Is Ibrox misleading its own fans again with their Umbro sponsorship story?

They announced their new chairman this morning: the interim head of Scottish Golf. So, for chairman, they have a guy who was last an interim chairman, and for chief executive, they have someone who was last an interim chief executive. Still, interim positions at any company are obviously better than permanent positions over at the FC Titanic, so we’ll just wait and see how they get on.

Like the CEO, this new chairman will not start until Monday, safely after the cup final and any consequences that might accrue from it. This allows the club to present the illusion of moving forward, cleaning up the mess, and embracing change—though in reality, not much is changing.

Today, we saw a prime example of just how little is changing.

This week, their fan media was leaked the details of their incoming kit deal. The headline? They’re moving away from the much-hated Castore and returning to one of the so-called trusted brands, Umbro.

This is being hailed as a mark of professionalism, proof that their club is finally getting back onto a positive footing. And why not? Umbro is a well-known brand. It makes perfect sense, right?

Except, what if I told you there’s more to this story? What if I told you this might be yet another example of the Ibrox board playing games, misleading their own fans into believing something that isn’t true?

Why is it that everything over there looks the same when you peel back the curtain? Why does everything seem like a PR stunt or a con job?

Castore has long been dogged by rumours that they’re essentially Mike Ashley in disguise. Is it a coincidence that their merchandise often goes up for sale first on Sports Direct’s website? Of course not.

Who really believes that the secret out-of-court settlement they agreed with Ashley didn’t include some sleight of hand wherein a company he was “invested” in got the merchandising deal in a way that allowed him and the club to pretend that he was out of the picture?

Castore conducted a major fundraising effort before they signed the Ibrox contract and kept the source of those funds secret. For what possible reason? Who invests significant sums into a sports business yet wants to remain silent about it?

All along, there have been whispers that Castore was effectively Mike Ashley’s operation under a different name. And now we’re supposed to believe this is a clean break—the deal that finally allows the club to move forward.

And maybe we would except for this … Castore earlier this year signed a major licensing agreement with Umbro. Under this deal, they’ll produce gear with Umbro’s logo and distribute it under the Umbro name.

You can read all about it right here.

What does it say in that report? “Additionally, our reach under the Umbro brand extends to the Scottish Premiership with Heart of Midlothian, complementing Castore’s ongoing global kit partnership with (the Ibrox club), and England Rugby’s men’s and women’s teams as rugby enjoys renewed attention during the Guinness Six Nations.”

The hint is right there. Unreal.

Are we supposed to believe that Ibrox’s new deal is with Umbro while Castore just secured this licensing agreement and that those things are entirely unrelated to one another? That stretches credulity a bit, doesn’t it? Are these two things completely unrelated? Or is this another case of Ibrox’s board pulling a fast one?

Being in this job for as long as I have makes you naturally suspicious. These things happen too often over there. The Ibrox club regularly gets involved in these shenanigans, and everywhere you look, there’s some compromising connection. But this one stands out because it’s either their fans being fed a concrete mixer of absolute nonsense, or it’s the most astonishing coincidence in recent football history.

Imagine: Ibrox announces a deal with Umbro, and Castore just happens to have signed a licensing deal to produce Umbro gear. What are the odds that these kits will appear first on the Sports Direct website?

How many in the media will connect these dots? How many will trumpet the Umbro deal as some massive leap forward when it might not even be a step in a different direction?

Do you remember the Castore scandal? The one where they took basic school jumpers—from Fruit of the Loom if memory strikes me—stuck their logo on them, and sold them to Ibrox fans at a ridiculous markup?

If this is Castore masquerading as Umbro and Ibrox pretending they’ve moved on, then this is just a more sophisticated version of the same scam.

Of course, we’ll hear the usual fanfare: groundbreaking deal, landmark partnership, back in the elite, money rolling in. All the same nonsense they said when Castore first got the gig, which they’ve been rolling back on ever since.

How many times can one club pull these stunts and get away with it?

The answer is simple: as many times as the media allows and as often as their fans let them. If this were us, our club would be pilloried for it, our fans would be in uproar, and we’d expose it as a con job. I find all of this absolutely incredible.