As Rangers settle their ‘multi-million pound’ action with Elite, you might not expect the fact the club are handing over millions to be met with celebration.
However, if there is anything to be happy about this afternoon after ten long years of turbulent transactions in the club’s retail division, it is the mayhem of the previous ten years.
Boardroom squabbles over Rangers’ retail operations have been prevalent ever since Sports Direct and Mike Ashley’s influence became entrenched in the club’s hierarchy. Even while the Elite and Hummel issue at Ibrox is an obvious illustration of boardroom mismanagement, the settlement gives Rangers a new chapter free from the constraints of retail uncertainty.
Rangers settle Elite case
Although the precise amount of the settlement is unknown, Adam Williams, TBR’s football finance specialist, has previously estimated that it will be in the seven-figure range. This comes after Rangers’ parent company Elite filed a £9.5 million class action lawsuit against the team for wage loss. Elite has since gone into administration.
Rangers had signed a kit deal with Elite amid rumbling boardroom warfare with Mike Ashley and Sports Direct, a situation pertaining to legacy contracts.
The previous Rangers regime had famously signed a contract with Sports Direct that would see the club receive only 7p to every £1 generated through merchandising.
Since Dave King and the Three Bears took over in 2015, the club’s retail department has been the subject of intense courtroom action.
When Rangers signed the deal with Elite in 2018, it upset Mike Ashley, with a court ruling that Rangers failed to offer Sports Direct first option on the contract, as per the legacy contract’s agreement.
The terms of the final written agreement were finalized last night. “The contract has been executed by Rangers and it will be executed on behalf of the pursuer today. “The document will be signed today – speaking for myself its not a moment too soon before we all ran out of footballing puns to describe where we have reached in the case,” Thomson said. “Since the case was last before your lordship, I am pleased to say that parties have now resolved their outstanding differences in relation to the written settlement agreement.”
They believe it’s all over and that this is the right time for one more, so maybe it is.
Rangers free from shackles of retail chaos
After a decade of these court cases and stumbling retail contracts, we’ll forgive Rangers fans for being a little apprehensive around the idea that it is indeed over. The Rangers support has gotten so conditioned to issues surrounding the club’s retail department that they are always apprehensive around any news. Even Castore have been the subject of routine embarrassment at the hands of Sports Direct.
Rangers fans will find out about the cost of this class action in the club’s accounts but in the meantime this is an important moment in the history of Rangers’ retail operations.
With the club’s outstanding retail court cases now officially settled, Rangers fans can look forward to a semblance of ‘normality’ in this regard.
Millions of pounds have been lost, merchandising opportunities have been missed, and conspiracy theories remain rampant.
But as depressing a thought as it might be, Rangers are still rebuilding in the wake of 2012 and the club’s financial implosion.
This settlement is humongous step forward from the ashes of those dark days.
After a decade of retail warfare, the club is now free of the issues which have long acted as a shackle around Rangers’ finances and the future is certainly a lot brighter.
The Hummel/Elite situation may well have been avoidable, but after the best part of a decade, the Ibrox retail war finally looks to be over.
How the club rebuilds its retail arm going forward will define who was the victor
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