Player trading, Europe & stability – how Celtic have built lasting domination

In truth, successful player trading and increased participation in the Champions League have fundamentally contributed to Celtic becoming financially untouchable in Scottish football in recent years.

The club has become a well-oiled machine, churning out trophies for their fans and profits for their shareholders. In only two of the past 14 seasons have Celtic posted a loss – and one of those was during a global pandemic.

Compare that to Rangers, who last achieved post-tax profit in season 2012-2013. The Parkhead club’s latest figures showed a turnover of £124.5m, more than £40m more than their closest rivals and a whopping £108m more than third-placed Hibernian.

During Celtic’s years of footballing domination, they have made a combined profit of £112m. In stark contrast, Rangers posted a combined loss of £132m.

Football finance expert Kieran McGuire, from Priceoffootball.com, thinks their figures and business model will be envied by many.

“If you contrast it to clubs in England, in season 23-24, 19 of the 20 clubs lost money,” Maguire said.

“The only club to have made a profit is West Ham, who have a stadium that is being subsidised by the local taxpayer.

“They have had relatively modest wage bills, certainly in comparison to south of the border, but the wages compared to the rest of Scottish football are normally in the region of 10 times the likes of St Mirren, Ross County and St Johnstone – and probably four times that of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen.”

Despite this, Celtic fans have for many years called for more investment from the profits made – something Maguire can understand, to a point.

“They could perhaps have been more ambitious, but I think that, given Celtic themselves have had historic financial issues going back a long time, under the current ownership, they have been a little more cautious,” he said.