Archived News from October 2005
|
LETTER TO THE CHAD FROM FORMER CHAIRMAN
|
 |
|
Letter to the CHAD from former Stags chairman Mr JB Almond
CHAD, 12 Oct 2005 And so we have another change of manager at Field Mill. Since Mr Haslam took control in 1993 on my count this is the seventh change of manager although I may have missed one or two. So much for continuity. The malaise at Field Mill does not stop there but goes to the very top with the Chairman. Since he acquired the club in 1993 we have spent every season but one in the bottom division and in the odd one we were relegated. The reason for this is not hard to find. When Mr Haslan took control it coincided with the advent of SKY TV and has meant that substantial sums of money have been available even to the small clubs, something that previous managers have not enjoyed. At the recent annual meeting it was revealed that he borrowed from the club a personal loan of £345,845 interest free having the previous year written off a loan of £239,297 as a gift to himself. In addition Stags Limited, the clubs controlling company, owes £582,433 to MTFC and Mr Haslam owns 74% of this company. All this in addition to paying himself a very generous salary for running the club. These are huge sums for a small club and could have bought and paid a lot of players. At the recent meeting, Mr Haslam told shareholders that he hoped to be in a position to pay off his loans within the next 2 or 3 months but I would advise supporters not to hold their breath on this one. In November 2000 he was quoted in Chad as saying "full repayment of my directors loan is a condition of TEAM Mansfields investment in the club". Since that time his loans have vastly increased. I am sad to write in this manner about a club who I have supported since before the Second World War, but I feel it is right that supporters should be aware of the reasons for the current plight of the club. |
Latest | October 2005