Dons chief Milne keen to see Celts reach last 16

THE ‘best of the rest’ title hung heavily around Aberdeen’s neck last season.

Not only did the Dons finish second in the Premiership, 30 points behind champions Celtic, but they also lost both domestic cup finals to Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles.

Six defeats, in all, over the three competitions. The last — in the Scottish Cup final — was perhaps the hardest to take, thanks to Tom Rogic’s stunning stoppagetime winner at Hampden.

Under those circumstances, you would be forgiven for thinking the last thing the Pittodrie club would like to see is more Celtic success. Yet, at least when it comes to their chairman, Stewart Milne, that appears not to be the case.

As Celtic look to add another £30million to their budget by confirming their qualification for the Champions League group stage tonight in Kazakhstan, the pragmatic Pittodrie chief insists he is fully behind the Bhoys’ progression in Europe.

‘I feel excited about this season. I think Scottish football is in the best place it’s been for a long while,’ said Milne (below), whose side are level on points with Celtic and St Johnstone after three matches in the Premiership. ‘I think we’ll see a very competitive league.

‘Yes, it’ll be very difficult to rein in Celtic, especially with it now looking fairly certain that they are going to qualify for the Champions League for a second consecutive season.

‘That is going to give them a bit more buying power before the window closes, but I think it’s great news for Scottish football and that we all really want to see Celtic doing well.

‘It would be fantastic if they get a decent draw and could get beyond the group stage. Brendan has done a fantastic job since he came in.

‘He has turned the club around and built an extremely powerful team, which we were on the wrong end of last season.

‘But we want to be able to give Celtic a good challenge. We also have Hibs back and, hopefully, we’ll also see a strong Hearts and Rangers. St Johnstone will be there and a few others, so I think it’s going to be a really good season.’

Motherwell managing director Alan Burrows was also singing from the same hymn sheet, saying he believes the windfall to other Premiership clubs from UEFA as a consequence of Celtic’s qualification can only be regarded as a good thing.

‘Brendan Rodgers was right to say that every Scottish club should be behind them,’ he said.

‘People go on about how that will just widen the gap between Celtic and the rest, but anyone who says that them reaching the Champions League is bad for Scottish football is off their head.

‘It’s important for the prestige of our game that our teams are competing at the highest level and I just wish that Aberdeen, Rangers and St Johnstone had done better in the Europa League, as well.’

Each Premiership club will be paid a £365,000 bonus by UEFA once Celtic progress and Burrows outlined the importance of that cash.

‘The great thing about the UEFA money is that it comes in a lump sum,’ said Burrows. ‘Next month, we’ll get a cheque for Celtic making it last season and now we know there will be another one coming in 12 months’ time.

‘For us, that amounts to 12.5 per cent of our turnover, but, for some clubs, it’ll be as much as 15-20 per cent. Because it’s paid a year behind, Inverness will get that money next month, while Hibs will need to wait until next season.

‘This is the time of year when clubs are preparing their audited accounts and we need to be able to make projections for the future. So to know that you have £365,000 nailed-on is fantastic.

‘I remember joking with Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell last year that I jumped higher than any of their fans when Scott Brown scored the fifth in the 5-2 play-off win over Hapoel Be’er Sheva — purely for selfish reasons.

‘It’s good for Scottish football that Celtic are doing well in Europe because, without them, our co-efficient would be falling through the floor.

‘It also underlines the importance of the Champions Route in the qualifiers, which is under threat. Without it, we and the other clubs might not have collected that £700,000 (over two seasons), which is an astronomical amount for us.’