How Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs crowds helped set 'unimagineable' record

A record number of spectators watched women’s football in Scotland last season in figures that were only recently “unimaginable”.

A total of 106,781 fans went to an SWPL, SWPL 2, or Sky Sports Cup game last season, the highest figure in a single campaign.

The domestic record attendance was broken on three occasions. It was first set at Easter Road in November 2022, with 8,066 watching Hibernian versus Edinburgh rivals Hearts, before Celtic Park hosted 9,553 fans for the visit of Glasgow City in May.

Celtic broke the record again on the final day of the season, with 15,822 watching their 2-0 win over Hearts. A record crowd was also at the Sky Sports Cup final, with 3,727 watching Rangers v Hibs at Tynecastle in December 2022.

A Celtic fans display during a Scottish Women's Premier League match against Hearts at Celtic Park on May 21 which attracted a record 15,822 attendance. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

Fiona McIntyre, managing director of the Scottish Women’s Premier League, said: “We are delighted to confirm a record-breaking season for spectators attending across our competitions.

“The idea of having over 100,000 people in one season watching the women’s game was unimaginable only a few seasons ago, so these numbers are a testament to the growth of the game and the work of our clubs.

“These figures illustrate the increasing awareness and appetite for women’s football in Scotland and I hope we can continue to see attendances increase season after season.

“The women’s game is affordable, family friendly, competitive and provides an opportunity to watch top-level, elite athletes across communities in Scotland.

“Playing inside main club stadiums also helps, there’s no doubt about that and this is best illustrated in the matches where we saw attendance records broken last season.

“We hope this is something that can become more common in Scotland and as a league, we can support this where possible.”

A number of clubs also set record, club attendances including Hearts at Tynecastle Park and Rangers at Ibrox. Montrose also recorded the highest SWPL 2 attendance of the season for their trophy presentation at Links Park.

The 2023/24 ScottishPower Women’s Premier League (SPWPL) and ScottishPower WPL 2 get under way on Sunday, August 13 and conclude on May 19.