League Two:

• Annan Athletic offer the cheapest season ticket at £120.

• Montrose sell the dearest season ticket, which at £340 is more expensive than six clubs in the Championship.

• Peterhead has the most expensive adult and junior shirts at £49 and £39 respectively.