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Archived News from September 2009

SFU SIGN DEAL WITH THE CLUB
30th September 2009 22:05


12 September 2009

SFU Sign Deal with Stags

Mansfield 103.2 are there LIVE for the agreement of a deal that sees Stags Fans United put £55,000 into the club for an increased stake in the Field Mill outfit and a Supporters Director put on the board. Listen here.

CHAD coverage here.

There was a presentation on the pitch before the game against Stevenage. Listen to Will Lord's speech here.

SFU hand over the cheque to the club owners before the game. L to R: Andy Perry, Keith Underhill, Andy Saunders, Will Lord, Steve Middleton, Darren Shaw:


Will Lord's speech on the pitch before the game:


Will Lord writes:

"Can I, on behalf of Stags Fans United, pass on our heartfelt thanks to all of those people who have supported us since our launch on the 4th June 2008. In those short months we have raised more than £40,000 which has gone into our club today to support the new owners.
The SSA donation and grouped donations from members of the OSSC and SFFC added to the donations from hundreds of other Stags fans have made this possible and we would like to thank every single person who has handed over money to the trust for their support.
We are now in the position where we can invest further monies in the club and so we are back in fundraising mode! We will be holding another Sportsmans' dinner (hopefully as successfully as the last) as well as holding other fund raising events.
We are looking to gain new members of the trust and have organised the facility to pay in monthly instalments to aid possible donors and would encourage who wishes to join or donate money to visit these pages:
To join SFU, please use the membership form here.
If you wish to pay in monthly instalments, please also use the form here.

Once again many thanks for the great support for the club through donations."

Visit the SFU website http://www.stagsfansunitedsociety.co.uk.

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Supporters Direct website:

Mansfield Town increase shareholding/gain supporter-director

http://www.supporters-direct.org/news/item.asp?n=5470

Good news at the Stags. A historic ceremony occurred at Field Mill on Saturday when the supporters' trust Stags Fans United (SFU) completed the deal to buy more shares in the football club and appoint a supporter director for the very first time.

They bought a further 5,500 shares in the club with an investment of £55,000 (£10 per share). This takes SFU's shareholding to 8,800 shares. SFU also has an option to purchase a further 1,200 shares in the next 18 months which will take SFU's shareholding in Mansfield Town to around 9.5%. The initial £55,000 investment - which takes the SFU trust's stake in the club to £88,000 - has been raised by supporters' donations, fundraising events and a £15,000 donation from the Stags Supporters' Association.

Colin Dobell has also been installed as the first supporter-director, fulfilling a pledge made by the new owners of the Stags when they took over. Dobell, whose role is as a non-executive director, is one of the original founders of the Mansfield Town Supporters Trust and was chairman for many years.

Current SFU chairman, Will Lord - who made an appeal on the pitch ahead of the match with Stevenage on Saturday for more people to join the Trust and help it purchase the extra shares on offer - said: "It really is an historic day for Mansfield Town FC and its fans and shows how far the club has come in such a short time.

"We are delighted that the new owners have signed this deal and that the fans have an £88,000 stake in MTFC. But this is NOT the end of the road. We now need to raise another £12,000 to take up the offer of buying further shares and put us in a position to emulate fans trusts and groups at other clubs in the League who are substantially backing their respective clubs financially."

Stags chairman Andy Perry added: "With the fans director now on board, we feel this shows a willingness on our part. Colin will bring something to the table for the benefit of this club. It is yet another historic day in the past 18 months at Mansfield Town Football Club. We always said from day one that we were willing to work with the fans and we are delighted that this deal has been signed. We are willing to work together for the greater good of Mansfield Town FC not for any one individual. The community shares were always in place for the right investment and we are delighted that a deal has been done that is suitable to both sides."

The historic deal - agreed earlier this month - was signed ahead of Saturday's match with Stevenage and marks a remarkable turnaround at Field Mill in the past 18 months; from the birth of fans group Stags Fans United, a major protest public meeting in the town and the eventual sale of the club by the under fire Keith Haslam to local businessmen Andy Perry, Steve Middleton and Andy Saunders.

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CHAD coverage here :
Historic day at Field Mill as Stags sign deal with supporters

CHAD.co.uk, 12 September 2009, By Tim Morriss

AN historic ceremony occurred at Field Mill on Saturday when the deal which sees fans invest money into Mansfield Town FC in return for a supporter director was signed.
Stags Fans United (SFU) (the Mansfield Town Supporters Trust) born out of a coming together of four supporters groups - TEAM Mansfield (TM), the Stags Supporters Association (SSA), the Ollerton Stags Supporters Club OSSC) and Stags Fans For Change (SFFC) - in protest at previous controversial owner Keith Haslam, has bought a further 5.5 per cent stake in the club with an investment of £55,000.

That adds to the 3.3 per cent stake it already owns and in return Colin Dobell has been installed as the first supporter-director, fulfilling a pledge made by the new owners of the Stags when they took over.

Dobell, whose role is as a non-executive director, is a joint chairman of TEAM Mansfield. A further 1,200 shares at £10 each will be available for the SFU to purchase over the next 18 months to increase their stake in the football club.

The initial £55,000 investment - which takes the SFU trust's stake in the club to £88,000 - has been raised by supporters' donations, fundraising events and a £15,000 donation from the Stags Supporters' Association.

More fundraising will take place, including another Sportsmen's Dinner, to raise the further £12,000 needed for the extra shares on offer.

SFU chairman Will Lord - who made an appeal on the pitch ahead of the match with Stevenage on Saturday for more people to join the Trust and help it purchase the extra shares on offer - said: It really is an historic day for Mansfield Town FC and its fans and shows how far the club has come in such a short time.

"We are delighted that the new owners have signed this deal and that the fans have an £88,000 stake in MTFC.

"But this is NOT the end of the road. We now need to raise another £12,000 to take up the offer of buying further shares and put us in a position to emulate fans trusts and groups at other clubs in the League who are substantially backing their respective clubs financially."

Stags chairman Andy Perry added: "With the fans director now on board, we feel this shows a willingness on our part. Colin will bring something to the table for the benefit of this club.

"It is yet another historic day in the past 18 months at Mansfield Town Football Club.

"We always said from day one that we were willing to work with the fans and we are delighted that this deal has been signed.

"We are willing to work together for the greater good of Mansfield Town FC not for any one individual.

"The community shares were always in place for the right investment and we are delighted that a deal has been done that is suitable to both sides."

The historic deal - agreed earlier this month - was signed ahead of Saturday's match with Stevenage and marks a remarkable turnaround at Field Mill in the past 18 months; from the birth of fans group Stags Fans United, a major protest public meeting in the town and the eventual sale of the club by the underfire Haslam to local businessmen Andy Perry, Steve Middleton and Andy Saunders.

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