CLEAN SLATE
Kit firm dismiss online claims of Ashley ties after £25m Ibrox deal
NEW Rangers kit makers Castore last night dismissed online rumours of a tie-up with Mike Ashley.
The Ibrox club have confirmed a multi-year deal worth £25million with the English-based luxury sports brand.
Rangers have been locked in a lengthy and draining legal battle with Ashley’s Sports Direct over a merchandising contract.
And, as interim vice-chairman John Bennett hailed the new kit deal as a ‘clean slate’ and a ‘fresh start’, Castore co-founder Tom Beahon laughed off internet speculation that Ashley’s Frasers Group were one of the investors bankrolling a move into football.
‘We have investors who like to remain private. Our biggest investor is one of the wealthiest families in the UK,’ Beahon told
Sportsmail. ‘For the record, it’s not Mike Ashley, despite some of the things I’ve read
online in the last couple of weeks. Our investors are backing Castore to go and achieve the vision we have to build a truly global brand.
‘In order to do that, we knew that our first football partnership would be with one of the most global historic, high-profile clubs in the world.’ Beahon and his brother Phil established Castore four years ago and plan to add Premier League, Serie A and La Liga clubs to the stable in 12 months’ time.
A court previously ruled that Sports Direct should have been given the chance to match a deal struck with current supplier Elite/Hummel. Satisfied that Ashley will have no influence on the new arrangement, Beahon described the Castore agreement as a ‘new start’. Revealing that Rangers will claim a small percentage of every shirt sold, he said: ‘It has been very well documented the history with some of the previous commercial partnerships.
‘I don’t think there is much more I can add to what’s already been discussed.
‘But we are satisfied that this is a new start for the club. It’s an opportunity to do things differently for all of us. ‘Castore is a challenger brand and to compete in this market, we’ve had to be innovative and more creative than our competitors. And that’s a mindset we’ve been looking to apply as we enter the football market.
‘We’ve structured a deal with Rangers where the club benefit directly from every branded product that Castore sell. ‘We’ve structured a deal where the interests of Rangers and Castore are 100-per-cent aligned. That’s not always how football partnerships have been structured and that makes no sense to me. I want partnerships where, if I’m successful, my partner is successful too. ‘We have been preparing for this moment for the best part of 12 months now and we are confident we can deliver. ‘As a digitally native brand, we are far better protected from the current crisis than many retailers.
‘We are well positioned to not only ride out this storm, but thrive on the other end, however long we are in lockdown.’