By Andrea McCallum
HOSPITAL admissions rocket when Scotland’s football teams suffer defeat, according to new figures.
An investigation linking Saturday scores and casualty queues has proven that hospital visits increase when Premier League teams do badly.
The figures reflect hospital admissions in two-team city hospitals like Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee – and show that in one-team city Aberdeen the trend is reversed.
Admissions to A&E units on Saturdays at Scotland’s hospitals were compared to club results over a year.
And more patients turned up when Rangers, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hearts and Hibs lost – but fell by up to a quarter as results improved.
Dr Rogan Taylor, football history professor at Liverpool University, said: “Football is a socially acceptable form of hatred.
“In cities with two teams it tends to hurt a little bit more when your side loses.
“So maybe fans in these places are more likely to drown their sorrows and end up in the A&E unit at the end of the night.”
Attendances at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital – averaged over the season – were seven per cent higher when the city’s two clubs got no points compared to when they won their game.
And at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary the difference was nearly six per cent with Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary showing a 1.3 per cent change.
Tom Harris, from Bonnyrigg Hearts Supporters Club, said: “Without a doubt football has the power to affect people’s moods.
“There are certainly things which go on in the city centre after a match which would send the numbers up.”
The only city to buck the trend was one-team city Aberdeen.
Ullevi Supporters Club chief Duncan Ross said: “When the team wins, the place is jumping because everyone’s happy for the same reason.
“But when the game doesn’t go our way, Aberdeen can be quiet on a Saturday because people just tend to go home.”
