Deep into September and it’s no wonder Rangers fans are fed up

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Deep into September and it’s no wonder Rangers fans are fed up


This isn’t a topic we’ve broached much on Ibrox Noise in truth. We’ve generally avoided the whole farce, but there comes a point where a Rangers fan’s inability to purchase a football shirt gets a little ridiculous and grating.

We should point out we know this is far from ideal, and the blame does not solely lie at Rangers’ door, but before we go into where the problems stem from, the idiocy of another shirts farce this deep into September and potentially affecting Christmas is almost impalpable. After the ‘dark days’ and the old shirt boycott, this new and latest chapter is staggering.

So, where does all this originate?

It began in the courts. As is well-documented, Sports Direct won a temporary injunction against Rangers to stop us selling our shirts. We’re no lawyers but we’ve not heard of any lifting of this, and we are unclear on how long the injunction was supposed to last, so that is or was certainly a problem, and one which may well have lost our board around £3M due to the previous pay off which was supposed to protect against this very scenario. SD were given an option in court to match the alternative price/bid but that was early last month and nothing has actually been done since then that we’re aware of, which certainly leaves things deadlocked.

The next stage seems to have been a delay in confirming a clean transition between our old manufacturer, Puma, and the present one in Hummel. The Hummel deal took a while to be ratified and was eventually announced to some hoo hah and an Auchenhowie rename. That didn’t help.

And the current stage seems to be the currently equally most significant – Hummel appear to be struggling to satisfy manufacturing/distribution demand. Rangers are not the only club they are(were) partnering for this purpose; Forest Green Rovers confirmed they’d cancelled their partnership with Hummel on the 22nd of last month after multiple delays on their shirt too, while Telford United’s Andy Pryce admitted the delay was ‘embarrassing’. In short, Rangers may have backed yet another turkey here, following the absolute shambles of travel partner Thomas Cook and their failed attempts to provide Europa League packages for the early rounds.

So, a systemic failure all round, and unless Rangers have the contractual clause to terminate the deal and go elsewhere (while renaming the training centre) we’re stuck with Hummel failing to deliver and Sports Direct locking us out of selling if and when they do.

We’re not even clear on the latest predictions for when these things will be available for purchase.

For a club of our size and our stature, this is utterly unacceptable. Another shambles by Stewart Robertson?

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20 COMMENTS

  1. Fully agree–this is a total shambles and there has been plenty of time to settle it all in a more rationale, common sense way, preferably without the constant need to keep going back to court and wasting money that WE CANNOT AFFORD. GOING TO COURT IS ALWAYS EXPENSIVE, and should be avoided at almost all costs. Is it not possible to do this. And WHY WAS HUMMEL PICKED??? I had never heard of them, and few of my friends had–so it was always going to be a risky business dealing with them. Was NO DUE DILIGENCE DONE ON THE??? Is Robertson fit for the job? It does not look like it so far.

    • Stop looking for problems where none exist and do some basic research. If you haven't heard of them then you haven't been paying attention. Hummel are a near 100 year old international Danish company supplying kit to hundreds of clubs across multiple sports and the continents. Current clients include the Danish national side. Former clients include the mighty Real Madrid. Is that diligent enough for you?

  2. From what we are lead to believe SD stopped us from going with another retailer to provide the kits, we were contracted to give them the opportunity to match the new retailer. Hummel must be desperate to see the strips being sold. I reckon we set up edminston house as a "Hummel/Rangers" shop. We get a contract from Hummel saying Rangers get 95% of the profit..sports direct would never agree to match it. We then then renegotiate a fair deal with Hummel. We would be shot of SD, the fans would buy the strips, Rangers and Hummel make money! Sorted. – Im not a business man so I'm sure I will be shot down in flames!

  3. Back to never a dull moment shirt saga nightmare
    Back to the embarrassment days again

    LETS GO WATP 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

  4. The problem is Mike Ashley. A fat cockney B*****D , why on earth would a multi millionaire have interest in doing this to a Club who is British and already railroaded by so many in Scotland and now from the greater UK. A complete disgrace. The man is a greedy lowlife and represents the arseholes of the minted.

    • Correct but ffs lets sit down n talk and get it sorted for the best interests of the of the club💪

      LETS GO WATP 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

    • Indeed and if we are in Glasgow pay the ticket watch the Euro game, tell the children the score on the Ashley. If abroad then buy the game on Rangers TV.

  5. E mailed hummel, e mailed rangers no information from anyone!! We're losing millions in revenue ffs this has to be sorted immediately! We're the only big club in the world where the fans can't buy the merchandise! Does anyone know who to contact for proper information on this shambles ?????

  6. Karma Karma Karma… Wee fatty and his empire will eventually come to a halt and hopefully its sooner rather than later.watp helicopter 2005.its coming home 55

    Just saw Poland score a great goal against Italy, couldn't be bothered watching Them against Belgium…..

  7. I would love to see it coming home, but we need proper money and that's why this kit / merchandise shambles has to be resolved,as was posted earlier hummel make kits for the danish national team and have done a 10 million deal with rangers , this debacle is between rangers and sports direct (Ashley v King) FFS SORT IT OUT !!! 🇬🇧WATP

  8. Totally agree with you there. This is not an acceptable situation. I thought of two contracted parties had an agreement and one, failed to hold up their end, that would be an automatic breach of contract, from which we could escape, exit stage left?? But what do I know, i'm no businessman. With all their loopjoles and special terms. But it better get fixed soon, because this is no use at all. P.S. I hate that fat lard-arse, Ashley and i'm definitely not alone, on that one. Hummel better expand quickly to cope with demand, or they'll make themselves, look like complete idiots.

  9. I suspect the problem here is that Sports Direct contracts are famously riddled with legal loopholes and more importantly non disclosure agreements.
    The fat bastard doesn't give a feck about anyone but himself and even being a multi billionaire doesn't stop him trying to line his pockets even more. He is the worst example of a human being and I wish him every ill going. Just watch House of Fraser go down the pan too. And shame on any Rangers (or Newcastle) fans who buy anything from his stores.

  10. Seems like Hummel are a basket case – As well as being dropped by Forrest Green Rovers – both Charlton Athletic and Telford United have had delays in getting kit – seems like Hummel are in trouble – Looks like another day in court coming to sort this out

  11. Absolutely Disgusted this issue is still at Large. 😣
    Want ma Rangers Top! 😂

    Its Mike Ashley…Hes Poisonous!
    Look at the Damage hes done to NUFC
    Taken them from a Top10 Team to Relegation Fighters.

    I Don't mind the fact that its Hummel, Just wish it could be resolved sooner rather than later.

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