In the latest instalment of the Cinch sponsorship row, relating to the SPFL and Rangers, Park’s of Hamilton have delivered a savage response to the Scottish football league body.
Yesterday, the SPFL confirmed a new agreement with their title sponsor meaning Rangers will not be required to display the branding of the company, having been effectively excluded because of the impasse.
Since the start of last season, Rangers have not displayed the logo of cinch within Ibrox, and generally avoided it everywhere else, including on the team kit and on advertsing boards for interviews due to a conflict with an existing commercial agreement with Park’s of Hamilton, the company owned by club chairman, Douglas Park.
Now in the last hour, a damning statement has came from Park’s, setting out their position.
Official – Brutal statement from Park's of Hamilton about the Cinch deal and court process https://t.co/zfsXH7gz5u
— Mark Dingwall (@GrandmasterSuck) June 16, 2022
The communication included:
“Throughout the last year, Park’s have kept their counsel as the SPFL leadership insulted us and misled the SFA, their member clubs, their title sponsor, and various other stakeholders in Scottish football.”
It continued,
“The SFA must carry out an independent investigation into this issue which has cost all parties involved hundreds of thousands of pounds. Despite being awarded expenses in court, Park’s will not recover all their legal fees nor be compensated for the reputational damage caused by the SPFL.”
“Finally, the glaring omission from the SPFL’s statement was an apology. The SPFL leadership owe their members an apology, they owe Park’s an apology, they owe the SFA an apology and they also owe an apology to Rangers. Unfortunately, they seem to lack any accountability and would rather spend their members money than admit their failures.”
Reform
As VitalRangers stated yesterday, how can the clubs be happy with what those presiding over the league are doing, how can they continue to sustain such rank mediocrity and under-performance? Scottish football as a whole, particularly the supporters, deserves much better but sometimes you get what you deserve and previous calls from Ibrox for reform and renewal in the corridors of power at Hampden have gone largely, ignored.
Maybe one day…
More will certainly follow on this continued fall-out, despite the supposed positivity portrayed by the SPFL, ahead of the new season fixture launch on Friday at 0900.