DAVE KING hopes Rangers can avoid further legal battles with Sports Direct as the Ibrox board seek to resolve the ongoing feud with the Mike Ashley-owned firm.

And he has hit out at the ‘corporate and personal bullying’ that saw him and Rangers dragged through the courts in recent months.

Sunday marked the first anniversary since King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan overthrew the former Gers board after a lengthy battle for control at Ibrox.

Several investors provided funds to repay the £5million loan that was due to Sports Direct last year and King has now provided an update to supporters on the situation with Ashley’s sportswear company.

King told rangers.co.uk: “Together we have demonstrated that our Club will not be kept down. We are no longer powerless to deal with issues that confront us.

“The Board will not stand by and allow Rangers to be negatively impacted on any front and will continue to challenge decisions made prior to regime change if they are damaging to our ambitions for Rangers.

“It is also well documented that, after replacing the board last March, we inherited a number of legacy issues. All of these have been addressed.

“Some were capable of being resolved immediately but others require longer-term remedies.

“In particular, the arrangements with Sports Direct remain problematic. The Club and I were compelled to deal with a number of legal attacks from Sports Direct in its attempt to reassert the dominant relationship that it enjoyed prior to regime change.

“The new Board and I stood up to this corporate and personal bullying and achieved resounding success in the court applications, including substantial cost orders in our favour.

“I have already expressed my personal views on the relationship with Sports Direct and its so-called management of the Club’s retail activities. There is no need to repeat them.

“It is unfortunate that it required the repayment of the expensive so-called “interest-free” loan before we were able to give notice on the agreement with Sports Direct or to take legal action to protect the Club’s interests and seek restitution.

“This bizarre state of affairs was caused by poorly-negotiated agreements prior to regime change during which personal interest was put ahead of those of the Club.

“Additionally, some of the individuals negotiating on behalf of Rangers had a clear conflict of interest. A joint venture should be based on trust and that is clearly absent on both sides.

“We have now had sufficient time to analyse the voluminous documentation supporting the establishment of the numerous agreements and side agreements with Sports Direct.

“Discussions have commenced with our legal advisors to review our findings and to devise the most effective legal strategy. This will be presented to the Board for approval at the end of this month.

“It remains possible that the seemingly inevitable lengthy and costly litigation can be avoided.

“There is a far better alternative if Sports Direct recognises that the present arrangements are not working for either party and agrees to renegotiate the present arrangements to create the win-win situation that should have been reflected in the original agreements if Rangers had an effective negotiating team at that time.

“It would be an immediate boost for Rangers if the Board can be put into a position to endorse a revised deal prior to the launch of new kit for the coming season.

“It would be great to see our supporters once again being able to wear kit at games while being certain that their purchases will benefit the Club and the team.”