Billionaire Mike Ashley has taken an even tighter grip on Rangers retail division and now shares a place on the board with club chairman Dave King.
It has been confirmed that the Sports Direct founder has now joined the board of Rangers Retail, giving him an even stronger hold on the operation - despite attempts to renegotiate the deal.
The Newcastle owner had already been the ultimate controlling party of the division but now his people outnumber King's by three to two.
In January, the Sports Direct were given a further 26 percent of shares in Rangers Retail to add to the 49 per cent which was already owned by the English businessman. It was a condition of his £5 million emergency loan to the club.
They came in the form of B shares, which are seen as second-class stock in the company which runs the club's entire retail and merchandise operation, including the club's Rangers Megastore and holds rights under licence to the club's famous crests.
Even if the controversial loan is paid off, Mr Ashley and Sports Direct would remain in control over all Rangers Retail financial matters.
The Rangers Retail set up has been a long-lasting area of controversy and at the end of last year, Rangers Supporters Trust launched an alternative shirt for fans as they took on Mr Ashley in the war over Rangers retail - and said all profits would be ploughed back into an increased shareholding in their club.
The Rangers Retail Board is now made up of four directors, Mr King and Rangers International Football Club plc director Paul Murray alongside Ashley, Sports Direct International chief executive David Forsey. Sports Direct's head of legal Cameron Olsen is both company secretary of Rangers Retail and SDI.
The Rangers Retail registered office remains at Sports Direct International HQ in Shirebrook, Derbyshire.
Fans have responded to the news with disdain.
Don't fund Mike Ashley https://t.co/c3GQlVMiaq pic.twitter.com/2XT0P28ZyP
— THE LOYAL STANDARD (@StandardLoyal) November 6, 2015
Rangers Supporters Trust said that the Rangers accounts highlighted the "ongoing disgrace" of the joint venture and Sports Direct's "stranglehold" over profit distribution.
The annual accounts for 2015 state that the club want to "work" with Sports Direct "to "address the issues which have so badly impacted on the retail income for the club".
"SDI will understand the importance of the Rangers brand and the values of its customers. Appealing to those customers and bringing them back to Rangers Retail will require efforts from the Club and its partners. The Club is fully committed to this process," Rangers said.
@Weerthepeople Only thing the Rangers board can do is continue to pursue Ashley, worry is, this could go on for years!
— Anne Souter (@SouterAnne) October 27, 2015
Retail activities provided a net profit after tax of £1.0m for the period to 27 January 2015.
The club accounts say that the loss of control over Rangers Retail means that it should be considered as a "discontinued operation".
It adds: "Retail should be a thriving area for the club..."
Mr King said in May that he hoped to get a commercial and retail set up at Ibrox the fans "can buy into" after he was cleared by the Scottish Football Association as 'fit and proper' to be on the board.
After indicating that he hoped concerns about the control Mr Ashley has over the club's retail operation could be sorted out, the board got the support of shareholders at a general meeting over a month ago to decide that repaying the Mr Ashley's loan was not in the club's interests.
Shareholders also also backed the board in their bid to renegotiate the terms of agreements in place with Ashley’s retail empire.
After Mr Ashley called the June 12 meeting to call in his £5 million, the board threatened to reveal details of the existing contracts but were prevented after Ashley won a legal injunction both north and south of the border.
Latest accounts show that while Rangers Retail turnover quadrupled from £1.2 million in the year to April 2013 to £4.8m in the year to April 2014, profits only doubled from £434,312 to £877,662. That is because the costs associated with the sales soared by eight times that of the previous year from £546,656 to £4.2 million.
It is understood most of that money has gone to Sports Direct as Rangers Retail is buying Rangers merchandise, including replica kits, gifts, polo shirts and track suits from the Ashley-controlled firm for use in club outlets.
Sports Direct has previously confirmed that Rangers Retail has provided over £3.8m to Sports Direct in the year through such sales.
Rangers Retail has rights to use the club’s famous emblems the RFC Scroll crest and the “Ready” crest for use on products.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article