Archived News from June 2007
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STAGS LOSE MONEY FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
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Stags lose money for second year in a row
CHAD, 06 June 2007 MANSFIELD Town Football Club's deepening financial problems have taken a turn for the worse after it was revealed the club has been operating at a loss for a second year in succession. And with the club's AGM scheduled for Tuesday, angry shareholders and fans will once again be directing their fire at the club's owner and chief executive Keith Haslam. Financial statements for the year ending 30th June 2006, show an operating loss of £257,000 after losing around £259,000 the previous year. The report also revealed net assets of £1,250,660 with a total of £585,728 being owed to the club by Stags Ltd, which is controlled by Mr Haslam who owns 74 per cent of the parent company. At the end of June 2006 the club was valued at £1,305,435 — although £896,883 of that was made up of debts to the club. The physical assets of the football club were valued at £607,816, while a donation of £77,625 was made to the Stags Community Trust on 28th June last year. Salaries, management expenses and other re-charges amounting to £14,127 were also invoiced to the trust. Grave concerns Shareholder and former club director John Almond told Chad he would be raising his grave concerns over the club's finances at the forthcoming meeting. Said Mr Almond: "I'm going to be asking what the current situation of the club is, because things seem precarious to me. "I would like someone to go through the finances so I know where the club stands — what happened with the Keith Curle unfair dismissal issue hasn't been explained. "I'd like to know if the club is getting some sort of cash injection, because they seem to think the club is being run a lot better than it actually is. "People within the club will know the financial situation for this year — where is the club's liquid money going?" Chairman James Derry told Chad the club's financial problems would continue if gate revenue did not improve next season. He said: "We are pushing to sell more season tickets as it is vital we push the club back into the black — the 50 per cent attendance reduction has not helped either. "We are still in potential negotiations over the sale of the club, which should become clearer over the next few weeks," he added. Mr Haslam declined to speak to Chad regarding the financial situation of the club. TWO IN RUNNING TO TAKE OVER STAGS Evening Post, 06 June 2007 Mansfield chairman James Derry is confident the club will have new owners by the time the season kicks off. June. I have already had a preliminary meeting with the other people and I understand where they are coming from. The Stags are currently in negotiations with two potential investors. One is the Australian company who has made its interest known. But a fresh party has joined the race, leaving Derry believing Keith Haslam will no longer be the major shareholder by August 11. "I'm confident the club will have new owners for the start of the season because there is a strong interest on two fronts now," said Derry. "We have told the potential Australian investors we need to see them quickly and they have indicated they want to come over in the middle of "It is no one who has been around before but someone who I know, which means I know it is a genuine interest. "Things are moving along at quite a pace and the other thing making it more likely is Keith (Haslam) has indicated he now wants to go." The interest comes despite the club's audited accounts, released this week, showing the Stags lost £250,000 between June 2005 and June 2007 (correction by Martin - should be between June 2005 and June 2006) despite receiving a windfall from an FA Cup tie at Newcastle in January 2006, thought to be at least £350,000. They also collected £125,000 from a 25% sell-on clause when Liam Lawrence left Sunderland to join Stoke earlier this year. "The commercial side of things has not been great and we are trying to address that," said Derry. "But the main problem is obvious: we are not getting the gates we need, which is the main source of income. We need in the mid-3,000s to break even but towards the end of the season we were getting just over 2,000 for some matches. "The average amount paid at the gate by a fan is £11. If you lose 1,000 off the gate, that is £11,000 per game and over 25 games in a season that is £275,000." Meanwhile, the club has appointed former policeman Les Norman as their new safety officer to alleviate safety concerns that saw the ground's capacity halved. |
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