1:19 pm, July 17, 2023
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has commissioned a review following the conclusion of a bitter dispute involving Cinch and Rangers Football Club.
The online used car dealer had begun a major sponsorship deal with SPFL and Scotland’s top four divisions in June 2022, worth £8m and over a five-year period.
But Rangers refused to display Cinch branding at its stadium or on their strips, saying that the promotion of the Cinch name would conflict with a commercial agreement it had with Park’s Motor Group – a used car sales and coach hire company owned by the club’s chairman, Douglas Park.
It sparked a bitter dispute between the club and SPFL which was only resolved last month, and now sees Rangers not obliged to carry or show Cinch branding.
The SPFL’s governing body has now apologised, along with ‘any reputational damage caused to Rangers or Park’s’.
An independent review of governance has been commissioned and will commence work in October, reported Sky Sports.
An SPFL statement said a proportion of the legal costs involved in the battle will be met by the league.
‘The Scottish Professional Football League, Rangers, and Park’s of Hamilton have confirmed that the long-running dispute between them in relation to the SPFL’s title sponsorship contract with cinch has been brought to an end,’ read the statement.
‘The SPFL has accepted that Rangers had a pre-existing contract with Park’s at the point that the SPFL entered into its title sponsorship contract with cinch in June 2021.’
Murdoch MacLennan, SPFL chairman, said: ‘We are delighted to have finally drawn a line under this dispute following discussions between ourselves and Rangers, and we are keen to do all we can to learn from this protracted disagreement.
‘I am particularly grateful for the constructive approach shown by all parties in helping resolve this long-running situation and am very happy to apologise if there has been any damage to the reputation of Rangers FC or Park’s of Hamilton.
‘Going forward, we have also agreed to commission an independent review of governance to help ensure the SPFL can avoid any such dispute in the future. This review will commence in October 2023.’
When it was announced that the despite had come to a conclusion – as reported by Car Dealer – a Cinch spokesperson said: ‘We welcome the evolution of our agreement with the SPFL and are proud of our continued investment into Scottish football across all four Cinch SPFL leagues.
‘We are very much looking forward to next season and to continuing the stellar growth of our business in Scotland.’
