Archived News from August 2002
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MORE ON FINANCES
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NOTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT HASLAM LOAN
Evening Post, 07 August 2002 Mansfield Town chairman Keith Haslam has vowed to make "every endeavour" to repay the £350,000 the club has loaned him in the next financial year. That figure was released at the club's AGM at Field Mill yesterday and the amount loaned to Haslam was defended by company secretary Tony Price. The sum of £350,823 was the amount on June 30, 2001, compared to £257,552 the year before and £198,635 on July 1, 1999. The loan is interest free and repayable on demand. Price said: "Keith has not used Mansfield Town as a drinking vessel and the amount involved is not over the top as far as I am concerned. "This is certainly not the only case where directors have loans from companies or the clubs and I have never known them to have interest payments. "We have not tried to hide anything and what you see in these accounts is the truth of the situation." The repayment of the loan was seen as a condition of supporters' group Team Mansfield purchasing a stake in the club and their involvement is likely to be finalised at an EGM on August 20. Stags' turnover in the last financial year was just under £2million, which was an increase of nearly £800,000, of which £1.1million was spent on staff wages. At a time when many football clubs are in crisis, Haslam was delighted that the club made a profit of £293,527. He said: "The whole of Mansfield is regenerating and coming on leaps and bounds and I am very proud of the part we are playing in that. "I would also like to thank the supporters for last year, because they have been absolutely magnificent. "We are back in the Second Division and we aspire to go even higher, particularly if we can make further inroads into our catchment area. "In the whole of the Nationwide League, there have only been three or four teams who have been able to spend any money on boosting their team for this season and we are one of them." One thing that is going to be put on hold is development of the Bishop Street Stand, which remains the only area in the ground that has not received a radical facelift in the last two years. Haslam said: "We are limited for space on that side of the ground because of the houses and we will be looking to accommodate education facilities within the West Stand. That is the priority at the moment." He believes Stags have nothing to fear from their first season in Division Two for ten years. He said: "We are not in a position to be frightened by anybody. "Season ticket sales are at 1,900, compared to 900 this time last year, and I think our young players are going to get even better. "We have got a reasonable-sized squad now and have brought players in, so I would consider a finish in the top half of the table a success." |
Latest | August 2002