Report: Newcastle United 2-0 Sports Direct - Mike Ashley fails again with petty vendetta against NUFC

Mike Ashley is once again on the losing side of a court battle with Newcastle United as the Sports Direct owner launched an appeal of the earlier tribunal decision.

Our former owner, Mike Ashley, recently resurfaced to take Newcastle United to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) over the club's exclusivity agreement with JD Sports which will see the sportswear retailer gain exclusive rights to stock and sell Newcastle's upcoming Adidas apparel outside of the club shop.

That means that Mike Ashley's Sports Direct will not be allowed to sell next season's Newcastle kits when they are released next month, something that has not gone down well at all in the halls of the Fraser Group.

Ashley's initial case was thrown out of the CAT after being told there was no reasonable expectation to be permitted to sell Newcastle United stock.

The Court of Appeals has upheld the decision to not grant an injunction

Undeterred, however, Ashley launched an appeal claiming that the agreement is anti-competitive and the Court of Appeals heard the case yesterday (Thursday) and delivered their verdict on Friday morning as reported by LBC.

Sir Geoffrey Vos said that while the CAT was wrong to find there was no serious case to be tried, it made the right decision in not granting the injunction.

“The tribunal was right to think that, though damages would not be an adequate remedy for either side, the balance of convenience favoured refusing interim relief and ordering a speedy trial.

“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.”

Get back in your box, Mike

Hopefully, this latest ruling should see Mike Ashley retreat back into his cave and leave our club alone.

We don't want anything more to do with him and surely by now he should have got that message.

Although, to be honest, it's always fun to see him not getting his way, especially when it concerns Newcastle United.