Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in the town of
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...
,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and yellow kit. Since 1919, Mansfield have played at
Field Mill
Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club.
It is the oldest ground in ...
, which is now an
all-seater stadium
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...
with a capacity of 9,186. Their main rivals are
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
and
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
.
The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and entered the Mansfield & District Amateur League in 1902, before changing its name to Mansfield Wesley and joining the Notts & District League in 1906. They then finally became Mansfield Town in 1910, and moved from the Notts & Derbyshire League to the
Central Alliance
The Central Alliance was a football league in England, covering the East Midlands.
History
The league was established in 1911 with twelve clubs, most of which had previously been members of the Notts & Derbyshire League; Derby County Reserve ...
the following year. Crowned Alliance champions in 1919–20, they joined the
Midland League
The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid.
History
Th ...
in 1921 and would win this league on three occasions – 1923–24, 1924–25 and 1928–29 – before they were admitted into the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in 1931. They were relegated out of the
Third Division in 1960, but won promotion out of the
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
in 1962–63, remaining in the third tier for nine seasons until their relegation in 1972. They reached the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
for the first time after winning the Fourth Division title in 1974–75 and the Third Division title in 1976–77, only to suffer two relegations in three seasons.
Promoted out of the Fourth Division under the stewardship of
Ian Greaves
Ian Denzil Greaves (26 May 1932 – 2 January 2009) was an English association football, football player and manager. He was born in Crompton Urban District, Crompton, Lancashire. He won a Football League Championship, League Championship meda ...
in 1985–86, they went on to win the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
in
1986–87. Mansfield were however relegated in 1991 and promoted again in 1991–92, only to suffer an immediate relegation the following season. They won promotion once again in 2001–02, but were relegated to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
in 2003 and lost their Football League status with a further relegation in 2008. They spent five seasons in the
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
until they were promoted back into the Football League after winning the Conference in 2012–13 following investment from new club owner
John Radford.
History
Early years
Mansfield Town was formed under the name of Mansfield Wesleyans in 1897, the name of the club coming from the local
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
church. The club played
friendlies
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
up until the
1902–03 season, when it joined the Mansfield and District Amateur League. When the league dropped its amateur tag in 1906, the church abandoned the club, which changed its name to Mansfield Wesley and moved into the Notts and District League.
In the summer of 1910, despite having lost the previous season to Mansfield Mechanics in the Second Qualifying Round of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, the team changed its name to Mansfield Town (much to the disgust of the Mechanics). In the following years, Mansfield Town swapped between the Notts and District League,
Central Alliance League
The Central Alliance was a football league in England, covering the East Midlands.
History
The league was established in 1911 with twelve clubs, most of which had previously been members of the Notts & Derbyshire League; Derby County Reserves, ...
and Notts and Derbyshire League, before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
brought a halt to proceedings.
After the war, Mansfield became occupants of the
Field Mill
Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club.
It is the oldest ground in ...
ground, after Mansfield Mechanics failed to pay their rent. In 1921, the club was admitted into the
Midland Counties League
The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League.
Histor ...
, and celebrated by reaching the sixth qualifying round of the FA Cup twice in a row. The club won the league in
1923–24 and was the runner-up the following season, but on both occasions failed to win
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
to
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
.
In
1928–29, Mansfield won the Midland League again, but more famously reached the fourth round proper of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 to
First Division club
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, after a cup run which saw them beat
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
side
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
. However,
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
beat the Stags in elections for a League place.
Into the Football League
In 1931, Mansfield were finally elected to the
Southern Section
The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...
of the
Third Division. However, the club struggled to adapt to League surroundings and were frequently in the lower reaches of the table. One of very few highlights in the years before the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
was
Ted Harston, who scored 55 goals in one season before transferring to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
After the war, Mansfield started to see some progress. Lucky to escape the need for re-election when it was decided that no club would be
relegated
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
after the
1946–47 season, the Stags started to move up the table. In
1950–51, Mansfield reached the fifth round of the FA Cup and became the first Football League team to complete a 23–game home schedule unbeaten, although missed out on the only Third Division promotion spot.
![Mansfield Town FC League Performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Mansfield_Town_FC_League_Performance.svg)
In
1959–60 the club was relegated to the recently created
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
, before gaining promotion back to the Third Division in
1962–63. This promotion was later tainted by life-time suspensions handed out to players
Brian Phillips and
Sammy Chapman
Samuel Edward Campbell Chapman (16 February 1938 – 24 July 2019) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager.
