I’ll be honest with you—I’d never heard of the Fair Game Index until this morning, when I saw that Celtic had been named the best-run club in Britain. This will surely please those who praise the board, even with the transfer window clock ticking down. We’re not in a stronger position than at the end of last season, yet we’re still being recognized.
The mechanism behind this conclusion is interesting, and it does offer some insight. None of us is naïve enough to think that Celtic wouldn’t score highly on such a ranking because, for all intents and purposes, we are a well-run club. We have money in the bank, we’re financially sustainable, we spend only what we can afford, and we dominate the domestic competition. These are the criteria by which success is usually judged.
However, we know that this kind of recognition can cover a multitude of sins. This transfer window is a perfect example. Still, I wasn’t surprised to see Celtic doing well. In fact, I expected us to come out on top, given our profitability, cash surplus, a winning team, and a transfer policy that nets us more than £25 million for a player we bought for £1 million. If you know what to look for, this is the model of a well-run, well-disciplined organization.
But this is where such lists fall short and lose credibility.
The people compiling these rankings don’t know, for example, that we have directors who’ve been on the board for over a decade, or about our internal hiring policies, cronyism, and nepotism. They’re unaware of the perception problem that Celtic has, which has been discussed repeatedly on this site and elsewhere. Their rankings are based on a very narrow set of criteria, and while they’re correct within that limited scope, they never offer the full picture.
But the picture is even more distorted across town. At Ibrox they finished 13th on the list, and 8th overall in Scotland. Let’s be honest, that’s not a great performance, even by the narrow criteria the creators used. And it’s actually worse than it looks. Because if the full picture were considered, they’d likely finish much lower—possibly even in the bottom half.
How does a club with such debt problems finish in the top 20? How does a club that screws up something as simple as a stadium renovation end up in the top 50? How does a club in such a terrible state that its fans are in uproar, facing the possible sacking of yet another manager, even make the upper reaches on such a list?
These lists can be hit or miss.
And yet, despite their arbitrary nature, Ibrox still couldn’t finish higher than 8th in Scotland and 13th overall. The second biggest club in Scotland is the 8th best-run? Scottish clubs dominate the top 10 overall, but what this list reveals is that even at a glance they know Ibrox’s governance is terrible, their financial stability doesn’t meet any reasonable definition of the term, and they’re constantly overshadowed by Celtic. That list is a damning indictment of them, and that’s without even considering the full extent of their problems.
As I mentioned in my first piece today, I’m planning a larger, special article on their situation and long-term prospects. But for now, I want you to consider that list carefully. I’ll include a link to it at the bottom of this piece so you can see the data for yourself. You’ll notice that in some areas, they finish behind clubs much lower on the list. And again, this only tells half the story.
By any practical standard, Celtic would still be in the top five best-run clubs in the country, even if all the facts were on the table. Even if our hiring practices were properly scrutinized, even if the long-term retention of board members past their sell-by date was examined, even if our transfer policy—which has led to the downsizing of our starting XI and the decline of our European ambitions over the last decade—was fully considered.
A top five finish, easily, based on all the things we do get right. I have no doubt of it. We might even keep that top spot regardless of it all, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did.
Can you even imagine where Ibrox would rank if all the facts were laid bare?
The post-Dave King revolution, all the Statement O’Clock’s, equity confetti, failed coup attempts against governing bodies, contractual disputes, disastrous transfer strategies, casual sectarianism among their supporters, and all the rest of it … if all that were on the table, they’d be in an even worse position. You’d have to patiently work you work into the lower reaches to even find them.
As it stands, their ranking is already bad enough, but as ever, the reality over there is far worse.
A £45 million debt tag hanging round their neck,they are finished..
Quantitively I can see why we’re seen as a very well run club that functions well within our means. On the face of it anyway and under a limited criteria.
Qualitively well that’s another matter. We the fans certainly don’t get the quality squad we want or the team on the park we deserve but it is good enough perhaps a bit better to win the trophies available to us in a very poor league in Scotland but not in Europe. Hopefully and looking for a positive outcome though this kind of advertising promotes us to better quality players though requires a better league and an improved wage structure to get them through the door
It simply cannot be a very credible analystical site… IF – IT – HAS – SEVCO – AS – HIGH – AS – IT – IS !!!!!
Scud they are not in £45 m in debt .
James why do you bother with where they finish? ,if they weren’t there our season would be boring,the league would be boring ,and I don’t think we would be able to attract players,think about it the co efficient is already plummeting, we would be playing qualifiers for the Europe at best ,25 in a row but no one to brag too
This just shows you how little people outside the club know. That lot on the other side of Glasgow have done far better than us in Europe, albeit that their success has not been in the Champions league level. We have done little more than won domestically and even the we’ve been lucky. The board rolled the dice through shear greed last season and the only reason we’re in the Champions league this year is because Old Firm FC blew it so to say we’re the best run club in UK!?!? Who told them that
We are MUCH the better run club. Whatever those guys got wrong, it wasn’t that.
They have still done better than us in Europe for a few years now, albeit Europa league,but when we dropped into Europa League after getting trounced in CL we still never achieved anything,and I fear this year’s CL is going to be even worse if we don’t tool up and get Brendan the players he needs to go forward in Europe,we will easily win the league again but that doesn’t mean a thing outside Scotland,it’s Europe we have to strive to get back and make us feared again for teams coming to Celtic park,the one time fortress although that was long ago.