RANGERS chairman Dave King announced a truce with Sports Direct supremo Mike Ashley over the sales of its merchandise in a move he described as "the single most important thing since regime change".

Mr King who took control of the club three years ago, said a new one year commercial deal with Sports Direct involves at least a share of net profits through their stores, megastore and webstore.

It comes after a series of rows which ended in the courts over the amount Rangers were making from the sales of merchandise - said to be just 4p in the pound - that led to a fans boycott of kit sales.  It was described by Mr King as a "toxic and acrimonious" relationship.

And he admitted amidst the acrimony with Mr Ashley,  shirt sponsor Puma, who had lost money out of the boycott, could have taken legal action against the club but decided not to.

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The agreement rips up the old seven-year deal with Sports Direct to be replaced by a new one which lasts till the end of next season, taking the club to the end of its five year shirt deal with Puma, which has ended in controversy. The club say they can then renegotiate "with Sports Direct or anyone else".

Mr King said that it is "the end of the dispute with Sports Direct" with litigation from both sides terminated and each party paying their own costs.

And the club said it meant the end of the Mike Ashley-controlled merchandising arm Rangers Retail, with the club now dealing directly with the sports retailer and that "by far the largest benefit of [the new  deal] is going back into the club and in particular to the football squad".

Mr King said: "I've said on a number of occasions that I would look forward to the day when I could stand up to the Rangers supporters and say we now have arrangements in place, now go buy your kit, it is in the interest of the club. And finally, today, I am in a position to say that.

"I can only assume that with the resolve the board has shown in not caving in to the pressure we were put under by Sports Direct, I think it got to the stage where Sports Direct thought it was probably in their interests as well to look at terminating or renegotiating the existing arrangements.

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"The only other alternative, quite frankly, given our clear position was to continue to litigate. That was not good for the club. It was costing us legal fees, it was costing us access to the retail profits and Rangers has traditionally always been number one in Scotland."

Negotiations began eight or nine months ago and Mr King said they were "extremely, extremely difficult" and he said he was disappointed it had taken so long to resolve.

Despite the agreement, Mr King referred to a "thawing" of the relationship with Sports Direct and he said it will not result in investment by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.

Mr King said that the level of retail kit sold by Rangers is "far and above most [English] Premier League clubs" and that new agreement "recognises the status of the club".

"In order for Sports Direct to agree to renegotiate with us, and walk away from the [old] arrangements, they were never going to do that if they were not included in the new arrangements, so they were saying, 'okay if we do rip up existing arrangements, and we do work with you on a basis that is more favourable, we still have to be a player', " said Mr King.

"And we understood there was no economic reason to rip up the old agreements if there was nothing in it... so we would end up litigating for a number of years with them."

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He added: "Whatever deal we did we had to find a retailer to work with."

Rangers Retail was unveiled in 2012 as a joint venture between the club and Mike Ashley's Sports Direct by then chief executive Charles Green.

Its aim was to enable Rangers "to once again control its retail operation and give supporters the chance to buy direct from the club and in doing so, continue to invest in its future".

But the Ibrox board voiced its displeasure about its return from the deal with Rangers Retail which held an exclusive licence to exploit the club's name and trademarks.

Rangers in May, last year said it had withdrawn the exclusive licensing rights given to the Mike Ashley-controlled merchandising arm Rangers Retail to use the club's trademarks and it was believed that meant kit which contains the protected logos could not be sold.

Rangers even threatened to ditch the controversial Puma strip released without their consent and replace it with a new kit midway through the season, although this never happened.

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After 'unsanctioned' kits were put on sale at the start of last season, Puma said the kits were designed in collaboration with Rangers over a period of months and final approval was received from the club  in line with production schedules.

Puma said that after taking legal advice it was happy to sell, market and distribute the new kit.

It distributed it's Forever Ready promotional material featuring Rangers stars to plug the release of the 2016/17 club kit.

Mr King has now admitted that Puma had lost out financially as a result of the supporter boycott.

"That wasn't Puma's fault.  Puma did nothing wrong. Puma kind of ended up as the meat in the sandwich between the club and Sports Direct and they behaved perfectly throughout.

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"They could have taken a more aggressive stance legally against the club if they wanted to, but they haven't. They have kind of sat on the sidelines and been very very patient in allowing us to try and work out a new deal.

"They are delighted as we are that that we will finally get Rangers supported wearing Puma kit."

But he admitted the deal had come too late for the launch of a new Rangers first team kit.

"What we will do is get a new second and third kit which will be launched as soon as we can," he said.

The Rangers chairman also rued the amount of time dealing with "damage control" issues regarding the club.

"I've actually spent far more time on Rangers than I have on my own businesses in South Africa and internationally and ... it's not been positive, it's not been progressive, it's really been part of the rebuilding and rehabilitation process.

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"I'm looking forward now to the opportunity to be more creative and instead of, from a personal point of view, flying into the UK for legal meetings then going home, I can now probably spend some time watching some games and getting some of the fun out of my association with the club which has been missing."

When the five year kit deal was announced in February, 2013, Rangers said it made the sportswear giant "the official supplier and licensee of replica merchandise for the club" in a deal that complimented Rangers Retail, which was set up under a previous Ibrox management.

A Puma spokesman said: "We are delighted that Rangers FC and Sports Direct have agreed a successful resolution. Whilst we do not disclose the commercial arrangements of contracts, we can confirm that PUMA is the official kit supplier for the 2017-2018 season and we look forward to helping the club prepare for the new season."

The Rangers Retail set up has been a long-lasting area of controversy and at the end of 2014 the Rangers Supporters Trust launched an alternative shirt for fans as they took on Mr Ashley - and said all profits would be ploughed back into an increased shareholding in their club.

The previous 10-year merchandise agreement with sports retailer JJB Sports rubber stamped in 2006, was worth a minimum of £48 million to the club. The club got an initial payment of £18 million when they launched an Umbro home kit and were guaranteed a minimum annual royalty of £3 million in each year of the licence.