There can be no argument that, measured by the number of clubs which have won the league title, the Scottish Premiership is by some distance the least competitive in Europe.
Some have argued that it is wrong to compare Scotland with countries with a larger population, that it is understandable that a nation with only 5 million citizens would see few football champions.
This population size discussion can be speedily concluded by looking at Iceland, an island with a population of around 330,000.
Since 1985, no fewer than 10 different clubs have won the top football league in Iceland.
Since 1985, only 2 clubs have won the Scottish Premiership.
The facts are irrefutable.
Throughout the entire history of league football in Scotland – 124 seasons – there have only been 11 champions of the top league.
Prior to 2012, there existed a duopoly in the Scottish Premiership. However, in that year, Rangers Football Club was liquidated. A new company acquired the assets of the liquidated club and was granted admission to the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).
Of the 124 top league titles available to be won since first contested in 1890, 54 have been won by Rangers and 51 by Celtic. This record has allowed Rangers to claim that the club is the most successful in world football. However, Rangers have not won the title for a decade and Celtic are now in line to achieve a unique “10-in-a-row” league title successes.
Whilst it is true that Celtics domination of the last decade is not unique in European Football – both Bayern Munich and Juventus have similar records in their respective leagues – the overall domination of the Scottish game by 2 clubs is quite definitely unique.
The duopoly that existed prior to 2012 represented a very uncompetitive situation. However, the demise of the original Rangers Football Club has effectively allowed a monopoly to emerge. This is highlighted by the fact that Celtic have now won all three national domestic trophies ( Premiership; Scottish Cup; League Cup) for three consecutive seasons and are only one Scottish Cup win from achieving a “Quad Treble”.
No other club can now compete with Celtic financially. There huge support; a 60,000 capacity stadium, with 50,000 plus season ticket holders; substantial sponsorship deals; massive merchandising revenues; Champions League income; all combine to put Celtic permanently out of reach of any meaningful domestic challenge.
This situation could be allowed to continue to allow Celtic to match or even exceed Rangers total of 54 league titles. There is little or no doubt they would do so.
However, most people not involved with the current champions would agree that the monopoly situation which has been allowed to develop is unhealthy for the Scottish game.
The stark reality is that for most clubs, local interest in the football on offer is now negligible. Seven of the twelve clubs which took part in the Scottish Premiership in 2019/20 had average home attendances of less than 6000 spectators per match.
Radical change is required to address this situation.
Scottish Football Matters 