As news broke of Rangers’ retail partners Castore potentially signing up with Mike Ashley owned Newcastle United, you could almost here the clanging of keyboards somewhere in the distance.
Throughout their short tenure as retail partners to the Ibrox side, the Liverpool-based sportswear manufacturer has had to routinely deny that they’re affiliated with the Sports Direct billionaire.
Years of retail trauma at the hands of the infamous businessman has Rangers fans on tenterhooks whilst a rabble of Celtic bloggers have been pushing this message before the ink was even dry on the Ibrox deal.
The situation certainly wasn’t helped by Ashley’s attempts to troll Rangers in the immediate aftermath of the kit launch and the fact Ibrox kits were being stocked in his businesses.
All this meant that when SportCal reported that Premier League side Newcastle were on the verge of a £5m a year retail agreement with the club, it sent Twitter a bit haywire.
Even amongst Rangers supporters, the brow of suspicion was raised despite the retailer’s constant reassurance that Ashley is not involved with their company.
It’s natural; after everything the club has been through over the last decade and numerous false retail dawns Rangers fans remain reluctant to fully put their faith in Castore just yet.
But could comments made by co-founder Tom Beahon earlier in the season – and news about a potential Newcastle takeover – provide some clarity over why Castore could be Newcastle United’s new kit partner?
“We have investors who like to remain private. Our biggest investor is one of the wealthiest families in the UK,” said Beahon back in May [Daily Mail].
“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 go and build a truly global brand.”
Couple this with reports that billionaire family the Ruebens are reportedly part of the consortium interested in taking over at Newcastle United, and things get interesting.
According to Chronicle Live, a mixture of the PIF, Amanda Staveley, and billionaire brothers David and Simon Rueben remain interested in Newcastle United despite a takeover being knocked back in July.
That deal fell apart amid fears the group would fail the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test [Guardian] with Ashley now hiring QC’s to help push through a deal which remains on the table.
The Reuben brothers are property billionaires with interest in central London and Newcastle with the Sunday Times Rich List putting their worth at £18.664bn in 2019.
This Chronicle Live story describes them directly as “one of the wealthiest families in the UK”.
Whilst this is purely speculation at this point, could the reason why Newcastle United are hooking up with Rangers’ retail partners be more about the Reubens than it is Mike Ashley?
What is confirmed is that in the summer Castore raised a reported £7.5m worth of funding from a range of sources to move into the football market.
According to Fashion Network, this includes Net-A-Porter founder Arnaud Massenet, New Look founder Tom Singh and former Saatchi & Saatchi boss Robert Senior.
Tennis icon Andy Murray is also named as an investor in the brand of which he is a partner. Murray also sits on the board of the company.
Newcastle United are also not the only top tier European club reportedly being targeted by Rangers retail partners Castore as they look to expand their portfolio.
