Findel’s rush defence leaves Mike Ashley frustrated

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Findel’s rush defence leaves Mike Ashley frustrated (AFP/Getty)

It’s not often people get to thumb their noses at Sports Direct and Mike Ashley, but the retailer Findel appears to have done it.

In what might well have prompted quiet sighs of relief at the commercial arms of two of America’s big sports leagues, Findel’s troubled Kitbag subsidiary, which runs UK stores for the NFL and NBA, has been offloaded to America’s Fanatics.

Why does this £11.5m deal matter? Because it has thwarted Mr Ashley.

Having failed to buy Kitbag last year, he dialled up one of his favourite plays, handing the ball off to his running backs in the City. They helped him get his hands on a 20 per cent stake.

He then tried to get his own man hired as chief executive – and failing that, to install him in the back-up role of non executive director. But Findel and its institutional shareholders cried foul.

The end result is that 300 Kitbag staff probably got together for an impromptu rendition of the star-spangled banner. They have been the beneficiaries of the sort of “hail Mary” pass that any NFL quarterback would have been proud of just a few days before the Superbowl.

Meanwhile, coach Ashley might be advised to take a hard look at his game plan.