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End of road for Stags buyout fans group



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Published Date: 14 January 2008
Email Tim Morriss

THE new supporters' group set up to try to buy the Stags, Mansfield Town Fans Together (MTFT), has folded.
MTFT - launched last month - had planned to launch a possible takeover bid of Mansfield Town FC and give fans a say in the running of the troubled club.

Supporters, who would have been asked to buy £1,000 shares in the group to fund a buyout, were asked to register an interest in MTFT's plans.


But this week the group admitted defeat in its bid to try to end the long-running takeover saga at Field Mill.

A statement released on Tuesday said it was closing down the website and attempt to raise money to buy the club through fans, local people and businesses.

A spokesman said: "We believed that there would be sufficient momentum to have gathered more interest than we have, given the problems at the club and the lack of a bid that appears to be going anywhere.

"Additionally, we were disappointed but not surprised not to have received support from any of the other fans groups. We understand their positions, but still feel that they could have got behind this proposal more positively."

E-mails have been sent to those people who registered on the website, thanking them for their interest and for taking the trouble to register.

The spokesman added: "It also seems unlikely that we will see a united fans grouping attempting to buy the club as the agendas of the different groups are clearly and understandably different."

"We have at least tried to do something positive to deal with the issue as we see it and would finally like to thank all those who helped and supported us over the last month or more."

MTFT had been set up following frustrations at the year-long takeover saga at Field Mill, where controversial owner Keith Haslam recently rejected a £3m plus offer from the James Derry consortium.

The new group said at the time it was formed: "We believe a football club owned and run by the people who care about it most is the best way to secure the club's future. Mansfield Town is in a desperate position, bottom of the Football League, struggling financially and with supporters staying away in numbers and calling for Keith Haslam to sell the club.

"We urge our fellow supporters and supporters groups to unite, to work with MTFT and to help bring enough support to this idea to ensure Mansfield Town has a future, a future where the club is run by the people who care about it most."



The full article contains 453 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 15 January 2008 10:02 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Mansfield
 
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John McClane,

15/01/2008 15:47:13
Hardly surprising when you consider how they went about their business. The people behind it haven't endeared themselves to Stags fans in the past so it was never going to work. They also finish off by having a dig at other supporters groups. This was only done to massage ego's at the very best.
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Ayup meduck,

Mansfield 15/01/2008 21:50:13
Unfortunately another dead end in the sorry tale that is Mansfield Town and its downtrodden fans. We are at a stage now where the club is on its knees, the business community is shying away and the fans see the only targets left to blame are their fellow supporters efforts. The SSA are the worst offenders in this latest debacle, they have distanced themselves as much as possible from the protests with statements on their website stating "we are a fans group not a protest group" they have supported the chairman constantly whilst condemning him and revving up the fans with pointless whingeing when he lets them down (constantly). They have a hidden agenda with ideas above their station, made perfectly obvious when one of the TM officials resigned and took up a senior SSA post, just when things were looking rosy with Mr Derry (they even issued a statement asking fans to contribute more money to donate to the club) To top it all off when aother group have an idea to raise funds for a possible "fans buyout" what did they do? support the idea? No of course not, why? Cos they didn't speak to the SSA first!!!! bunch of wannabee's who need to wake up and smell the Gold Blend
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Antler,

16/01/2008 01:04:01
What a load of rubbish. SSA along with all the other fans groups want the absolute best for MTFC. SSA and TM held a march through town and have made their protests about the running of the club known for years whilst ensuring the best deals for members as per their remit. An almost impossible balance to strike. The shame is all the people with the financial muscle to make any sale happen need to sit down and thrash out a deal between them for the best interests of the club as soon as humanly possible. TEAM stands for TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE. Any talk of hidden agendas is beyond belief. SSA have record numbers of amber members and blue membership is higher now in January than the total at the end of last season despite the clubs circumstances. They must have nearly 1000 members which is amazing considering the attendances. Thats massive credit to the SSA that this number of people are prepared to back the SSA Committee's efforts, all of which are volunteers as are all fans groups doing a great job in incredibly difficult circumstances purely through a labour of love.
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