In numbers: The cost of being a Scottish football fan

What is the best value Scottish club in the Premiership and Championship?

This year’s report found that the average prices of Scottish tickets, replica football shirts, match programmes, tea and even pies this season are all lower than those of their English counterparts.

Adult match day ticket averages also fell slightly, from £20.42 to £20.17. Season ticket averages for just under half (11) of the 24 teams the BBC surveyed increased by an average of £30. Currently, the cheapest average season ticket price in the SPFL is £299.75, with the most expensive sitting at £403.67.

Freshly-promoted Hearts now feature match-day tickets that are more than £30 for the club’s biggest fixtures, along with current champions Celtic.

In addition, top-flight twosome Inverness Caley Thistle and Hamilton Academicals are the only teams in their league to offer free entry for two children when an adult season ticket is bought.

Prices for football-related goods and services vary for fans in both leagues. Championship side Rangers, for example, ask the most for their cup of tea at £2.50, while those who want to wear a Scottish Premiership team’s colours will have to pay on average £44.73 - a rise of 3.8 per cent - for their team’s shirt. The price gulf between the Premiership and the Championship does not end with the players, as average pie prices between the two are 18p higher in the Prem at £2.04.

Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the SPFL told the BBC: “With around 75 per cent of tickets either frozen or falling year-on-year, this has helped the current season get off to a strong start with attendances showing a 4.3 per cent increase so far when measured against the whole of last season.

“The ground-breaking and positive changes that clubs signed up to in 2013 appear to be well received by fans and may well be reflected in this increase.”

You can find out the cost of supporting your team by using the BBC’s Price of Football calculator, which covers 227 clubs from 13 leagues across the UK. Here’s The Scotsman’s roundup of the cost involved in supporting any of the 22 teams in both the Scottish Professional Football League and the Championship.

Most fans of teams in the SCOTTISH PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE pay between £21 and £30 for their match day ticket.

ABERDEEN

The Dons’ precarious spot at the top of the Scottish Professional Football League has seen an increase in the number of fans visiting Pittodrie, bolstering their success in the Scottish League Cup two years ago.

Cheapest match day ticket: £21. Most expensive: £28.

Cheapest season ticket: £298. Most expensive: £425.

CELTIC

As one of Scotland’s most internationally-recognised clubs, Celtic supporters pay the highest values in the league for their cheapest and most expensive match day tickets.

Cheapest match day ticket: £23. Most expensive: £34.

Cheapest season ticket: £337. Most expensive: £559.

DUNDEE

The Dark Blues post a mixed-bag of average costs, However Dens Park features most expensive match day ticket that is 7 per cent higher than the average.

Cheapest match day ticket: £22. Most expensive: £25.

Cheapest season ticket: £340. Most expensive: £385.

DUNDEE UNITED

The sixth-placed Terrors offer prices at Tannadice that are below or level with the national average, as only the club’s most expensive season ticket is above the average.

Cheapest match day ticket: £19. Most expensive: £25.

Cheapest season ticket: £299. Most expensive: £440.

HAMILTON

No longer one of the minnows of Scottish football, the Accies are currently sitting fourth in the Premiership. They’re the only club in this list to feature both types of match and season tickets at the same price.

Match day ticket: £22.

Cheapest and most expensive season tickets: £350.

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN

With the most expensive match day and season tickets being approximately 20 per cent over the league average, Jambos need to dig a little deeper into their pockets than the average fan.

Cheapest match day ticket: £18. Most expensive: £32.

Cheapest season ticket: £280. Most expensive: £480.

INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE

Caley offer the lowest match day and season ticket prices in the league. Fans of the Caley Jags have not been amply rewarded so far, with their team currently holding eighth spot in the top flight.

Cheapest match day ticket: £16. Most expensive: £30.

Cheapest season ticket: £200. Most expensive: £380.

KILMARNOCK

Trailing by two places to Caley Thistle is Killie, who feature a gap of only £50 between their cheapest and most expensive season ticket prices.

Cheapest match day ticket: £18. Most expensive: £24.

Cheapest season ticket: £280. Most expensive: £330.

MOTHERWELL

Splitting the two aforementioned clubs in the league standings are the Steelmen, who feature some of the cheapest match day tickets in the league.

Cheapest match day ticket: £19. Most expensive: £27.

Cheapest season ticket: £295. Most expensive: £420.

PARTICK THISTLE

The Jags have - asides from a very distinctive mascot - a fixed price for all match day and season tickets.

Match day ticket: £22.

Cheapest season ticket: £350

ROSS COUNTY

With 15 points to their name, The Staggies are sitting in fifth position before this weekend’s fixtures and do not have any prices above the league average.

Cheapest match day ticket: £20. Most expensive: £26.

Cheapest season ticket: £300. Most expensive: £360.

ST JOHNSTONE

A visit to McDiarmid Park comes in at the more affordable end of the spectrum, with a seat in the 10,696 person capacity stadium starting at £22.

Cheapest match day ticket: £22. Most expensive: £26.

Cheapest season ticket: £310. Most expensive: £375.

The majority of fans in the SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP pay £11-20 for their ticket on match day.

ALLOA ATHLETIC

Fans of The Wasps enjoy the cheapest season tickets of all Championship teams, with only a £32 total difference in pricing between the cheapest and most expensive match day and season tickets.

Cheapest match day ticket: £16. Most expensive: £18.

Cheapest season ticket: £190. Most expensive: £220.

DUNMBARTON

Fans visiting home ground The Cheaper Insurance Direct stadium have a selection of closely-priced tickets to choose from. The Sons currently sit seventh in the league so far.

Cheapest match day ticket: £18. Most expensive: £20.

Cheapest season ticket: £235. Most expensive: £250.

FALKIRK

Fourth-placed Falkirk have a difference of only £1 between their cheapest and most expensive match day tickets.

Cheapest match day ticket: £18. Most expensive: £19.

Cheapest season ticket: £225. Most expensive: £325.

HIBERNIAN

The declining fortunes of Hibs have not translated into their ticket prices, with the club’s cheapest match day and season ticket prices the highest in the league.

Cheapest match day ticket: £22. Most expensive: £28.

Cheapest season ticket: £335. Most expensive: £380.

LIVINGSTON

Livi ask for £220 regardless of the season ticket purchased.

Cheapest match day ticket: £15. Most expensive: £20.

Season ticket: £220.

GRENNOCK MORTON

Sixth-placed Morton have the same price for their match day tickets, with their most expensive season ticket 11 per cent below the Championship’s average.

Match day tickets: £17.

Cheapest season ticket: £230. Most expensive: £270.

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH

After netting a 1-0 victory over Morton earlier in the week, The Doonhamers have one of the simplest pricing systems in the current league setup, with their most expensive match day ticket the lowest in the league.

Match day tickets: £16.

Season tickets: £256.

RAITH ROVERS

With the Rovers in second place, their match day and most expensive tickets are some of the most affordable in the BBC’s study.

Cheapest match day ticket: £18. Most expensive: £20.

Cheapest season ticket: £200. Most expensive: £250.

RANGERS

Pipping Raith to the top spot are The Gers, with their most expensive match day ticket the highest average of any team in their category.

Cheapest match day ticket: £18. Most expensive: £33.

Cheapest season ticket: £263. Most expensive: £524.

ST MIRREN

The Buddies feature season tickets that come in at approximately 14 per cent above the Championship average.

Cheapest match day ticket: £20. Most expensive: £22.

Cheapest season ticket: £275. Most expensive: £350.