Mike Ashley takes action against Newcastle United yet again – Adidas also involved


 
 
 
 
 
 

A bit too much to hope for that we had heard the last of Mike Ashley.

The club’s former owner having cropped up a few times since he handed the keys over to the new Newcastle United owners on 7 October 2021.

His ugly mug has surfaced with such things as when at last the new owners binned all the horrific free advertising Mike Ashley had blighting St James’ Park. That was a massive day for Newcastle fans to see those eyesores removed.

The latest is quite amusing actually.

Mike Ashley taking action because now Newcastle United are switching from Castore to Adidas, Ashley’s jumble sale Sports Direct empire won’t be able to stock NUFC replica kit any more, as apart from the official club shop(s), JD Sports will have an exclusivity deal.

The Sun report – 21 March 2024:

Mike Ashley is taking Newcastle United, the club he used to own, to the competition regulator in a major bitter row over football shirts.

Newcastle United recently switched its kit provider from Castore to Adidas and as part of the agreement has struck an exclusivity to only sell football shirts through the club’s shop and arch rival JD Sports.

The Sports Direct tycoon has now submitted a claim to the Competition Appeals Tribunal.

Sports Direct alleges in its claim that: “The Club has abused its dominant position in the market for the wholesale supply of Newcastle United replica kit in the UK [in breach of competition law] by refusing to supply Sports Direct with the Club’s replica kit for the 2024/25 season and granting JD Sports, another UK sports retailer, exclusive rights as a third-party retailer of the Club’s replica kit”.

A source close to Mr Ashley claimed that “football fans will ultimately suffer from higher prices”.

Suffered???

Newcastle United suffered for over 14 years under Mike Ashley!