Mansfield: Ground stolen and then evicted

[pauld]

Mansfield fought long and hard to get rid of Keith Haslam, their answer to Diamandis, but just as they finally got rid he pretty much stole their ground from under them, forcing the new regime to pay him rent so he could continue to treat them as a cash cow, despite being finally kicked out. Now the new regime have engaged lawyers to investigate the almost certainly illegal sale of the ground (and sundry other "loans" over the years), they've been evicted from the ground:

http://www.twohundredpercent.net/?p=10123

Maybe this is something the FA could intervene in to show the nation they do have a purpose. Or perhaps they could just sulk about how FIFA's bid process isn't as transparent as they'd first thought (big shock to them apparently) and continue to ignore the plight of the actual clubs they're supposed to protect.

[tj2002]

Reading stuff like that makes me so angry and so glad that we now have proper people running our football club. Despite our current predicament Fitton & Co. seem to be building this club for the future and I have no doubt that we'll be hosting Championship football at the CG in the next 5 years.

However, if I were a Mansfield fan I would be organising a mob, hunting down this Haslam fella and burning down his house(after 1st making sure that any family members were out of course, you don't want any collateral damage)

Grade a c*nt

[Arriba]

all a bit kassam like innit...

[The Professor]

My mate is a very active member of the Stags Supporters Club and they have had a terrible time over the years since a certain Keith Haslam got involved.  For legal reasons I won't go into some of the stories he's told me about the man but if you ever have the misfortune to bump into Haslam just check your wallet is still intact.

I really feel for the supporters because although Haslam is no longer involved with the club, he's acquired the ground and surprise, surprise he's charging them an arm & a leg to use Field Mill.  They have a new owner who does genuinely seem to be trying to build a side that can compete & gain promotion back to the Football League but the club doesn't need this.

[leefer]

A sad tale....but alas they were not a big club and it will happen again.
If you look at the success that Chesterfield up the road are having with doubling the crowds at a new ground and being towards the top,then Mansfield should strive to get the same relative success.

[Summerof69]

I hope the new owners of Mansfield win their legal action, because people like Haslam should be locked up on an indefinite basis.

[pauld]

If you look at the success that Chesterfield up the road are having with doubling the crowds at a new ground and being towards the top,then Mansfield should strive to get the same relative success.

I guess they'd say they are striving to do precisely that. Having one of the original robber barons in charge for around a decade, then having him drain millions out of the club, use it to steal the ground from under you and evict you when you try to find out what happened to the money may be what's hindering them slightly in that effort. That's kind of the point.

[leefer]

I guess they'd say they are striving to do precisely that. Having one of the original robber barons in charge for around a decade, then having him drain millions out of the club, use it to steal the ground from under you and evict you when you try to find out what happened to the money may be what's hindering them slightly in that effort. That's kind of the point.

Well the point i am making is that is history now......we know how you feel about it Paul...along with our plight and Pompeys.....get over it...the money wont ever be found and the reasons either.

Its tough but fact.......so move on forwards,not backwards by spending more money and time on past shit.
Mansfield are a good little club and i hope they are back soon.

[pauld]

Well the point i am making is that is history now......we know how you feel about it Paul...along with our plight and Pompeys.....get over it...the money wont ever be found and the reasons either.

Read the article, they know damn well where the money is, it's not in dispute. What is in dispute is whether it was lawfully taken. Are you seriously saying if Diamandis had given himself a £2m "present" before he fucked off and used it to sell himself the ground so we had to continue swelling his coffers by paying him rent for the next x years, you'd be shrugging your shoulders and saying "Ah, well. Get over it"?

If more people showed the balls of the current Mansfield board and actually tried nailing some of these crooks down, we'd see a lot less clubs in trouble. I'm looking at you, Football League, FA, DTI.

[Fred Elliot]

.....get over it...the money wont ever be found and the reasons either.

I think that's ample reason not to get over it Leefer

If everyone had that attitude then we would still be burdened with the debacle that was Wills/Diamandis/Gray/Holt et al

[leefer]

What has happened is a travesty....wrong,but its happened at lots of clubs.....the scamsters know how to bend the rules and get round the law......so how do you know Paul that the money wasnt lawfully taken?.....may not be morally right...may piss off fans all over the country....but that dosn't mean to say the money wasnt lawfully taken.
Many clubs have been hammered......including us..various individuals taking shed loads of our money....Ruddock nearly broke us but lawfully he was within his rights to take the vast amount of money he took....not right but lawfull,as a club we just had to accept it and move on.

Mansfield will have to do the same only the lawyers like at Pompey will gain  ...unless they can risk more money on proving in court that it wasnt lawfull.....seeing as there are padlocks on the ground it seems it was lawfull.
Personally i get pissed off with clubs like Pompey who bring in people who are a bit dodgy then whinge when suprise suprise they have been shafted....the same at Oxford,everyone saw what Kassam was all about....years before he walked away.
Most people up north knew Haslam was dodgy....Mansfield gambled on him...the gamble was always going to be a loser.
Sad for the Stags fans of course.....and i hope they do get a result,but can't see it.

[Batch]

Mansfield will have to do the same...unless they can risk more money on proving in court that it wasnt lawfull.....seeing as there are padlocks on the ground it seems it was lawfull.

Radford has had to put in half a million pounds in order to ensure that the club can see its way through to the end of the season, so he could certainly be forgiven for being extremely troubled over why he was paying rent to someone that had acquired Field Mill in the manner that Haslam had. He had instructed Pinsent Masons, an international law firm, to investigate this further and, so far as we are aware, this investigation remains ongoing.

Seems they were looking at the legal aspect, I don't think padlocking the ground is proof enough 

[pauld]

Most people up north knew Haslam was dodgy....Mansfield gambled on him...the gamble was always going to be a loser.

They didn't gamble on him, he bought the club about 10 years ago. What were Mansfield supposed to have done about that?

What has happened is a travesty....wrong,but its happened at lots of clubs.....the scamsters know how to bend the rules and get round the law......so how do you know Paul that the money wasnt lawfully taken?.....may not be morally right...may piss off fans all over the country....but that dosn't mean to say the money wasnt lawfully taken.

Did you actually read the article? I suspect not, or else you're just being deliberately obtuse

[leefer]

Well Batch...i take your point.......but most people can only padlock a property that is legally theres.

As Paul D says there are many who dispute this.....anyone can dispute and investigate(law firms etc)...but facts are facts...Mansfield have been done up like a kipper,when you get dodgy people on board as in the case of Pompey,Oxford etc.....it will always end up in tears sadly.
Paul.......i understand your frustations on how i see this....Haslam has been dodgy for many a year.

Obtuse.....no,just pointing out facts.......just because what Haslam has done is shocking...dosn't mean to say its not lawfull.
And that is unfortuanate for the fans but as i said it has happened to us and many others...and will continue to do so.

[sonicyouth]

They didn't gamble on him, he bought the club about 10 years ago. What were Mansfield supposed to have done about that?Did you actually read the article? I suspect not, or else you're just being deliberately obtuse

Use a time machine obviously