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I will mortgage Mansfield Town and Field Mill for £4m, admits Batchelor as he presses for Monday takeover


Takeover deal could be agreed with 24 hours - says would-be owner

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Published Date: 29 March 2008
Email Tim Morriss

JOHN Batchelor, fast becoming the most hated man among Mansfield Town fans ahead of long-time controversial owner Keith Haslam, plans to land the Stags with a £4m mortgage to buy Field Mill.
That is how he intends to fund his proposed purchase of the football club AND stadium.

Now Chad understands that he hopes the £4.25m deal could be agreed even as quickly as Monday - despite loud protests against his plan revealed on Friday to rename the club Harchester United after the fictional TV football team.

  • From Mansfield Town to Harchester United - all the stories


Mr Batchelor submitted his bid for the club last Wednesday and says that he has supplied Mr Haslam with proof of his funding.

On Sunday he again pressed his case by submitting paperwork to both chief executive Stephen Booth and Mr Haslam - as well as holding telephone discussions.

However, on Sunday evening Mr Booth, when contacted by Chad, declined to comment on the takeover situation, but referred enquiries to his statement on Friday evening which said 'no formal agreement has been reached. No further comment will be made until there are any significant developments'.

At this stage it is thought Mr Booth, brought to Field Mill to broker s sale, does not expect a takeover announcement on Monday.

Chad exclusively revealed last week in a series of stories how he first joined the Derry consortium, then secretly put in a solo bid and was quickly axed from the consortium - which then pulled out of takeover talks.

Mr Batchelor, when asked how he would finance buying the stadium for just over £4m, said: "It is cheaper for me to mortgage than to pay rent.

"I would rather just buy the football club and pay a reasonable rent, but that is a fairly steep price."

Initially it is thought that he will free up equity in properties to provide proof that he has the funds in place to buy the club and stadium.

Chad first reported on Friday that Mr Haslam wants an annual rent of £275,000 - reduced to £175,000 in the Conference - on a 10-year lease for anyone wanting to buy just his majority shareholding in the football club for £1.

It is not clear how Mr Haslam's outstanding £0.5m loan to the football club from his own company Stags Ltd - used to buy land at Skegby for a yet to be built training ground - would be repaid.

But Mr Haslam has insisted upon new owners injecting £0.5m of working capital into the club.

When it was pointed out by Chad that buying the club and ground on a £4m plus mortgage could leave the Stags with a massive debt - particularly if Mr Batchelor then moved on very quickly as he has a habit of doing with companies he buys - the would-be owner admitted: "It does, but wouldn't Mansfield have a massive debt in terms of the rent anyway.

"The club is not going to get rid of Keith Haslam without paying - it is just a choice of doing it by renting or a mortgage."

However, there is a difference between the football club having a debt renting the ground, rather than being in debt through a mortgage it cannot afford.

For any club owner renting the stadium and failing to meet its repayments would simply have to hand the club back to Mr Haslam - not threatening the future of the club which could continue to play at Field Mill with Mr Haslam back as its owner.

But, of course, if the club failed to meet mortgage repayments, its debts would be with a bank or whoever is administering the £4m loan - and they could, in theory, repossess the ground, leaving Mansfield Town FC without a home.

When at York Mr Batchelor, who bought the club for £1, also promised to buy the ground, Bootham Crescent - but that never materialised, although he did take a £700,000 option from a property developer to build houses on the land.

It was alleged at the time that while £300,000 of that went to the football club, the rest went straight to Mr Batchelor's own company - before he took the club into administration.

Mr Batchelor has made it clear through Chad.co.uk that he is interested in the Stags to make money - and would take at least 25% commission from any sponsorship deals he brings to the football club or 25% from any overall profit.


The full article contains 764 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 30 March 2008 8:25 PM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Mansfield
 
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1

paulyoud,

Aldershot 30/03/2008 12:51:46
Didn't think that it was possible to have a worse option than Haslam.

I was wrong.
2

hayley marie ,

lancs 30/03/2008 12:55:29
DO U THINK WHEN HE GET'S HIS REMORTGAGE.THE CON MAN WILL PAY POEPLE'S WAGE'S BACK WOT HE OWE'S THEM.
3

Adamr999,

30/03/2008 13:25:25
he will probly just leave us with 4 million pounds of debt then when hes had enough. This doesent solve our problems at all.
4

Sporting Chance,

mansfield 30/03/2008 13:46:22
This is becoming farcical to say the least

Haslam will sell the club to this so called business man - the club will end up in a financial mess - possibly administration

And lo and behold Keith Haslam steps back in buys the whole lot back for a paltry amount - a lot less than he sold the club for

Keith will think he is the knight in shining armour

This is a mess for the club and the supporters and this will go on for years

Where does Alan Meale stand on all this - he has gone very quiet over the last few months
If he is that concerned why didn't he join the consortium that was trying to take the club over before this joker turned up
5

RobD Blidworth,

mansfield 30/03/2008 14:42:06
Can anyone explain to me how on earth anyone would give this man a mortgage for 4million quid giving his past financial dealings?
6

Grovesred,

York 30/03/2008 16:46:13
If he has control of the ground, just about anyone will give him a mortgage, because they'll take the ground when he defaults.

At York, his "sponsorship" deal with Persimmon came a few days before he tore up City's 25-year lease and signed one-year lease in its place.

Getting control of your ground is where he aims to make his money once he leads your club into bankruptcy.

You must stop him before it's too late.
7

RobD Blidworth,

mansfield 30/03/2008 18:46:05
Thanks Grovesred you have just confirmed my worst fears 'The world really has gone mad' I dont think there is much we can do Haslam is so determined to exact his revenge on the supporters he hates so much he will find a way of doing a deal with Batchelor, the future look bleak!!
8

marxsay,

clipstone 30/03/2008 19:55:42
What has happened toDerry and his team,i want to know why they pulled out and if they can save us from this mentally ill individual.
9

dot,

30/03/2008 20:46:51
Marxsay

http://www.chad.co.uk/stags/Derry-resigns-from-Stags-after.3926147.jp

They wanted to reduce the rent, Haslam said no . . . stalemate I guess
10

Grovesred,

York 31/03/2008 06:39:38
If Haslam is determined to do a deal with Batchelor, it might be time for your Supporters' Trust and other supporters organisations to begin collecting money like there's no tomorrow.

By the time Batchelor had finished with City, the supporters were the only ones left to pick up the pieces and drag us out of administration.
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