Celtic are the 21st biggest club on the planet, according to an in-depth report from this week’s edition of France Football.
They’re the only Scottish Premiership club in the top 30. Rangers may be getting closer to their Glasgow rivals under Steven Gerrard but on a global scale they’re not in the picture, according to the French magazine.
These lists are always controversial and there will no doubt be Celtic fans who feel their club should be higher up the list, but France Football have explained their working out.
It’s been hard for Brendan Rodgers club to pick up points, and impossible for Rangers, given the comparative lack of money in Scottish footnall.
Clubs have been judged on 10 factors, with the top 20 each picking up points. The club in first place gets 20 points, all the way down to a single point for 20th.
The ten judging points were:
Number of players in current squad to have won a World Cup.
Continent level titles won (eg Champions League).
Shirts sold per year.
Annual revenue.
Record transfer fee paid.
Average attendance.
Market value of current squad.
Ballon d’Or (France Football original version) trophies won since 1956.
Social media followers.
Clubs with the biggest mythical status.
The last one was decided by a group of France Football journalists.
Celtic picked up 12 points for their average attendance of 57,702, coming in 9th, and 11 points in the final category, judged to be 10th.
Those 23 points see Celtic level with Al-Ahly of Egypt and one place below Borussia Monchengladbach and Benfica.
They’re ahead of clubs such as Galatasaray and Santos.
