Rangers Attendance Numbers Outshine Scottish Premier League Once Again

Less than an hour before kickoff, a queue stretched the entire length of the imposing Ibrox Stadium as loyal fans desperately tried to get last minute tickets for Rangers' league clash with Third Division-title rivals Elgin City.

46,015 people crammed into the stadium to watch Rangers’ emphatic 5-1 win after a domineering performance from the Glaswegian giants. This was the second highest attendance in the United Kingdom (and the highest in Scotland)—hundreds more than their bitter enemies Celtic brought to Celtic Park for their 2-2 draw with Edinburgh side Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.

This sounds like an absurd statistic to many: A team in the fourth tier of Scottish football competing with part timers luring a higher attendance than English champions Manchester City. But for Rangers, this is standard procedure.

Overshadowing the rest of Scottish football is second nature to both Rangers and Celtic. However, after Rangers’ relegation to the basement of Scottish football in the Third Division, this has become more apparent than ever. The club’s lowest home attendance this season was just under 30,000; a figure 90 percent of the SPL can only dream of.

Rangers even broke another world record at their game with East Stirling on August 18 as a remarkable crowd of 49,118 flocked to Govan. This particular attendance was truly spectacular as it was more than the total combined attendance of every other game in Scottish football that weekend.

For any other club in Scotland, this would be unthinkable. At Ibrox, this is to be expected.