Rangers set for huge financial blow after news away from Ibrox
Dan Plumley believes Scottish football losing its automatic Champions League spot for the 2025/26 season is a “huge blow” for Rangers.
It comes after ESPN journalist Dale Johnson tweeted on 11 April that Viktoria Plzen’s draw against Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League took the Czech Republic above Scotland in the coefficient rankings.
The football finance expert revealed that losing the automatic spot for European football’s premier competition could cost the Gers at least £17.3million.
“It is a big blow,” he exclusively told Ibrox News.
“It’s a blow for Scotland in the overall coefficient ranking because it does probably benefit Rangers and Celtic as we’ve seen through the years, but the benefits of having a Scottish club automatically into the Champions League is good for Scottish football as well.
“There is a wider knock on impact for the league and the country structure as a result. But certainly for Rangers in particular, it is a big blow because that automatic Champions League group spot we know is worth at least €20million (£17.3million) even before a ball has been kicked.
“The jeopardy of going through the qualifiers then means that you run the risk of not getting into that stage of the competition and not receiving that payment.
“It just adds to that jeopardy that you don’t really want, especially if you’ve won your domestic title. In this case, it was a real benefit for that club to go directly into the Champions League group stage.
“It’s a huge blow for Scottish football and, in particular, for Rangers because it does put the jeopardy back into Champions League qualification, which is huge financially for that club.”
Rangers could suffer financial hit after Champions League news
It’s certainly a disappointing development for Scottish football on the whole that the automatic Champions League spot will no longer be available from 2025.
The money on offer is a huge financial reward for the title winner, with Rangers looking to challenge Celtic for top spot on a more consistent basis over the coming years.
But it will make qualifying for the Champions League – and earning the potential riches on offer – a much harder task for the Scottish clubs moving forward.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton has torn into the Gers players after what they did.
For more Rangers news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.