Mansfield Town Fans Together (MTFT) plan to sell shares in their new group to finance a takeover at Field Mill, where controversial owner Keith Haslam recently rejected a £3m plus offer from the James Derry consortium.

• Consortium's £3m offer will not be repeated

Mr Haslam has indicated for more than a year that he wants to sell the struggling Stags — and after rejecting bids earlier this year from an Australian interest and then a group of businessmen headed by chairman Mr Derry, he recently appointed business troubleshooter Stephen Booth to stabilise and sell the club.

Now a group of lifelong fans, who wish to remain anonymous for now but are known to Chad, have set up MTFT to try to take over the Stags.

The club is reported to be on course to lose £500,000 this year and remains rock bottom of the Football League.

Yesterday a spokesman for MTFT said: "The supporters are the lifeblood of a football club.

"With fans staying away from Field Mill in large numbers and the club reportedly making weekly losses, we believe it's time the fan base came together to buy back Mansfield Town Football Club.

"Mansfield Town fans have endured much heartache recently with failed takeover bids, we assure supporters we have the very best interests of the club at heart and, as long-term supporters ourselves, want to see a successful and well supported Mansfield Town.

"We believe a supporter-owned and run Mansfield Town would give the club its best opportunity for success on and off the pitch. We want to bring back the pride into our club, hopefully we can do that with the help, support and backing of Mansfield Town fans and local businesses.

"We believe a new approach is required to secure the future of Mansfield Town. We plan to unite fans, businesses and people with local interest, to purchase the name and operating rights to Mansfield Town FC, with a secondary target being to buy back Field Mill."

Shares in MTFT, which if successful would take over the ownership of the Stags, would be sold at a £1,000 each — with fans offered the chance through a local financial institution to borrow money at a competitive rate and over an extended term.

A spokesman told Chad: "This could make the cost of buying a share as little as £20 per month."

If there is enough interest in the shares offer, the fans group would then launch takeover talks at Field Mill

Shares would be limited to a maximum of 50 per person and at this stage there is no limit or target number of shares to be issued. The spokesman added: "The aim is to raise enough to buy the club and Field Mill. Any money left over after the purchase of the club would be put to the shareholders vote, either to be spent on improving the team or put towards a fund set up to raise money to buy Field Mill."

Holding a share in MTFT, if it went on to buy Mansfield Town FC, would make the fans a shareholder in the football club and entitled to a vote at the club's AGM and in deciding the club's chairman, who would run the Stags on a day to day basis.

The board of directors at the club would include at least two shareholders from MTFT. The SSA (Stags Supporters Association) would also be invited to place a representative on the board to help ensure transparency and appeal to the broader fan base.

Major decisions such as the sale of a player might also be put to the vote of the shareholders, but the manager — working with the chairman — would be responsible for buying players; and the manager would have sole responsibility over team selection.

The MTFT spokesman added: "We would also hope to give each shareholder a discount on season tickets at Field Mill; this would depend on the financial state of the club when MTFT takes control. Other benefits for shareholders would be discussed at a future date."

Initially MTFT is asking supporters to give their feedback to the plan and to indicate whether they would be interested in buying a share in the football club. Later, a full application form will be sent to interested parties who have registered their interest in buying shares.

To register an interest go the MTFT website at www.mtft.co.uk and click on Feedback or email info@mtft.co.uk. For those who don't have internet access, ring 07892872251

If a takeover bid is launched, all monies would then be held in a bank account controlled and monitored by a pre-announced legal firm. If the takeover fails after interest has been gained on the fans' money, this would be divided and repaid to shareholders along with their initial payment.

What do you think to the latest news in the protracted takeover saga at Field Mill? Let us know below.