Celtic bowed out of the Champions League on Tuesday (18 February) following a narrow 3-2 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich.
The Hoops have already benefitted from a massive cash influx following their success in the competition’s money-spinning new format.
However, the club’s accounts for the first half of the 2024-25 financial year revealed a new blow – with their turnover falling from £85.2million in the same period last season to £83.5million.
The Glasgow giants’ commercial revenue and merchandising figures both slipped from the same period in the 2023-24 campaign.
Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – lifted the lid on a potential reason for the multi-million-pound hit.
Champions League format change to blame for Celtic hit, says Wyness
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness claimed the change in Champions League format could be to blame for the slight reduction in turnover.
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Celtic played two additional league phase games in Europe this term which both took place after the accounts cut-off, and will also have revenue from the knockout games to count on.
Wyness insisted there is “nothing at all to worry about” at Parkhead.
He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “This must be related to the new Champions League format.
“They’ve made less money in the first part of this season because the league phase went on until January – that’s my guess, without going too much into detail.
| Financial Year | Celtic Revenue |
| 2023-24 | £124.6m |
| 2022-23 | £119.9m |
| 2021-22 | £88.2m |
| 2020-21 | £60.8m |
| 2019-20 | £70.2m |
“Look, they’re counting the cash with a cigar and their feet on the desk. They’ll be deciding what to spend it on, so I’ll have to give them a call and help them – because I have some ideas.
“I think Celtic, even though they lost against Bayern Munich, will see a big increase over last year overall.
“There’s nothing – at all – to worry about with Celtic’s finances.”
Celtic’s Bayern Munich defeat costs club £9m
Football Insider revealed on Wednesday (19 February) that Celtic have missed out on more than £9million following their Champions League exit.
Nicolas Kuhn handed his side a surprise lead on 63 minutes in the second leg on Tuesday (18 February) before an injury-time equaliser from Alphonso Davies ensured it would be Bayern progressing through to the last 16.
Uefa documents show Brendan Rodgers’s side would have earned a further £9.1million with a victory over Bayern.
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