Tom Beahon reckons that had it not been for Rangers, Castore would never have been catapulted into the stratosphere.
The Castore founder has always spoken highly about the ‘disruptor’ brand’s relationship with Rangers, the Ibrox side the clothing brand’s first partnership in football.
Indeed, Beahon described the Rangers partnership as ‘transformational’ before waxing lyrical about the power of the club’s loyal support.
“Rangers Football Club was the transformational partnership I would say,” Beahon told the Secret Leaders podcast. “A globally recognised club and brand, genuinely global fanbase.”
But five years on from the when the partnership with Rangers was first signed, Castore taking up the mantle of the Ibrox side’s complicated retail dealings during Covid in 2020, change is on the horizon.
And not just at Ibrox.
Castore x Umbro link-up ‘what dreams are made of’
It’s certainly not been easy since Castore came into the football market trying to disrupt the duopoly of Nike and Adidas.
After impressing with Rangers, the brand has been afforded opportunities all over football with partnerships in Holland, Spain, Italy and beyond.
But the company’s foray into English football has not been so easy.
Castore might currently boast relationships with Everton and Wolves, but Castore’s deals with Newcastle United and Aston Villa fell apart amid swirling fan pressure over kit quality and supply issues.
Last year, Castore acquired Umbro’s brand license – even teaming up with Hearts – and are now working alongside the legendary Manchester brand.
Coincidentally, Rangers are reportedly set to sign with Umbro come the end of the season after a five-year stint with Castore.
We’re sure the two things are completely unrelated.
Now, Beahon has taken to LinkedIn to wax lyrical about Umbro and Castore’s partnership with the retailer in a sort of pre-cursor to what we imagine will be a number of new Umbro kit partnerships:
”Umbro undoubtedly has one of the strongest brand heritages in world football, including partnerships with many of the most iconic players and teams of their generation and creating kits that will go down in history as some of the greatest of all time.
“It is a true privilege to have the opportunity to build on this legacy and write the next chapter of Umbro’s growth journey in Europe. Since acquiring the brand license last year, we have big ambitions to further grow Umbro and leverage Castore’s digital expertise to connect the brand with more fans than ever before. As someone who loves sport and business in equal measure, it’s the kind of opportunity dreams are made of.“
New era of retail at Rangers ‘central’ to Castore x Umbro plans
Whilst we’re still awaiting any official confirmation on Rangers’ plans to adopt Umbro as their official kit partner, the times they a’changing at Ibrox.
Not only are the Gers on the verge of a US buyout, but for the first time in a generation Rangers are not embroiled in any crippling retail litigation.
Rangers settled their long-running dispute with Elite ahead of the 24/25 season, an issue dragging back to the adoption of Hummel kits in 2018.
The Gers also settled with Mike Ashley and Sports Direct back in May 2022, with the club’s accounts showing Rangers paid Ashley £6m to finally loosen his grip on the club’s retail operations.
It’s been a long-running saga dating back to Dave King and the Three Bears wrestling back control of the Rangers boardroom.
Castore deserve credit for helping to navigate Rangers through a challenging period in the club’s retail operations.
The relationship isn’t set to end here either, with Sports Business adamant that Rangers are ‘central’ to Castore’s plans with Umbro next season.
