After appointing League Two promotion-winner David Flitcroft as the club's new manager, chairman John Radford has dubbed this a 'brilliant day for Mansfield'.
The owner and the club's chief executive Carolyn Radford held a news conference at One Call Stadium this morning to announce the appointment of Flitcroft and his assistant Ben Futcher.
And speaking at that news conference, which was held in the 1861 Suite at One Call Stadium, Mr Radford expressed his delight at convincing 44-year-old Flitcroft to swap Swindon Town for One Call Stadium.
"I've got to say a big 'thank you' to Swindon for the way that they conducted themselves in all of this. I spoke to their chairman (Lee Power) and we asked for permission to speak to David and he allowed us to do that, then we agreed terms with Swindon," the chairman said.
"From about four o'clock yesterday we were allowed to speak to him and it's been manic since then.
"To get him in time for the next training session was fantastic. We've hardly slept over these last two days – you wouldn't believe the amount of work that goes in to it.
"They're in the play-offs and we're in the play-offs but we probably have a better squad than Swindon. We didn't think we'd get him but we managed to convince him to come – it's a brilliant day for Mansfield."
The club's owners acted swiftly and diligently in appointing the new manager, who Mr Radford admits was his number one target.
"We had to look at the situation that we're in and what our ambition is this season. As Carolyn [Radford, CEO] rightly said, we had a target list and David was our number one target.
"We didn't think we'd get him but we managed to convince him to come – it's a brilliant day for Mansfield."
"We wanted the right man in place as quick as we could, so who else? He was our number one target and I'm so happy to have him on board.
"The energy straight away when he walked through the building has been tremendous – you could just feel it."
After what has been a hectic 48 hours at One Call Stadium, Mr Radford has urged the club's supporters to show their support to the new manager as we enter the final 12 games of the Sky Bet League Two season.
"It's business as usual now. We've now got an excellent manager in place and I think he'll get us over the line with no problems at all.
"Like David said, the energy here is so high and the players are all buzzing. I can't say we're definitely going to do it [win promotion] – we've got to respect our opposition – but fingers crossed.
"With our support and our fans' support, if we all get behind them, we'll do it and we'll get over the line."
