Archived News from September 2004
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LAWRENCE FEE IS SETTLED BY TRIBUNAL
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CHAD website
MANSFIELD Town are to receive £175,000 plus add-ons from Sunderland for wing ace Liam Lawrence. Stags boss Keith Curle and chairman last week Keith Haslam, attended the long awaited compensation hearing for the transfer of Lawrence to Championship side Sunderland in the summer. The hearing that took place at the Renaissance Hotel in Manchester also saw Sunderland facing appeals from Premiership club Manchester City and fellow League Two team Oxford United. On top of the £175,000, Stags will receive another £10,000 for every 10 appearances Lawrence makes for the Black Cats up to 50, £100,000 if Sunderland gain promotion, £50,000 for a first competitive international appearance plus 25 per cent sell-on if he shoud move on from Wearside. Mansfield Town Chairman Keith Haslam explained: "This is the first appeals meeting that I have attended. "Previously in these circumstances you would have attended a Tribunal whose purpose was to decide on a true transfer value for a player. "These days, however the format has changed and it is now an appeals committee for rightful compensation based on player development as a professional player from the grass roots of the Centre of Excellence through the Scholarship stage and into a full first team professional and future potential when the player moves to bigger clubs. "Keith and I went to the appeals meeting where we saw Liam before the proceeding started and he was asking about how the club was getting on, commenting on how well we were doing and that he is enjoying time at the Stadium of Light. But he is most thankful for what Mansfield Town Football Club was able to do for him. "In the meeting was the panel and of course the representatives from Sunderland and it was not an easy situation as one side was trying to drive the price down and the other side attempting to drive it up. "In the end the committee came to what I consider to be a fair decision on Liam respective of today's climate of reduced fees. "But as previously mentioned we were compensated for the development of Liam rather than a transfer value. "They took into consideration a period from when he joined us at the Centre of Excellence, then on a scholarship in the youth team, and finally becoming a mainstream player in the first team. "Then the panel looked at the potential of his development to play when he moves onto bigger clubs." He added: "I believe the offer arrived at by the panel was a fair deal. "Of course you would always like more but it was a fair deal and I am happy with it. I know that if we had sold Liam whilst he was still contracted to the club we could have got more for him, but we felt it was in the best interest of the football Club to keep him as a Mansfield Town player during the final promotion push. " In contrast, when Chris Greenacre left we were entitled to no compensation as he was over the 24 year old threshold" |
Latest | September 2004