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Archived News from July 2008

TAKEOVER LATEST / HANCOCK
2nd July 2008 10:47


Scanned articles from
Non League Today newspaper, 28 Jun 2008
and
Non League Paper newspaper, 29 Jun 2008

Thanks to carole for the scans






Non League Today newspaper, 28 Jun 2008
The long-awaited sale of Blue Square Premier new-boys Mansfield Town moved a step closer this weekend.

Local dentist Dr Colin Hancock met Stags representatives yesterday in London to finalise a heads of terms agreement for the sale, and also to make a down payment on his purchase.

The deal was verbally agreed with owner Keith Haslam last weekend, but no date for the completion of the deal has been agreed yet.

Hancock said it was imperative to speed up the deal with the new season approaching.

"This will be a crunch weekend," he said.

"The strategy for the sale has been agreed, and we are hoping to complete the first stage of that strategy."

He also said he will fulfil his obligations to Unibond One South newcomers Glapwell, where he is chairman, although there may be changes in order to comply with the rules over owning two clubs.

Hancock said he hoped to be named chairman as soon as possible, but hinted that the club may be short of money.

He said: "It seems not only will I be chairman, but will have to collect the empties and do the washing-up as well."

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Earlier stories:

Haslam agrees to sell Mansfield Town to Colin Hancock
CHAD.co.uk, 22 June 2008, By Ashley Booker

GLAPWELL-BORN dentist Dr Colin Hancock revealed on Saturday night that controversial Mansfield Town owner Keith Haslam has agreed to sell the club to him.

The announcement was made at an Olympic Summer Ball fundraiser - run by the town's Armchair Club organisation - at Mansfield Civic Centre, where Dr Hancock was among more than 100 guests in attendance.

Dr Hancock - who took over as chairman of non league football club Glapwell last year with ambitions to lead the club into the Unibond League - told Chad.co.uk late on Saturday night that the deal involved the purchase of the club and Field Mill.

Full story here

He will join the club immediately as an executive director ahead of an official handover - but would not disclose details of the figures involved.

And he reassured sceptical fans - who have been left disappointed in the past year following the collapse of the James Derry-led buyout - that the deal WOULD go through.

He said 'heads of terms' had been agreed and stressed he would not have been prepared to have gone public in such a manner if he felt a deal was not on the cards.

Dr Hancock, who lives in the Nottingham area, said he had been involved in a series of talks with Mr Haslam in recent weeks - but only received news that the under-fire Stags owner was happy to sell to him on Saturday evening.

"I was literally pulling into the car park here (at the Civic Centre) when I got the call from Keith," he told Chad.co.uk.

"I'm going to go in straight away because the place needs tidying up."

Dr Hancock first shot to prominence earlier this year when he rang into a BBC Radio Nottingham football phone in to reveal he had funds in place financially back Notts County.

And he was part of a group which was involved in serious negotiations, but says this waned when the supporters trust made it clear it wanted to own County.

Then it emerged that he was pursuing a possible buyout offer at Field Mill.

He was introduced to James Derry as a potential partner in what would prove to be a failed consortium, which three times went close to securing ownership of Mansfield Town FC earlier this year.

In February - when Chad first became aware of Dr Hancock's involvement - he said: "I am an honourable man. I would not do anything to adversely affect a deal happening at Mansfield. I just want to see the club progress.

"When I could not go any further with Notts, the logical thing to do seemed to be to look closer to where I was born and to Mansfield, which also needs help."

The Hancock deal brings to an end a controversial 15-year stint at the helm for Haslam, who has been the subject of fans anger for several seasons.

It also looks to have extinguished the hopes of eccentric entrepreneur John Batchelor's hopes of buying the Stags, while there has also been speculation of a bid being made a group of Mansfield businessman.

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Haslam is set to end stay at Stags
Evening Post, 23 June 2008
Keith Haslam is today set to relinquish control at Mansfield Town, ending a 15-year spell at the helm of the club.

Full story here

The Stags owner has verbally struck a deal to sell to Nottingham-based dentist Dr Colin Hancock and the two were due to sign an agreement this morning.

The finances involved in the deal have yet to be announced and it is not clear if Paul Holland will be given the manager's job.

But those details are likely to be revealed once the formalities have been completed, chief executive Stephen Booth confirmed.

"The position is that a deal has been made between the two parties but it has not been signed, although that should be done today," he said.

"It is, to my understanding, Dr Hancock who is in position to take over the running of the club.

"It is a relief that this deal has been struck because it has been a long process."

Booth revealed he will stay on at the club in his role in the short-term while the handover takes place.

Hancock, currently chairman of non-league side Glapwell, previously looked into the possibility of investing at Notts County but later decided against the idea.

He is understood to be keen to get to work at the club straight away and is set to immediately become an executive director.

Should things proceed as planned, it will end a takeover saga that has lasted more than 18 months.

Andrew Perry, James Derry and John Batchelor have all put themselves forward as potential buyers in the past.

Derry came the closest to buying Stags but twice deals fell through at the 11th hour.

Haslam first gained a majority shareholding in Mansfield in 1993 when he bought out Abacus Holdings.

He was the youngest chairman in the Football League at 34 and vowed to take the club to the Championship.

Supporters group Stags Fans United said in a statement: "We are cautiously welcoming the announcement. However, we have been here not just once before, but many times before.

"Agreeing a sale and actually going through with the sale are two completely different things. Until we get Keith Haslam's signature on a piece of paper we won't be jumping for joy."

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Booth refuses to reveal when Mansfield Town takeover will be completed
CHAD.co.uk, 22 June 2008

STAGS chief executive Stephen Booth has refused to reveal when any takeover of the club by Dr Colin Hancock will be completed.

Full story here

His comments on Monday morning come after other media had reported him saying a deal between Keith Haslam and Glapwell FC chairman, Dr Hancock, could be completed later today.

He said: "The position is that a deal has been made between the two parties but it has not been signed, although that should be done today.

"It is, to my understanding, Dr Hancock who is in position to take over the running of the club.

"It is a relief that this deal has been struck because it has been a long process."

But when contacted by Chad he said: "Heads of agreement have been reached. That does not constitute a full takeover being signed.

"The timetable is not in the public domain and I don't want to comment further.

"A statement will go out on the Mansfield Town official web site today."

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