Celtic are sitting clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table after winning 12 of the last 13 league titles. They have an esteemed manager, Brendan Rodgers, at the helm – but another clue regarding their domination lies in their impressive financial health.
Celtic announced a pre-tax profit of £17.8m for the 2023/24 financial year – their third straight profitable year.
While fans hoping to see major signings in the transfer window have sometimes been left frustrated, Celtic have controlled their budget carefully and sustainably while maintaining on-field success.
Celtic (1.11) are bringing in significantly more revenue (£124.6m) than rivals Rangers, who announced £83.8m in turnover for their most recently reported financial year (2022-23).
This means that they have more to spend on competing at the highest level than their biggest rivals do, and they have used that wisely. Celtic has a young squad, with several players whose value will likely increase in years to come.
Their academy has been able to bring through players such as defender Kieran Tierney, who was able to win four league titles with the Hoops before generating a reported sum of around £25m for the club in transfer fees when he signed for Arsenal (2.48).
There is more revenue than ever before to be made from the UEFA Champions League since the tournament was increased from 32 to 36 clubs and by playing in Europe’s most lucrative club competition this season, Celtic stands to gain a portion of the €2.47billion prize pot for 2024-25, up from €2.03billion.
The 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava in matchday 1 alone netted Celtic €2.1m in prize money. As the only Scottish club playing in the group stage of the Champions League, Celtic are earning revenue that their rivals simply cannot compete with, which will perpetuate the cycle of dominance in Scotland.
Rangers, meanwhile, were on a UEFA financial watchlist until recently, although club finance chief James Taylor was quoted by the Daily Record as saying earlier in 2024 that this was no longer the case.
Certainly, however, the finances of the Rangers (5.94) are not as healthy as those of their primary rivals in Glasgow. Gers have faced an uphill battle to run a financially sustainable business after they had to start again in the fourth tier in 2012/13 with financial woes having led to a 2012 liquidation.
Although Rangers managed to work their way back up to the top flight and win the league once under Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in 2020/21, they have struggled to run their operation sustainably on and off the pitch.
For that financial year, they posted an operating loss of £23.5m, and it is little surprise that costs subsequently had to be slashed.
Rangers have 55 Scottish Premiership titles to their name, while Celtic — the only Scottish club to win a European Cup — are now hot on their heels with 54.
Given that they have UEFA Champions League football, a young squad and a sound underlying business model, Celtic are likely to overtake Rangers and claim the undisputed title as Scotland’s most successful football club — a post they could hold for years or even decades into the future.
