Celtic beat Man Utd and Tottenham to coveted milestone as finances prove key to special achievement

Celtic have been crowned as the best-run club in UK football by new research.

As part of The Fair Game index, the Premiership champions have clinched a score of 80.6 (out of 100). That is more than 12 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur on (68.2) while Manchester United missed out on a podium spot with 65.4.

Hearts took third place with 66.9 and Edinburgh rivals Hibs are in fifth with 63.1, as the rest of the top 10 is made up by Aberdeen, St Mirren, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Cambridge United in a strong showing for Scottish football.

The Fair Game Index, which was originally collated in January 2023, was the first attempt to answer the question of what a well-run club looks like, trying to identify how the game can spot and reward such clubs. The number of touchpoints clubs are rated on has gone up by more than double from 80 to 226. These are spread across four areas: financial sustainability; good governance; equality and ethical standards; and fan and community engagement.

There is an indication from the report that “the game is generally better run north of the border as well as suggesting that success in Scottish football is more tied to responsible stewardship than it is in England.” The majority of the top 10 best-run clubs in Scotland for financial sustainability are in the top flight.

Celtic scored an impressive 36.5/40 for finance, 25.1/39 for governance, 13/20 for EDI and 6/10 for fan engagement. Rangers rank eighth in Scotland with scores of 24.4, 20.7, 7.9 and 6.3 in those same categories respectively.