Fans stay loyal to national team

DESPITE Scotland’s seventh consecutive failure to qualify for the finals of a major competition, interest in the national team remains remarkably high.

Up to 10,000 fans travelled to Spain for this week’s final group match in Euro 2012, and Scotland‘s average home attendance of 42,764 was the sixth highest in the competition.

Only England with an average of 80,793, France (71,000), Germany (51,054), Austria (46,433) and Holland (43,925) had higher average crowds.

Scotland’s audience beat the likes of Spain, Russia, Ireland, Denmark, Turkey, Italy and Sweden.