Celtic and Rangers 'propelled' into UEFA top 20 ranking as Europe's elite clubs rated by governing body

Celtic and Rangers have been "propelled" into UEFA's top gate receipt rankings after the governing body published their annual European Club Finance and Investment Landscape report.

The document, which looks at how Europe's elite teams are making their income and ranks them in various areas of revenue growth, makes positive reading for both Glasgow giants with supporters backing ensuring they are holding their own among the lists top 20 for gate revenue, which is currently led by Barcelona.

It is little surprise that likes of English Premier League heavyweights Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United feature close to the summit of several key areas, along with other European powerhouses including Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

Rangers currently sit in 18th place on figures attributed to ticketing income after bringing in £41million (€48m) in the financial year up to June 2023, while Celtic are just one spot behind at 19 having pulled in £40million (€47m) in gate receipts.

Despite the accolade, the overall totals (up €4m for Celtic and down €2m for Rangers) have led both clubs to slip down several places in the rankings. Rangers were previously sat in 13th and Celtic in 16th, but Serie A trio AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus all recorded significant changes in their gate receipts income last year. The report also reveals the average ticket income for Celtic is at €33, with Rangers at €36.50 - the ranking list headed by PSG on this occasion after they banked €140.20 in their average revenue per fan.

A report published by UEFA stated: "Seven clubs reported gate revenues of more than €100m in 2023, with Liverpool FC set to rejoin this group in 2024 following their stadium expansion. The gate receipts of the top 20 clubs by gate revenue grew by an extremely healthy 32% in 2023, with only four clubs reporting declines. The largest absolute increases in gate revenue were reported by Spanish and Italian clubs."

A further UEFA statement explained: "This list of the top 20 clubs features many of the usual suspects, but the large supporter bases of Olympique de Marseille, Rangers FC, Celtic FC and AFC Ajax have propelled those clubs into the list."

Meanwhile, Celtic also rank highly in two other key areas. The Parkhead side announced a record-breaking annual profit of £40.7million for the last financial year, ensuring they rise up to a very respectable 7th place. The Hoops also rank "as good a measure of club popularity as any" by UEFA, which comes in the form of kit and merchandise revenue. They raked in £29million (up from £25.7m) in the previous 12 months.