It’s no secret that Scottish football has been dominated by a team from Glasgow. Celtic have run the show in Scotland for what seems like forever and they don’t seem like slowing down anytime soon.
Celtic have been champions of the top tier in Scotland 48 times and have come second 31 times. Aside from the Glasgow giants, there have only been 10 other clubs that have won the highest league in Scotland, with the most recent outside of the second city being when Aberdeen grabbed their fourth league title in 1984.
Many have asked the question as to why and how Celtic became so dominant? Celtic have enormous support not just in Glasgow and in Scotland but all over the world. In 2003, Celtic were estimated to have around nine million fans from across the world. While their Celtic Park stadium can’t hold that many people, they have broken a number of attendance records.
Their 1937 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen was attended by over 147,000 people, which is a world record for any national cup final and the highest attendance for any club match in Europe. Their official attendance of 136,505 in their European Cup semi-final against Leeds United is the highest attendance for any European club competition.
Rivalries have been short to come by in recent years for Celtic following the collapse and liquidation of Rangers Football Club. Rangers were relegated to the third division, paving the way for Celtic’s domination once again. The Bhoys took full advantage of Rangers’ situation and have won the league every year since.
Glasgow’s second side are now in the top flight but don’t look like knocking Celtic off the top anytime soon. Celtic have broken the undefeated record of 26 games set by Jock Stein’s Lisbon Lions over 50 years ago. Manager Brendan Rodgers has managed to not lose a single game in all competitions besides the Champions League.
Celtic are well on their way to the treble and are 4/6 favourites to win the Scottish Cup, with comparison sites such as Oddschecker offering a number of welcome bonuses – such as a £20 free bet – for punters to maximize their potential return. Their great season has left many to wonder how they would fair in England. Whilst there is undoubtedly a gap between the quality of football in Scotland and England in general, when you look at teams one on one, is there really much difference?
As previously mentioned, Celtic have an impressive attendance record; as of November, Celtic had an average attendance of 55,590. That makes them the third-highest attended team in Britain behind Manchester United and Arsenal. Fans can influence a team on and off the pitch; more fans means more money and better atmosphere. With Celtic attracting over 55,000 people every week to games against Ross County and Dundee, imagine what they could do against Man United and Arsenal.
Celtic are almost selling out their 60,000 capacity stadium at the moment so there isn’t much more room to increase revenues on that front. However, if Celtic were to be injected into the Premier League, they would be a part of that massive TV rights deal and thus be turning over much higher figures.
More money means higher wages for better players and expanding the club in a number of beneficial ways. However, Celtic already have a great youth and scouting system; they have brought a number of current Premier League players into the public eye.
Celtic gave chances to the likes of Virgin Van Dijk, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama before they cashed in and moved to the Premier League. The club also has a wonderful youth setup and is renowned for bringing talented kids into the first team – the most recent of which is left-back Kieran Tierney, who has already grabbed attention from English clubs for his performances.
More money would build on these impressive foundations and help the club grow over years to come; within five years, they could be one of the best in the league.
Of course, it’s all well and good saying it – but is there actually any proof the Celts can cut it in England? Well, they’ve not just proved it to English clubs in the past but proved it to the whole of Europe. Celtic won the European Cup in 1967 and finished runners-up three years later. They found success in more recent times, too, when they came second in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup.
More recently, Celtic faced Premier League side Manchester City in the group stages of the Champions League. Celtic may have been trumped 7-0 and 2-0 by Barcelona but were undefeated over two games against one of the best in England. Celtic drew 3-3 and 1-1 with Manchester City, proving they can perform pretty well against one of the best in England.
They’ve proved they can perform in Europe before and they’ve done well against one of England’s best this season. They’ve already beaten the vast majority of English teams when it comes to attendance figures and they already have brilliant foundations. Whether Celtic could do it in England is a question we may never have an answer to but it would be brilliant to see them prove everyone wrong.