Why Scottish Clubs Struggle in Europe: Money, Mismanagement and Lost Talent

Last night, Celtic dropped to 35th place in the UEFA Europa League following a 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo, while Hearts were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Trabzonspor, leaving them 29th in the UEFA Conference League. This poses a big question: why do Scottish clubs find European football so challenging?

Scottish teams in Europe this season

It has been a disastrous season for Scottish clubs in Europe so far. Five sides entered European competitions this summer, but only two made it to the League Phase: Celtic in the UEFA Europa League and Hearts in the UEFA Conference League. Both teams had entered Europe in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League.

Celtic suffered a shocking 5-4 defeat to Austrian side LASK in the play-off Round, having led the tie 4-0 with 30 minutes played in the second leg. Since dropping to the Europa League for the league phase, they have suffered three defeats in three games: 3-1 to Ferencvaros, 4-1 to Benfica and 2-1 to Celta Vigo.

Hearts were defeated 6-0 on aggregate by another Austrian side, Sturm Graz. Following that, they dropped to the Europa League, where they were embarrassed 6-1 away to Benfica in Lisbon before grabbing a respectable 1-1 draw at Tynecastle, resulting in a 7-2 aggregate defeat.

They needed penalties against yet another Austrian side to qualify for the League Phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League, following a 4-4 draw on aggregate with both legs finishing 2-2. Hearts opened their league phase campaign with a 1-1 draw against Nordsjaelland before losing 2-0 to Trabzonspor.

Across the other Scottish clubs, Rangers lost to two minnows. First, they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Polish side Jagiellonia in the Europa League third qualifying round, before losing on penalties to Czech side Jablonec in the Conference League play-off. Motherwell, who have struggled since the departure of manager Jens Berthel Askou, recorded an impressive 3-1 aggregate victory over HJK before losing 7-2 on aggregate to beaten Europa League finalists SC Freiburg. Hibernian narrowly succeeded against FC Malisheva and FK Shkendija before losing 3-2 to Belgian league leaders Gent.

Why do Scottish clubs struggle so much in Europe?

Scottish clubs have endured a torrid last 12 months in Europe. However, it was only in February 2025 that Celtic were mere seconds away from forcing extra time against Bayern Munich in the Champions League knockout rounds. In May 2022, Rangers reached the Europa League final, defeating the likes of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig en route to a penalty defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville.

The last Scottish team to win a major European trophy was Aberdeen in 1983. Led by Sir Alex Ferguson, they defeated Real Madrid 2-1 to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

It remains Real Madrid’s last-ever defeat in a European final and the last time a Scottish side won a European trophy. Before that, Celtic won the European Cup in 1967 and Rangers won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972.

The financial reasons why Scottish teams cannot compete

In the summer transfer window that just passed, it was estimated that Scottish clubs spent a total of €82 million (£68.6 million) on players. Compare this with the English Premier League, where clubs spent £3.56 billion, and Scottish spending amounted to less than 2% of what was spent on players south of the border. Manchester City’s £125 million acquisition of midfielder Enzo Fernandez is nearly double the total of what all Scottish clubs combined spent on players.

Other major leagues in Europe are also struggling to compete with the Premier League’s spending. Sky reported that Serie A clubs spent £846.2 million, La Liga clubs spent £615.1 million, Bundesliga clubs spent £507.6 million and Ligue 1 clubs spent £496.2 million. These figures are a fraction of what the Premier League spent, but remain far higher than Scottish clubs’ spending.

A major reason why clubs in these leagues have more money to spend is their broadcasting income. The Scottish Premiership currently has a five-year agreement worth £150 million with Sky Sports, working out at £30 million per annum.

Compare this with the major European leagues: the Premier League’s deal is worth an estimated £3.8 billion per year, La Liga’s is valued at €2 billion, the Bundesliga’s at €1.3 billion, Serie A’s at €1.2 billion and Ligue 1’s at €0.7 billion. These figures are all considerably higher than those of the Scottish Premiership. The SPFL needs to do more to increase the value of the broadcasting deals it secures.

The popularity of the Scottish game is not represented in the commercial value. Glasgow ranks as the fifth-highest city in Europe for football attendance, with 2.2 million people attending games per season.

