Want the latest Scottish sport news sent straight to your inbox? Join thousands of others who have signed up to our Record Sport newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

They're becoming as important a part of the big match build-up as booming music and hot dog stalls.

But just how do supporters organise the stunning 'tifo' displays that have graced grounds across world football - and no more so than in Scotland in recent years?

Celtic fans have produced countless displays recently in honour of their Treble heroes and the 50th anniversary of the Lisbon Lions triumph.

(Image: SNS)

Aberdeen 's cup final tifos in the past three years have been no less breathtaking and Rangers too have come up with some of the best displays seen in football.

Tifo by very definition is the Italian word for a group of supporters or the act of supporting your team. Displays of the same name have their roots in Italian football and emerged in the 60s and 70s in tandem with the rise of the ultras culture.

But these explosions of colour don't just happen overnight. No, they take months of organisation - and THOUSANDS of pounds.

Then there's the laying out of the cards/flags on the stadium seats ahead of the match - how on earth do you co-ordinate that?

(Image: SNS Group)

Record Sport Online did some digging with tifo experts to find out just that.

Planning and cost

Big displays for cup finals, European nights and other huge matches can take months of preparation.

The cost of sourcing materials can often run into FIVE FIGURES too - with some supporters of Scottish clubs raising sums up to £15,000 to fund their shows of colour.

Smaller displays can be financed for under £1000 but generally decent tifos cost between £2000 and £5000.

Card and foil are the normal materials used - with the bigger displays using between 20,000 and 30,000 pieces. Some foreign clubs have been known to use bibs too so that the display lasts for the entire match.

How to lay out

Supporters groups generally request access to the ground a day before the match so as to have plenty of time to lay out their designs. But it has been known for thousands of pieces of card to have to be set out on the morning of a match.

Computer programmes can help sketch a design but a good eye for detail and natural choreography skills are definite requirements to get a successful tifo with no blips.

Some of the biggest displays - such as Aberdeen's 2014 League Cup Final tifo - have been sketched out using tape to signal where the colour schemes start and finish.

The organiser's view

(Image: SNS Group)

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Aberdeen fan Stephen McCormick was behind some of the first displays to fill Scottish grounds back in the early 1990s and continued right up to the League Cup Final tifo last year which cost £12,000.

He said: "There is no real secret to it - so long as you know your terrace.

"Getting a stadium plan early is important and then you just work from there. Hampden actually lends itself very well to tifos as it is so expansive.

"Sometimes people try to be too clever and it backfires but we always played it safe.

(Image: Jeff Holmes/PA Wire)

"We would have regular contact with the guys doing it at Celtic and Rangers and it became a friendly competition to see if we could outdo each other. All we look to do is add some colour to our terraces.

"I've friends in Italy who have organised the incredible displays at Sampdoria and the San Siro and it can be far more difficult for them as they are in stadiums where the seats have no backs.

"So long as you have a good bunch of lads helping you and have planned ahead then you can create something spectacular quite easily."