diff --git a/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm b/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
index 647dbf6..31c57cd 100644
--- a/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
+++ b/root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
@@ -27,7 +27,14 @@ use SrvMngr::Model::Main;
 
 use SrvMngr::Plugin::WithoutCache;
 
-our $VERSION = '1.420';
+#this is overwrittrn with the "release" by the spec file - release can be "99.el8.sme"
+our $VERSION = ''; 
+#Extract the release value
+if ($VERSION =~ /^(\d+)/) {
+    $VERSION = $1;  # $1 contains the matched numeric digits
+} else {
+    $VERSION = '999' #No leading numeric digits found
+}
 $VERSION = eval $VERSION;
 
 use Exporter 'import';
diff --git a/root/usr/share/smanager/themes/default/templates/partials/_footer.html.ep b/root/usr/share/smanager/themes/default/templates/partials/_footer.html.ep
index 53b8f4b..1f47f7f 100644
--- a/root/usr/share/smanager/themes/default/templates/partials/_footer.html.ep
+++ b/root/usr/share/smanager/themes/default/templates/partials/_footer.html.ep
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 <a href="https://mojolicious.org" target="_blank"><img src="images/sme-mojo-logo-white.png" style="position:relative;"></a>
 <font class="sme-copyright">
 %	if ( $c->is_logged_in ) {
-	SME Server <%= session 'releaseVersion' %> - Manager <%= $c->app->VERSION %>
+	SME Server <%= session 'releaseVersion' %>-<%= $c->app->VERSION %> Manager II
 % }
 <br>Copyright 1999-2006 Mitel Corporation<br>
 %= session 'copyRight'
diff --git a/smeserver-manager.spec b/smeserver-manager.spec
index 26a67af..6a74802 100644
--- a/smeserver-manager.spec
+++ b/smeserver-manager.spec
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Summary: Sme server  navigation module : manager 2
 %define name smeserver-manager
 Name: %{name}
 %define version 11.0.0
-%define release 22
+%define release 23
 Version: %{version}
 Release: %{release}%{?dist}
 License: GPL
@@ -49,6 +49,11 @@ This RPM contributes the navigation bars for the smeserver-manager. New Mojolici
 %setup
 
 %build
+
+#extract the release number and drop it in to the version for SM2 footer.
+sed -i "s/our \$VERSION = '[^']*'/our \$VERSION = '%{release}'/g" root/usr/share/smanager/lib/SrvMngr.pm
+
+
 perl createlinks
 
 # Force creation of potentially empty directories
@@ -108,6 +113,9 @@ true
 %defattr(-,root,root)
 
 %changelog
+* Wed Oct 02 2024 Brian Read <brianr@koozali.org> 11.0.0-23.sme
+- Add release number to footer  [SME: 12753]
+
 * Tue Sep 24 2024 Jean-Philippe Pialasse <jpp@koozali.org> 11.0.0-22.sme
 - fix typos, and tidy tabs [SME: 12744]