Ashley took his shares in Rangers towards the 10 per cent mark, asking for an extraordinary general meeting to be held to remove Graham Wallace, the chief executive, and finance director Philip Nash.
More fan's pressure on Ashley!
Telegraph: "Ashley’s ploy was described by one Rangers source as a ‘tactical strike’ on the club. Now the Union of Fans, the umbrella group for disenchanted supporters, has called upon the SFA to intervene.
"In a statement, the UoF said: 'The move by Mike Ashley to grab power in the Rangers boardroom is extremely concerning.
“'The SFA’s special dispensation, which allowed Mr Ashley to purchase up to 10 per cent of the club, was clearly designed to mirror UEFA rules on dual ownership. These rules do not allow anyone to exert a ‘decisive influence’ over the decision-making of two clubs.
“'There can be no more obvious attempt to exert ‘decisive influence’ over another club than to try to remove its executive directors. Charles Green and the previous board, as placemen for shareholders currently represented by Sandy Easdale, have already allowed Mr Ashley to plunder the club for onerous merchandise contracts and virtually free stadium naming rights. He also has full control of the club stores.
“'We firmly believe that it is Mr Ashley’s intention to now attempt to grab ownership of the club’s trademark rights including our name and badge. We believe he is deliberately attempting to hamper the efforts of others to invest in the club so that he can provide a loan on terms which will allow him to demand these trademark rights.
“'The SFA has a duty to Rangers to rigorously enforce both its own and Uefa rules on dual ownership. We believe Mr Ashley’s EGM call is a breach of those rules and we have written to the SFA calling on them to take appropriate action.'”
Although Mike Ashley is set to strengthen his grip on Rangers in the near future – this does not mean he is on the verge of selling Newcastle United.
Ashley, incredibly, demanded ownership of the Rangers badge in return for an emergency loan, a bid that was blocked by the Scottish club’s chief executive Graham Wallace.
Kissing the Rangers badge that could soon belong to Ashley!
This would be worth millions as the 51-year-old Londoner would get a cut of every piece of merchandise which had the badge on it.
He already owns all the Rangers retail outlets and could change the name of Ibrox to have the Sports Direct logo as he bought those rights for £1.
But there has been no indication that Ashley will sell Newcastle United.
Uefa would allow Ashley, in theory, to own Newcastle and become more involved at Rangers.
The rules state he could own up to 49.9% of Rangers.
So unless the SFA and Uefa step in, Ashley can do whatever he likes.