celtic are one of the world's top 20 clubs

Paul Cuddihy
CELTIC are one of the 20 richest football clubs in the world. They are the only Scottish club to make it into that elite group and also the only club to come from outside the ‘big five’ countries of Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France.

The Football Money League, which is compiled by business firm Deloitte, rank the biggest clubs in the world based on revenue and the top 20 consists entirely of European clubs. Celtic are ranked 17th.

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: "It is a fantastic achievement for Celtic to be the 17th in the world in terms of turnover.

"This demonstrates the level of financial commitment from our supporters around the world, together with the highly successful management of the Club's commercial activity and excellent on-field success.

"To be the only club in the world in this league table outwith the top five footballing nations is particularly pleasing, when considering the insignificant value of media rights in Scotland compared to these other nations."

"The benefit of such turnover levels is clearly that this has given us the opportunity to invest in the team on the field, something which we will continue to do.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our fans for their continued commitment and support."

Real Madrid are in number one position, with Manchester United second and Barcelona third.

A total of six English clubs feature in the top 20, with four each from Germany and Italy, three Spanish sides and two from France.

FOOTBALL MONEY LEAGUE
1. Real Madrid  £236.2m
2. Manchester United £212.1m
3. Barcelona  £195.3m
4. Chelsea  £190.5m
5. Arsenal  £177.6m
6. AC Milan  £153.0m
7. Bayern Munich £150.3m
8. Liverpool  £133.9m
9. Inter Milan  £131.3m
10. AS Roma  £106.1m
11. Tottenham  £103.1m
12. Juventus  £97.7m
13. Lyon  £94.6m
14. Newcastle Utd £87.1m
15. Hamburg  £81.0m
16. Schalke 04  £76.9m
17. Celtic   £75.2m
18. Valencia  £72.4m
19. Marseille  £66.6m
20. Werder Bremen £65.5m