Kieran Maguire shares impossible Rangers and Celtic verdict after nearly £90m reveal
Kieran Maguire believes it is almost “impossible” for any side to challenge Rangers and Celtic for the Scottish Premiership title due to a near-£90million disparity in revenue on a yearly basis.
Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson’s title-winning Aberdeen side 1984/85, the Old Firm rivals have won every single Scottish Premiership crown available, with the Gers claiming 18 titles and Celtic amassing a total of 20.
And speaking on The Price of Football podcast, Maguire shared that the two Glasgow-based giants have on average 20 times more revenue than a side that would be relegated from the top division.
“If you take a look at the Scottish Premiership, Celtic and Rangers last season, they earned just shy of £90million,” he said. [29 May, 24:00]
“You then take a look at the likes of Ross County, Motherwell and Kilmarnock, they’re probably fishing in the pool of £3.5-£5million.
“So we have got clubs that have got more than 20 times the amount of revenue, the two big Glasgow clubs, compared to the clubs that are scrapping it out over relegation that is taking place in Scotland.
“It is far bigger than the differences that we see in England, on average a club at the top, Manchester City, would probably earn around five times the amount of revenue as the side that is going to be relegated and that compares to a factor of 20 in Scotland.
“We have had that discussion with one of the questions, could he ever see a genuine challenger to either Rangers or Celtic, and he said that it would require investment from a new owner or an existing owner to make that competitive budget, and then you take it from there.
“There is always a Leicester City on the horizon, but with those types of odds, it is almost impossible, I think.”
Not healthy
Everybody in Scottish football wants the league to be as competitive as possible, but this disparity in revenue highlights a major issue.
The reason that the Premier League has long been dubbed as the best league in the world is due to its competitive nature, but the Scottish Premiership has been a two-horse race for far too long now.
This two-horsed feel will have a knock-on effect on the calibre of players who will move to Scotland in transfer windows and in turn, have an impact on the overall quality of football being paid.
Rangers and Celtic have been dominant figures within the Scottish game for decades now, but even the die-hard Gers fans will admit that these revenue differences aren’t good for the game.
This near-£90million figure will only widen when the Old Firm feature in Europe again next season, with the TV money involved in such a competition a major source of revenue.
In other Rangers news, the club wants to sign this international striker who will cost millions, with two other signings close.