By Barry Anderson

Copyright scotsman

Record supporter numbers have helped the Scottish Premiership top Europe’s attendance list for the third year in succession. The SPFL’s top flight welcomed a total of 5,336,353 people through turnstiles last season, the highest per capital across European football. UEFA’s latest report shows the Scottish league thriving as attendances rose five per cent from season 2023/24. The 2024/25 campaign saw 18.5 fans per 1000 people at grounds across the country. That attendance per capita is more than 70 per cent higher than any other league in Europe. Portugal’s Primeira Liga is in second place with 10.7 fans per 1000 people inside stadiums. The latest figures are the highest in the SPFL era and a rise of nearly 185,000 in total compared to the record set in 2023/24. It is evidence that, despite criticism of its structure, the Premiership is hugely popular among fans as they continue to back their teams. Hearts and Hibs both contributed to the rise as supporters continued to turn out in numbers at Tynecastle Park and Easter Road. Hearts’ average league crowd last term was 18,606 as they finished a disappointing seventh, while Hibs’ came in at 17,110 following a surge to third place. With healthy attendances at Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and other top-flight clubs, the Premiership took top spot in UEFA’s Club Talent and Competition Landscape report. It can be viewed in full here: UEFA Club Talent and Competition Landscape Hearts are aiming to improve on last season’s campaign significantly and have made a strong start to the new Premiership season under head coach Derek McInnes. They beat Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox on Saturday – their first victory at that venue since 2014 – and sit joint-top with Celtic on 13 points after five rounds of matches. Hibs are in third place on six points, with both Edinburgh clubs unbeaten in the Premiership so far. Hearts now have two weeks until their next fixture, which comes at Tynecastle against Falkirk. They are not in action this weekend as the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals take place. Hibs travel to Rangers looking to further increase pressure on the Ibrox manager Russell Martin, who endured chants demanding his removal from home fans during Saturday’s loss against Hearts. McInnes admitted empathy with Martin’s predicament as Rangers fans left their manager in no doubt that they want him sacked. “More than a bit of empathy, a lot,” said McInnes after Saturday’s game. “I didn’t like that today. It’s so unfair on the manager there. I don’t like it at all. He is a fine man, he’s a fine manager. Especially clubs this size, when results don’t always come, it’s more than just the manager for me. That’s tough on him. It’s early on in the season. “He’s a new manager like myself at Hearts. If we were still sitting towards the bottom end of the table and integrating loads of players and trying to implement what we want to do, you’d be asking for that sort of understanding. As managers, that’s all we ask for. He’s a fine manager, as I said, and I didn’t enjoy that part of it at all. I enjoyed my team, but it was hard not to ignore that. It was hard not to have empathy.” READ MORE: Exclusive inside story of Rangers 0-2 Hearts – the couch plan and the stirring team talk