Newcastle United fans are joining the dots to put together the link up between Sports Direct and Castore.Â
The staunch fans at Ibrox still believe that their kit suppliers are a couple of likely lads from Liverpool, designing and producing kit from the back room to take on Adidas and Nike in a massive global market.Â
Reality suggests otherwise.Â
A year after taking on the contract for Ibrox merchandising the Castore lads elbowed aside Sports Direct to take over all things Newcastle, some deluded fans rejoiced at Mike Ashley getting a bloodied nose but suspicions were already being aired.Â
Mike Ashley’s @SportsDirectUK somehow managed to stock and sell the new @NUFC #NUFC #Castore home kit before the expected official July release date. pic.twitter.com/hwSdisCSkx
— Ian Brown (@IanBrow36569645) June 19, 2022
The tweet above is more than a nudge towards the true links between the two sports firms. Another Ashley brand, House of Fraser, has stocked the Ibrox kit online and in store.Â
According to sponsorship guru James Bisgrove, the man that brought Sportemongo and bitci to the Ibrox family, the club has raised £28m in commercial income in the year to June 30.Â
A fuller picture should emerge in November when the Ibrox accounts are published but the lack of transfer activity so far this summer is probably an indication that all isn’t quite as it seems to be.Â