A Statement on the official Mansfield Town Website:
Stags Chairman Answers Critics
The Mansfield Town Chairman Keith Haslam, has today revealed the details of his plans for the Club. Mr Haslam has already told shareholders at the AGM earlier this year that he had plans which would improve it's finances, allow more input from others into the running of the Club and, importantly, repay in full a controversial personal loan from the Club.
These plans had been put together by Mr Haslam and his advisers in early September, but Mr Haslam has not been able to reveal the details because he first needed to ensure their practicality and, having done this, discuss them with the FA. Mr Haslam's advisers have now confirmed that the plans are practical and the full details have been given to the FA. He met with the FA on Thursday 8th December to discuss them further. The FA have indicated that they have no opposition to the plans which will now be implemented as soon as formalities can be completed, probably early in the New Year.
There has in the last few weeks been intensive interest in the Club, mainly due to speculation over loans made by the Club to Mr Haslam and to Stags Limited, the Club's holding company which he controls. Much of this has featured comments from Team Mansfield, alleging breaches of agreements made and further fuelling criticism of the loans to Mr Haslam and Stags.
As well as his announcement at the AGM, Mr Haslam had separately informed Team Mansfield that issues were being addressed and dealt with. Unfortunately Team Mansfield have been unwilling to wait until Mr Haslam was able to announce details of the plans and have commenced legal proceedings.
The main features of the plans are:
- All loans to Mr Haslam will be repaid in full.
- The Club will make a dividend payment to all shareholders, including Stags and Team Mansfield. Stags will put these funds immediately back into the Club to repay in full its own loan from the Club. It will then be up to Team Mansfield and the other shareholders to decide if they also wanted to re-invest their funds and, if so, at what time.
- Mr Haslam intends appoint new directors to the board of the Club, including a new Chairman. The board will have extensive powers over the running of the Club.
- New investment will also be sought for the Club, which would reduce Stags's voting control from over 85% to around 51%. This is significant since many actions of the Club require a 75% vote in favour from the shareholders.
The Clubs Chairman has expressed disappointment that Team Mansfield appear to have been fuelling media attention on an issue which they are aware is being dealt with. What's more he feels that, whilst he regrets his earlier actions which gave rise to the criticism, the adverse comments have affected the Club's credibility with potential sponsors and is undermining the ability of the Club to do the very things that he and the supporters want to achieve for the future.
In contrast Team Mansfield have the self-admitted aim of gaining control of the Club, and have suggested that this would produce improvements in league performance and financial security. There is no evidence to support this. What's more Team Mansfield have said that "..they are not a fund raising organisation for the football club &". If that is the case, the question needs to be 'What are they and what benefit will the Club gain from them?' Indeed it should be recalled that special Community Shares were set up in the first place that Team Mansfield indicated that this would result in substantial extra support and sponsorship. To date, the only investment by Team Mansfield has been the £33,000 paid directly into the Club's bank account for their shares. He has himself gained no benefit at all from this, and to suggest otherwise is mischievous. So far as the Club is concerned and contrary to the impression given, no additional sponsorship and no additional support of any other sort has materialised.
Driving forces behind Team Mansfield seem not to understand that, in order to obtain control of the club in the manner they appear to want, the shares held by Stags would have to be purchased at a commercial price with the funds being paid to Stags, not to the Club. This means that additional funds would then be needed if Team Mansfield were to invest in the Club itself. To his credit Mr Haslam wants to ensure that any new investment goes directly into the Club, and is not seeking any personal gain from this.
Never the less he has stated that if Team Mansfield want to be part of the new plans, he is willing to meet with them and to discuss this, however his plans include a meaningful investment into the Club in exchange for meaningful input onto its operations, factors which Team Mansfield will need to show that they have the funds to participate. Mr Haslam has also stated that, if Team Mansfield are unwilling or unable to participate, he is willing to personally purchase their shares so that they suffer no loss. He would then, if it formed part of a new deal with any new investor, consider placing those shares in a new trust for the benefit of the Stags Supporters Association, a much larger supporters' grouping.
In conclusion Under Mr Haslam's control, Mansfield Town have become one of a very few profitable and secure football clubs, with substantial cash resources and excellent facilities for fans and players When he took control 12 years ago, the Club was losing £400,000 per year, had poor facilities, had lost control of its ground, and had bleak prospects. Mr Haslam concluded deals which resulted in gains of such magnitude that the Club was able to regain control of its ground, build a new £7 million stadium, clear all its debts, give a level of security to people employed by the club and still retain substantial cash resources. Many of these deals could have been done by Mr Haslam for his personal gain however he chose to give the Club the benefits.
Following the restructure of the Club and its finances, a powerful board will have access to the resources built by Mr Haslam and which will be needed to move to the next stage. However, the financial security of the Club has to remain paramount and the funds will be used responsibly with the aim of using the financial strength in the best way to develop the Club.