A NEW study has rated Celtic Park the TOP stadium in Europe, ahead of illustrious venues such as Wembley and Old Trafford.
The Hoops’ Parkhead ground finishes top of the pile on the continent, with only Cruzeiro’s Mineirao ground in Brazil beating them in the overall list.
Celtic Park is highly rated
The data comes from Ticketgum, and takes in factors such as Instagram hashtags, Google ratings, Google searches, capacity and average number of goals.
The Hoops’ famous home boasts a Google rating of 4.7 out of 5, and an average of 4 goals per match, which beats the home of local rivals Rangers on all fronts.
The poll doesn’t make quite so good reading for the Ibrox men, whose stadium finished back in 19th in European terms and 66th in the world, with a final rating of 49.94.
Wembley Stadium and Old Trafford are the only two other UK stadiums in the top 10, with Wembley coming in third and the home of Manchester United in No 7.
The Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid is ranked the fourth best stadium in Europe with a score of 71.91, with Barcelona’s Camp Nou languishing behind.
The best football stadiums in the world
How they rank for final score out of 100
1. Mineirao (Brazil) – 83.40
2. Celtic Park (Scotland) – 80.74
3. Wembley (England) – 79.45
4. Metlife Stadium (USA) – 79.03
5. Estadio Olimpico Universitario (Mexico) – 78.05
6. Estadio Azteca (Mexico) – 75.82
7. Old Trafford (England) – 73.98
8. Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (Indonesia) – 75.52
9. Santiago Bernabeu (Spain) – 71.91
10. Gillette Stadium (USA) 70.82
**Data from Ticketgum
Meanwhile incoming Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers says he is ready to take the ‘Celtic brand’ around the world – and praised skipper Callum McGregor after a sit down with the Scotland star in Majorca.
Rodgers – who will meet the media this afternoon – told Celtic TV: “Callum is a brilliant player on the pitch with his brain, his view of the game is up there with the very best I’ve ever worked with.
“He’s robust and plays many games, he’ the ultimate professional.
“He was pivotal back then, with his personality, to be a really big player for Celtic.
“And I’ve seen him since I left to continue to make that growth.
“He was a big part of coming back and I had lunch for a few hours with him in Majorca – just to understand the squad, where it was at and where he felt the club was at.
“He gave me some great feedback that the group was hungry, young and ready to push forward.”
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