And the Mansfield consortium - who bought the Stags from Keith Haslam on Thursday evening - immediately issued a rallying cry to fans and the business community.

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New chairman Andy Perry - an equal partner in the buyout with long-standing fans and fellow directors Andy Saunders and Steve Middleton - said: "This is a boyhood dream of ours to being owning our local Football Club.

"We are looking forward to the challenges ahead and with the help and support of the local community I am sure that we can achieve our common goal – which is promotion to the Football League.

"This is a new era for the club and we hope to re-ignite relationships with the supporters and give them something to be proud of."

He added that there would be a new commercial manager appointed early next week and they planned to turn the club into a 'professional company'. A club secretary is also likely to be appointed quickly to replace Sharon Roberts, who left Field Mill in May.

All three stressed that they would be involved in the day-to-day running of the club, but would not be taking a salary or any money out of the Stags. Mr Perry added: "Every penny that comes into the club from the fans, from the business sector, will go straight back into the running of the club."

Mr Perry - a local councillor, former sponsor and owner of Perry Electrical - added that the commercial side 'will be very important for us and we will engage with the local community and the business community. We will be delighted to do that. We want to bring everyone back together.'

He is aged 39, was born in West Bromwich and came to live in Mansfield when he was just 3.

Married with two children, Mr Perry has followed the Stags ever since, as well as having an allegiance for Sheffield Wednesday, but insists: "I am a Stags fan, of course I am. I have always watched the Stags since I was small."

He pledged that fans would be given a seat on the board of directors in return for investment - a direct response to the recent formation of Stags Fans United, a merger of four groups which aims to raise £250,000 in return for a say in the running of the club.

Andy Saunders, who said he would be stepping down from his role as joint chairman at the Stags Supporters Association (SSA) and discussing his TEAM Mansfield (TM) position with committee members, added: "We want to engage with supporters. I am a massive Stags fan. Our team has got to include supporters."

He is 52, has two children, lives in Mansfield and owns Alfreton Insurance Services Ltd. Born in Shirebrook, he is a lifelong Stags fan.

Also a former sponsor (the South Stand at Field Mill is known as the ASIS Alfreon Insurance Services Stand), Mr Saunders added: "Supporters are the lifeblood of this club, without them this club will be nowhere. We realise that.

"We will bring leadership from the top which this club has not had for 15 years.

"We are going to run the club more professionally. It has not been run professionally in the past.

"We are three guys who are very, very passionate about Mansfield Town

"As a club we have to go into this season saying we are not a Conference side, we are Mansfield Town. We don't want Conference mentality, we want Football League mentality."

Steve Middleton (49) is largely the unknown member of the consortium.

He is managing director of Lukes & Godwin Ltd, an electrical contractor based at Newark, and is married with three children.

He told the press conference: "I am the quiet one . . . but we love the club and will not be taking anything out of the club.

"We think we have installed a good management starting with Billy (McEwan), we are looking from today onwards to get back to where we belong as quickly as possible."

And when asked what quality he could bring to the club, he replied: "Passion!"

Later Mr Middleton told Chad: "My family and I have been going to matches, home and away, for 40 odd years.

"And I will continue to be on the terraces and in the stands. I don't want to be in the boardroom on matchdays, I am passionate about the club and can be as loud as any fan during games!

"I get more stressed watching Stags matches than I do running my business.

"I remember the days of 'Waggy' and can also remember the famous Leicester City FA Cup tie at the Mill and being carried down to the front of the stand to see the game."

All three directors pledged that their enthusiasm would make it work and that they would put structures in place off the field to improve the running of the club.

They said they were looking for an average home attendance of at least 2,500.

Talking about the evening two weeks ago when it was announced that rival bidder Colin Hancock had secured an agreement to buy the club, Mr Perry added: "It was a strange experience . . . my stomach went down.

"It was unbelievable. Knowing where I had been a couple of years when a similiar thing had happened, I took it on the chin and shook his hand. But the following day Keith (Haslam) said keep going on with what you are doing."

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