Castore, the sportswear brand, has credited its partnership with Rangers as being pivotal to its succes – while having a dig at Premier League clubs that they have partnered up with in the past.
The company was Newcastle United’s kit provider for just three years, before the Magpies brought a premature end to the deal. after the one-sided nature of it left them ’embarrassed’. Newcastle’s kit is now supplied by adidas.
According to The Telegraph, the Magpies ended their partnership with Castore over the poor quality of their merchandise after several complaints from their fans. There were even delays in order delivery after purchase which further prompted the club to terminate the contract.
Since 2020, Castore has been providing kits for Rangers, and although it’s reported that Umbro will take over next season, Castore remains deeply involved as they own the marketing rights to Umbro in the UK and various European countries.
The company’s owner hailed Rangers as one of the few truly global clubs they have worked with, stating that their collaboration has been ‘transformational’ for Castore and played a significant role in him building a £1bn fortune.
Since 2020, Castore has been providing kits for Rangers, and although it’s reported that Umbro will take over next season, Castore remains deeply involved as they own the marketing rights to Umbro in the UK and various European countries.
Castore, now stepping up as contenders against giants like Nike and Adidas, has expanded its portfolio, creating kits for Burnley, Sevilla, Bayer Leverkusen, and soon Everton from the 2025/26 season onwards. Whilst Rangers move on to wear Umbro, they join other Premier League teams such as West Ham and Brentford adorning the same brand.
Tom Beahon, the owner of Castore, shared on the Secret Leaders podcast the significance of their relationship with Rangers. And he claimed that a number of Premier League clubs that they have worked with are not as big as they think they are.
He said: “A lot of clubs think they have a global fanbase but there’s not that many who do. Rangers FC was the transformational partnership I would say.
“Globally recognised club and brand, genuinely global fanbase. People might watch the Premier League in Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Mexico, but they tend to support quite a small handful of teams. Rangers is one that people know all over the world. So that was a big part of it.”, reports the Daily Record.
Newcastle entered into the contract in 2021. Castore paid £5million-a-year to Newcastle for the deal which was supposed to end in 2025-26 until it was ended prematurely. Newcastle’s partnership with Castore came to an end after the club decided to team up with Adidas in the summer. It brought to an end Newcastle’s three-year stint with Castore, which stretched back to the Ashley era.
Peter Silverstone, Newcastle’s chief commercial officer, highlighted the ‘one-sided’ nature of this arrangement in his witness statement at a Competition Appeal Tribunal hearing after Sports Direct failed in their bid to temporarily prevent the Magpies selling their new shirts exclusively through JD Sports. The relationship
The way Castore’s deal was set up led to them admitting it was very one-sided and both parties agreed to terminate the relationship. Speaking not long after, Beahon gave his take on Newcastle moving on.
“Whenever you’re trying to be disruptive, bumps in the road are inevitable,” he told the Price of Football podcast. “There’s no way to come through them other than to grit your teeth, bite down on the gum shield so to speak, and come through them.
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