THE administrators of a sportswear brand which was embroiled in a kit sales dispute with Rangers have decided to proceed with a multi-million-pound legal claim against the club. 

A lawyer acting for the administrators of Elite Sports Group Ltd told Judge Lord Braid on Thursday that it decided to press on with the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. 

Elite was the exclusive brand partner to Danish sportswear firm Hummel and it instructed lawyers to go to the Court of Session last November.

It wanted £9.5 million compensation from Rangers as its lawyers claimed they breached a contract which allowed the firm to provide the Glasgow team with kits. 

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Lawyers for Elite say the breach occurred when Rangers signed a deal with Castore, a Manchester-based brand which counts tennis ace Sir Andy Murray as one of its investors. 

However, the company went into administration shortly after the case was called in Scotland’s highest civil court. 

On Thursday, during a short virtual hearing at the court, advocate David Thomson KC told Lord Braid that the case wasn’t being abandoned. 

He said: "The pursuer entered into administration and in the period since then a number of interlocutors have been pronounced to allow the administrator to consider its position. 

"During that period of time, the administrators have taken the opportunity to assess the oral opposition of the pursuer company and to take advice in relation to this claim and in short the pursuers through the administrators now wish to proceed with the action."

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The case being brought by Elite arises from a separate legal dispute involving Sports Direct, which was then owned by Mike Ashley and Rangers. 

A lawyer for Ashley’s firm went to the High Court in London seeking an injunction to stop the deal between Elite and Rangers from going ahead. 

The deal, which was signed in October 2018, was supposed to allow Hummel to supply the ‘Gers with kits and to sell replicas to fans. 

However, Judge Lionel Persey QC found that the deal with Hummel, to be a three-year contract worth £10m, was undertaken without giving Sports Direct a chance to match it. 

Judge Persey ordered that Rangers couldn’t "wear any official Rangers technical products designed by, supplied by, gifted by or manufactured by Elite or Hummel, or bearing the Hummel brand".

Castore is the official technical kit partner of a number of leading teams and athletes including Rangers, McLaren Racing, Newcastle United, England Cricket, US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Andy Murray. The brand sells into more than 90 countries globally and was valued as being worth £750m in September 2022.

At a hearing last November, Elite won a bid to force Rangers to disclose sales data to it.

On Wednesday, Elite’s lawyer David Thomson KC said his clients should be granted access to how many team kits made by Castore have been sold. 

Mr Thomson told Lord Braid that he and his colleagues needed to see such information as it would help them prepare their case and see how much they should claim for in compensation.

He told Lord Braid: "It is the pursuer’s case that the rug was effectively pulled from under them. It is clear that Rangers entered into an agreement which they didn’t perform. 

"The amount being sought is currently based on an estimation of sales. If the relevant figures are produced it will allow the claim to be more specific.

"I would ask the court to allow my motion for commission of diligence."

Mr Thomson told Lord Braid that Rangers said to Hummel that it couldn’t continue with their contract. 

He said the club then signed a deal with Castore in May 2020 and that this deal breached the terms of the Hummel one. The agreement was reported to be worth £20m and covered five seasons. 

Mr Thomson said the new deal caused Elite to sustain losses which it needed to be compensated for. 

He told the court that the figures currently being sought by his clients were based on a report compiled by an expert who works for Deloitte, a financial services company.

He said he needed the actual sales figure from Rangers to help prepare his case. 

Gavin MacColl KC, for Rangers, asked Lord Braid not to grant permission for the Castore sales figures to be released. He said the deals differed in nature and this meant the figures couldn’t be released. 

Mr MacColl added: "The contracts are materially different. Castore have a substantially larger number of rights than the pursuer. They are able to sell a greater number of products.

"They operate in a different manner. They are Rangers’ full retail partner. Castore are a sports retailer and a sports manufacturer. They are not comparable business models."

Lord Braid allowed Mr Thomson’s motion to be granted. 

He added: "I accept Mr Thomson’s submission that it is relevant to look at what the market was and the sales figures for Castore."

The case will call again sometime in the near future.