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'I won't be taking a salary now' - Haslam's pledge



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Published Date: 04 December 2007
Email Tim Morriss

CONTROVERSIAL Stags owner Keith Haslam has insisted again that he does want 'out of this football club'.
On Thursday he rejected an offer for Mansfield Town from the James Derry consortium and on Tuesday he surprisingly stepped down as chief executive — bringing in chartered accountant Stephen Booth to run the club and seek a buyer.

In an exclusive interview with Chad he denied that the surprise news was a smokescreen to deflect from fans, angry at his decision to reject the consortium's offer, calling for a boycott at Field Mill.

And he revealed that he would no longer draw a salary from the club as Mr Booth takes over the day-to-day running of the Stags.

Mr Haslam said: "I won't be taking a penny out of the club any more as a salary and I won't be going back to the club at all.

"I have taken a backward step since the deal was agreed at the beginning of October with James, but then we haven't been able to complete that deal.

"That is why I had to take this action. My position has clearly become untenable, I know that. The club needs stability in its day-to-day operations.

"I know the fans may be sceptical about this, but physically I cannot do any more than what I have done. I have cut my salary, I have moved away from the club, now I just own my shareholding.

"What more can I do for them? I am grateful to see James (Derry) stay, fans and I can see that he is enthusiastic to take the club forward and I know he and Stephen will be able to work together. I hope fans can take comfort that James is still here.

"Now all I am trying to do is package the club and sell it to whoever can take it forward."

Mr Haslam denied that he had been offered a deal worth around £3m for the club by the consortium — or that the appointment of a new chief executive was leverage to try to get more money from the consortium.

He added: "I don't want to talk about details of any deal or offer, negotiations have always been private and confidential, but it was substantially less than has been reported before in Chad and less than the £3m you have mentioned.

"I couldn't accept the deal that was offered, my advisors told me that. You don't sell a £1m house for £200,000 because it is the only deal on the table.

"We are not in debt and there are plenty of clubs out there that are. Look at Swindon, £6m in debt and a a £6m deal, in effect, is being talked about there. I am not looking for anything like that, but you have got to be realistic.

"I was happy with the deal in October, but for one reason or another that deal wasn't done. At the time we had other possibilities, but chose to go with James and then the deal changed."

He added that it was now time for 'fans, business, councils, everyone to get behind the club for it to prosper'.

"Only the supporters can do that. I am not blaming the fans, but they have got to decide if they want success or not.

"If they attack me, they attack the club. If it hurts me, then it hurts Mansfield Town FC.

"I repeat, I do want to be out of MTFC, this appointment of Stephen just enhances that."

"I hope we can fund a buyer, it should take three to six months at most. The door is still open to the consortium, but since last week a couple of people have expressed an interest again in buying the club .

"There will be no knee jerk reaction though to last week's consortium situation.

"The priority now is to stablise the club with Stephen and open dialogue with all interested people in the club - fans, Mansfield District Council, Nottinghamshire County Council etc - and then find a buyer."

Mr Haslam said that 'all options are open' when asked if any future bidders would be able to buy Field Mill as well as the football club.

And when questioned about the £500,000 his holding company owes the football club for land purchased at Skegby, Mr Haslam would only add: "It is within Stephen's remit to look at that."

The full article contains 768 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 04 December 2007 10:34 PM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Mansfield
 
 

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