Only truly ignorant people fail to understand the size of Celtic.

Why are Celtic sometimes treated like zero, like nothing? Especially by those who flock, like moths, around the English league?

What I learned last week is that many commentators in the media outside Scotland, particularly English ones, see Celtic as something easy to dismiss or trample on. Sometimes with more contempt than even the Celtic board.

The badge carries weight — history, fan culture, identity, the Lisbon Lions mythology — yet outside Scotland there’s often a quiet assumption that Celtic dominate only because of the league they play in. That creates an odd dual reality: an admired institution, yet underestimated at the same time.

What irritates me most is that Celtic are globally famous but not always taken seriously as a modern football force. Yes, Celtic are respected within Scotland and the Scottish league, but clubs beyond those borders often see them as a “big fish in a small pond”.

Celtic’s biggest international credibility still comes from history.

The club became the first British side to win the European Cup in 1967, beating Inter Milan — a landmark moment in European football that still resonates today. That “Lisbon Lions” team remains iconic, largely because local players built it, which adds to the romantic mythology surrounding the club.

But Celtic’s reputation isn’t built on trophies alone.

The club has a huge diaspora-linked following across Ireland, North America, Australia and beyond. It also ranks among the top 50 most valuable football brands globally, despite playing outside Europe’s richest leagues.

The English leagues are extremely wealthy, and sometimes it feels as if some within that system look down on Celtic — as though the Scottish league barely exists for them. The truth is, Scotland is not alone in this; they look down their noses at everyone, in every other league, even at those whose teams frequently beat theirs in Europe.

But that attitude frustrates and infuriates, regardless of that.

We always hear the “weak league” argument. I hear it all the time: Celtic win because Scotland isn’t competitive enough. That always strikes me as lazy analysis. Is Scotland really uncompetitive, or do some people simply refuse to credit Celtic’s consistency and structure?

Big clubs everywhere benefit from recruitment, organisation and culture, yet when Celtic succeed people frame it as inevitability rather than achievement.

Another issue is league stigma. Playing in Scotland inevitably reduces global visibility. SPFL controversies, financial disparities and exclusion from the English media ecosystem all affect how visible and marketable the league becomes.

Honestly, it frustrates me how little attention Scottish football receives in English media. Most of the time it feels like we barely exist unless Celtic appear in Europe or a derby makes headlines. I understand that the Premier League is a global giant full of elite players and massive investment. Naturally it dominates coverage.

But that imbalance still feels unfair.

Celtic’s history and supporter culture are there for anyone to see. That’s why I was raging when I read poisonous nonsense last week where some English media clown claimed we would get relegated from their second tier. Who do these people think they are?

I have visited places all over Britain; I chose Celtic over some London club or Manchester side. I fell in love with the culture, history and the meaning of Celtic. Only a handful of clubs in England can claim the size of our club. Many of the clubs down there would be nowhere without access to EPL TV money. That’s nothing but luck. That’s geography. Celtic are bigger than Brighton, Brentford, Crystal Palace and half of the other teams in that league. They just happen to be rich.

But what does that even mean? Does playing in Scotland automatically make something less worthy of coverage just because we don’t have money? English clubs have global stars and marketing power, yes. But Celtic have something many clubs would envy — identity, heritage and one of the most passionate fanbases in world football.

Sometimes I wonder whether major media projects would come if Celtic actively invited them — documentaries, podcasts, behind-the-scenes coverage. Or would financial calculations still push them towards English clubs first? If they came this season, they would have a ratings bonanza on their hands.

Still, I don’t think this comes down only to economics. A deeper narrative blind spot reduces Scottish football to a footnote. That frustrates me, because the league has rivalries, stories, atmosphere and tradition that deserve wider attention.

This isn’t just about pride. It’s about respect — and right now I’m not convinced Scottish football always gets it.

Ambition plays a role here too, of course, and this is where we should be doing more. We don’t reach for the next rung on the ladder any longer, and we should.

Europe also shapes how people view the club. Results haven’t always gone Celtic’s way, especially away from home, but context matters. Competing against clubs with multiples of your budget looks very different today than it did decades ago. Still, when Celtic fall short, critics present it as a limitation.

We impose some of those limits on ourselves, but here I do have some sympathy for the board; we cannot spend enough to bridge the resources gap. We don’t have the cash to close it in any meaningful way. But one reason people sneer at us south of the border is that they see teams with fewer resources punching above their weight on that stage, and they wonder why we cannot do the same.

Celtic’s identity can complicate perception too. The club has always been about more than football — heritage, community, politics and diaspora. Supporters understand that instinctively. Outside that cultural context, outside our own bubble, people sometimes simplify or misunderstand it, which makes the club appear more controversial than it really is. Personally, I don’t think the politics of the Celtic support is controversial at all. Some people don’t like it. That’s not the same thing.

Old clichés about Scottish football still linger — overly physical, direct and lacking technical quality. Anyone who watches Celtic regularly knows the game has evolved, but perceptions don’t always keep up.

Part of this also comes down to perspective. English football has grown into such a dominant global product that everything else appears secondary. That isn’t always deliberate disrespect. Sometimes it’s simply insularity.

What really angered me — and last week I was furious — was the attitude from some of the shock jocks and studio voices down south. The smirking tone, the throwaway jokes, the way they talk about Celtic and Scottish football like we’re some small-time sideshow that exists for their amusement.

Half of them don’t watch the league, don’t understand the game up here and don’t care to — yet they still speak with complete confidence about how poor it supposedly is. That isn’t analysis. That’s laziness and arrogance.

They sit inside the Premier League bubble and look down on everything outside it, as if money is the only measure that matters. The truth is that Celtic’s history, support and global reach go far beyond many of the clubs these people claim are “bigger”. The problem isn’t Celtic’s stature. The problem is the narrow mindset of people who think football begins and ends at the English border.

I know I shouldn’t care whether Celtic are fully appreciated elsewhere. The club’s identity, legacy and support don’t depend on outside approval. But I do believe that if people looked closer — beyond clichés and financial comparisons — they would recognise Celtic as a far bigger football institution than it often gets credit for.

Yes, some people in England will always sneer because Celtic play in the SPFL. But those who truly understand football usually recognise the scale of the club. Look at the Oxlade-Chamberlain signing; who pushed most strongly for him to make the move? Joe Hart, former England international and Premier League winner, and Andy Robertson, who has won everything with Liverpool.

Joe Hart played here and calls it the best period of his career. Robertson is a lifelong Celtic fan and some believe he wants to finish his career here. They see it from the inside. They understand it better than any radio halfwit ever will.

Celtic gets proper respect from those who understand the club and what it actually is, stripped of the limits Scotland places on us. Money, media focus and the “weak league” narrative all undermine us, but the club’s identity and cultural weight remain substantial. Anyone who isn’t blinded by ego and who understands Celtic’s scale knows full well that if we played a few hundred miles south of Glasgow, we would sit automatically among the elite.

Because when you really look at Celtic — the support, the history, the global reach and the meaning behind the badge — you see far more than just a successful Scottish side. Whether others recognise that or not, Celtic’s stature doesn’t shrink simply because someone chooses not to see it.