Mike Ashley loses appeal as Newcastle United refuses to supply football kits to Sports Direct
Mike Ashley suffered fierce fan protests during his reign at Newcastle United - Martin Rickett/PA
Mike Ashley has lost his latest legal challenge against Newcastle United’s refusal to supply its football kit to Sports Direct.
The Court of Appeal rejected the billionaire’s claim by ruling Newcastle United would suffer “fundamental” damage if it was forced to sell next season’s shirts in the sportswear chain.
The ruling is the latest twist in the dispute between Mr Ashley’s sportswear shopping chain and the football club he used to own.
Sports Direct, owned by Mr Ashley’s Frasers Group, sued Newcastle United over its exclusive supply deal with rival retailer JD Sports.
The discount retailer, which has 488 stores in the UK, claimed the deal breached competition law.
Sports Direct, which has stocked Newcastle’s replica kit for decades alongside jerseys for other major Premier League clubs, also alleged its reputation as the “home of football” would be harmed as a result.
However, the Court of Appeal denied Sports Direct’s latest request for a temporary injunction to force Newcastle United to supply its kit ahead of a full-blown trial.
In a ruling handed down on Friday, the Court of Appeal ordered a “speedy trial” instead of forcing an injunction on Newcastle.
Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos said: “The trial will no doubt be hard fought, but the damage to Newcastle United will be far more fundamental if the injunction is wrongly granted than the damage that will be done to Sports Direct if it misses one, or even two, seasons’ supply.”
A panel of three judges also found that Newcastle United’s new owners had a right to work with new business partners, adding that an injunction would throw a “substantial spanner” into its new supply arrangements with JD Sports and Adidas.
The ruling comes after the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) also denied the injunction attempt last month, ruling that Sports Direct had “no reasonable or legitimate expectation” that its supply deal with Newcastle United’s outgoing kit maker, Castore, would continue.
Newcastle United will replace Castore with Adidas next season.
The CAT concluded that ordering Newcastle United and Adidas to continue supplying kits through an interim injunction would be “a significant fetter on competition”.
Sports Direct and Newcastle United were contacted for comment.
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