Someone posted the humiliating 5-0 defeat to Celtic on here the other day to display how far we’ve come in less than 3 years.

That gap was underpinned by a huge financial disadvantage that, frankly, gift-wrapped 10-in-a-row for them.

Summary to follow....

Rangers’ demotion opened up an unprecedented financial gap that won’t be replicated again.

Cumulatively, from 2012/13 to 2019/20, Celtic’s turnover stands at a staggering £589.4m vs Rangers’ £257.1m - a difference of £332.3m in 8 years.

That’s an average of over £41m per year

The gap was not one which was forever closing. The largest turnover gap was actually in 2017/18 when our turnover was some £68.9m lower than our rivals’ meaning Celtic’s turnover was over 200% higher than ours.

The disparity in turnover translates into each club’s wage bill.

Since 2012 our wage bill has been an average of £23.7m lower than Celtic’s per season which, even accounting for their higher general staff numbers, gives an indication of the disadvantage we’ve had to overcome.

Player investment (gross) is another area where Rangers have had to make up ground. Celtic’s £85.4m spend vs Rangers’ £40.8m again provides some perspective. Only with Euro football (and shareholder investment) in recent years has this gap began to close.

The above is even before you factor in the ridiculously disparity in starting positions. Celtic were champions while Rangers were signing Kevin Kyle and Fran Sandaza & getting footballs stuck in a hedge.

For some final perspective - Celtic’s *wage bill alone* was larger than Rangers’ entire club turnover in 7 of the last 8 seasons.

So while progress may have been slower than expected, and mistakes have been made a long the way, this level of financial disparity should have seen them out of sight. We just need to continue winning. It’s close.