Celtic rank 16th globally for average home attendance, with Rangers ranked 18th globally, so interest in the Scottish game is not the issue. Both clubs have huge followings in different regions across the world, including Australia, Asia and North America.

As a whole, Scottish football has the highest attendance per 1,000 residents in Europe. A total of 19.37 people per 1,000 attend a game every week, nearly double the second-highest figure, Norway’s 10.11 per 1,000. Again, there is considerable interest locally in Scottish football, and the SPFL needs to do more to market the game globally.

Tactical, recruitment and youth development issues

One of the key reasons Scottish football struggles so much in Europe is that clubs are being run poorly and coaching at all levels is inadequate.

Both Celtic and Rangers have regressed significantly in recent years, with several poor decisions made by senior figures at the clubs. This allowed Hearts to challenge for the title last season as they lost the league in the final few minutes on the final day. These problems are particularly evident in Europe, where Scottish sides have struggled to cope with the intensity and tactical organisation of their opponents.

A team such as FK Bodø/Glimt, from Norway, may be considered much smaller in stature than the major Scottish clubs, yet they have enjoyed successful campaigns in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. This is largely the result of being well run from top to bottom, with a top-level head coach capable of setting the team up to beat bigger clubs.

A key reason behind the Norwegian clubs’ recent successes is their ability to develop young talent. Approximately 40% of Bodo/Glimt’s squad is made up of homegrown players. The introduction of the homegrown talent rules in the Norwegian league back in 2008 encouraged investment in youth facilities and coaching, which has brought significant benefits. Norway reached the World Cup quarter-finals this summer, a notable contrast to Scotland’s disappointing group-stage exit.

Thirty European leagues and the UEFA club competitions use homegrown player quota rules, where most commonly eight players in a 25-player squad need to have been trained locally up until the age of 21.

The Scottish FA has recently begun work to give young Scottish footballers a better development pathway. In 2025, the introduction of the Cooperation System allowed Premiership clubs to partner with lower-league clubs and loan multiple players aged 16 to 21 to give young players senior football experience.

Since then, further meetings have been held, and further proposals to boost youth development in Scotland have been put forward. Recent proposals include requiring clubs to start two Scotland-eligible under-21 players in all cup competitions, with at least one remaining on the pitch at all times. Another proposal would require clubs across all four leagues to give an under-21 Scotland-eligible player an average of 60 minutes per game across the season, with clubs losing 10% of their prize money if they failed to meet the requirements.

All these proposals are positive steps towards helping bridge the gap between Scotland and other countries in youth development.

A major issue Scottish clubs have faced over the past decade is the loss of their top young players to cash-strapped English sides. Even more problematic is that Scottish clubs only receive minimal compensation fees, which do not reflect the value of the talent they lose.

Examples of young players leaving at an early age include Ben Gannon-Doak, who departed Celtic for Liverpool at the age of 16, with Celtic receiving only £600,000 in compensation.

Gannon-Doak later left Liverpool for a reported £20 million, with £5 million in add-ons, just three years after this. Another player with a similar story is Billy Gilmour. He left Rangers to join Chelsea following his 16th birthday, with Rangers receiving a reported £500,000 for the midfielder.

He joined Napoli in 2024 for a reported fee of £12 million with a further £4 million in add-ons. These are just two examples of top talents the domestic game has lost before they broke into the first team.

Several other young players have been poached by clubs south of the border, affecting many teams in the Scottish Premiership. With little financial reward for developing young players, SPFL clubs face restrictions on how much they can reinvest in youth development. It is estimated Scottish clubs miss out on £40 million annually due to their failure to develop and successfully trade academy players. This money could be used to improve facilities and coaching across the country, helping Scotland catch up with other European nations.

The next few years are crucial

The rebuild of the Scotland national team is well underway, with a new, modern manager, Sebastien Pocognoli, having been appointed.

The next few years will be pivotal for the future of Scottish football. If changes is made and the quality of homegrown players improves significantly, there is a fantastic opportunity for Scottish teams to close the gap in Europe and even challenge teams from the big five leagues.

However, this will require more than just developing homegrown players. Scottish clubs need to modernise the way they are run, with each team investing more money in their recruitment departments and their facilities. These changes could improve the quality of domestic competition, whilst giving sides in Europe a better opportunity to compete.