The Castore Farce

The financial nightmare that Thomas Sandgaard finds himself in, is largely a result of the very clear loss-making position the club was in when he bought us and his failure to provide a winning team and some positive momentum since he took over. It can be no surprise to him that we are still losing £500k a month or that his ability significantly influence those losses is minimal (in a sustainable way).

He has failed to create any real growth around the club in two and half years and the lack of squad investment in the Summer has seen some really poor football this season, some appalling losses and a chronic lack of interest amongst the supporter base. He has also failed to employ anyone in senior positions who has had enough of a clue about us as a club to change that. I have forgotten half the names of the come-and-go people he has brought in but Wayne Mumford's name stands out at the moment given the increasingly ludicrous deal he signed us up to with Castore. There was much fanfare at the time about "one of the most valuable commercial partnerships in Charlton's recent history." That line, however, is about as misleading as Carlsberg being "probably the best beer in the world." Tom Beahan, co-founder of Castore said at the time that they were "thrilled to welcome Charlton FC to the Castore team." It hasn't looked like it since Tom.

What we have seen from Castore since then has been diabolical and the relationship between the club and "it's retail partner" is now so bad, that it's practically open warfare. The prospect of this continuing for years - "it's a multi-year partnership" - is depressing and we need to get out of it or force Castore to give up.

Supply of replica kits will be their main earner from us but they were predictably late in bringing them into the Club Shop which wasn't a good start. They blamed supply chain issues etc but was clear they had no similar problems at larger clubs they provide the shirts for. We simply didn't prioritise. they have also had very little else to sell and refused to stock obvious red and white bar scarves and the like.

The quality of the merchandise was then questioned with badges falling off (not just at Charlton) and they couldn't, didn't or wouldn't supply the third kit - the one we wore at Old Trafford this week. No explanation or apology from Castore. It's still available though from Kitbag though at far less than they Castore would be charging us.

We then had Castore's disappointing refusal to stock Ian Wallis' "The Valiant 1000, Volume 1" tome when he produced it before Christmas. Despite Ian offering them a very healthy margin, they simply said "no." It was also clear at that point that the Club has no influence whatsoever and that they too were unhappy with Castore. Things then worsened at New Year with Castore refusing to stock the Club Calendar for 2023. They even pinned a pathetic notice to the doors of the club shop telling fan they weren't selling it and they had to go to the Ticket Office for a copy. You would think they would be happy to get fans in the shop but it's clear they don't know how to run a sweet shop.

There is a growing thread on Charlton Life entitled "Club Shop RIP" which covers much of this, but I was amazed to get a Tweet and an email from the Club today advertising Castore's new 'leisure range.'

If you look at it, none of the stuff carries the club badge or the sword logo. I strongly suspect this is because Charlton are refusing to let them use the trade-marked logos any longer because of their lack of co-operation on anything else and their poor performance running what has really been no more than the replica kit shop.

The fact the Club is putting out an advertising email in the first place is also a surprise but, I assume, another clause Mumford agreed in his desperation to sign anything to justify his salary. How embarrassing for the club that it has to advertise non-club merchandise for a kit supplier who we have outsourced the shop to but who refuses to sell non-Castore products point-blank.

Thomas Sandgaard clearly lacks a contract with the necessary club protections and it looks like we are stuck with these cowboys for now. Somewhere in the world, Wayne Mumford's CV boasts about his multi-year, retail partnership with Castore. So, high time we organised a boycott of the Castore Store. If nothing changes, we should boycott the Club's kit next season and force Castore to concentrate on Glasgow Rangers and their other priority customers. We are being mugged-off by these cowboys and need to stand up for the club and for ourselves. #boycottcastore.