We’re not the biggest fans of Football Insider to say the least, but we must admit Kevin Maguire’s latest comments are pretty much accurate and a major reason why Rangers winning 56 this season has now become more critical even than winning the Europa League in 2022.

So, let’s lay out how important:

In 2022, winning in Sevilla would have been gigantic. Auto qualification for the next season’s Champions League as a pot 1 team, the accompanying £20M, the spot in the Super Cup, and of course the trophy for the UEL and the prize pot (£7M) for winning it. That was about £27M before TV money (£5M), gates (£9M) and coefficient (around £4M). A good hault of about £45M. In the end it was about £25M.

But with the inception of next season’s Champions League switching to the Swiss System of a league format, the numbers have changed.

Instead of £20M for getting to group stage, it is hiking massively, and we mean massively, to around £40M. That is basic just for being there. Add the gigantic gate receipts of minimum £3M per home match, and there will be a guaranteed 4 matches at Ibrox. That’s another £12M (it’s one extra group/league match now). We are already at £52M basic simply for being there.

As for TV money? Celtic earned about £5M from their UCL campaign, and then let’s not forget the coefficient payment, which they got around £10M.

So… the prize now for getting simply to the group stage of the Champions League is an astonishing £67M. Give or take a few million here and there.

Winning the SPL this season just became vital, because as Maguire says, Celtic are around £40M better off overall than Rangers in the coffers – not surprising.

But if we win the SPL, that’s £3M prize money domestically for doing that in itself as well. We just banked £65M-£70M off the bat just for winning the league.

And that means we surpass Celtic by £30M and suddenly the financial situation in Glasgow changes entirely.

It is the last season for that auto UCL spot, and winning the title and securing that spot became absolutely massive.

If Rangers do it, and win the title, it will permanently change Scottish football and it will be Celtic playing catch up for a long time.

We’d very much enjoy seeing that.