Career
A former youth player with Manchester United, Chapman signed for Glentoran upon returning to Northe ...
for bribing opponents, including players of
Hartlepools United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded in 1908 as Har ...
in a vital match which Mansfield won 4–3. Two seasons later, the club again narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division. The season after avoiding relegation due to a points deduction for
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
, Mansfield made another headline-grabbing cup run. Mansfield beat First Division
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
3–0 in the fifth round of the
1968–69 FA Cup
The 1968–69 FA Cup was the 88th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Manchester City won the competition for the fourth time, beating Leicester City 1–0 i ...
, before narrowly losing to
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
in the quarter finals. In
1971–72 Mansfield were relegated, again, to the Fourth Division.
By
1976–77, the club was back in the Third Division, and despite the distraction of a 5–2 FA Cup defeat to
Matlock Town
Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane.
History
The club was esta ...
, beat
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
to the
Third Division title. The club went straight back down, and only a good run of form at the end of the
1978–79 season saved Mansfield from a double relegation.
Mansfield won the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
in front of 58,000 fans in May 1987, beating
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
on
penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
after a 1–1 draw. However, the years that followed were inconsistent, with Mansfield becoming a "yo-yo" team between the Third and Fourth Divisions. Also at that time, the controversial
Keith Haslam
Keith Haslam is a former owner, CEO and chairman of Mansfield Town.
Haslam bought the club in 1993. During his tenure, he amassed personal and inter-company loans of over £1,000,000 at their peak. In 2006, it was understood that he still owed th ...
bought the club.
21st century
In
2001–02, Mansfield were again promoted to the third tier of English football, beating
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
on the final day of the season to take third place from
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
, who lost at
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
. A poor season in Division Two did not pick up even with the arrival of former
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
international
Keith Curle
Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is the current manager of League Two side Hartlepool United.
He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for ...
as manager, as the club was relegated straight back to the fourth tier of English football. In
2003–04, Mansfield beat
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
in a penalty shoot-out in the Division Three play-off semi-finals, but lost to
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...
in a similar fashion final, after having an apparently legitimate
Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
Along wit ...
goal disallowed.
In
2007–08, Mansfield's 77-year stay in the Football League came to an end as the club was relegated to the
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
. This was in spite of an excellent FA Cup run, leading to two BBC TV appearances, against
Harrogate Railway Athletic
Harrogate Railway Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Station View.
History
The club was established in 1935 by employees of the London and Nor ...
and
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. A fluke goal in a 1–0 loss to rivals
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
in the last home game of the season all but guaranteed relegation. Joyous scenes erupted at the final whistle, with controversial owner Sir Keith Haslam being applauded by fans.
Haslam left the club, as the "Three Amigos" of Perry, Middleton and Saunders purchased the club (but not the ground) for £1 - thought to be vastly over valued at the time, and installed
Billy McEwan as manager. He was replaced after Christmas by
David Holdsworth
David Gary Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned manager.
As a player, he was a defender who played between 1986 and 2005 for Watford, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Walsall, Bolton Wanderers ...
. Holdsworth's two-and-a-half year reign bought little improvement as the club was punching above it weight - and he was dismissed as manager.
Caretaker manager
Duncan Russell led Mansfield to an
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
final appearance in
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
,
Louis Briscoe
Louis Andrew Briscoe (born 2 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for side Gresley Rovers. His playing position is primarily on the right wing, although he can play as a striker or on the left wing.
He started his car ...
scoring a late
extra-time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
winner against
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
in the semi-final second leg. The Stags lost 1–0 to
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
after a 120th-minute extra-time goal by Chris Senior. A league position of 12th was not good enough for Russell to keep his job;
Paul Hall replaced him as interim manager during the close season.
His replacement,
Paul Cox, led Mansfield to their highest Conference finish in his first season. A good run of form after Christmas saw the Stags finish in third in the league, and unbelievable achievement given the size of the fan base, although they lost 2–1 on aggregate to eventual play-off winners
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
after extra time in the promotion play-off semi-final.
An indifferent start to the
2012–13 season left Mansfield lingering around mid-table, with some fans calling for the manager's head. One good point to the first half of the season was the club's FA Cup run. A 2–1 win over
Lincoln City set up a third round tie with Premier League side
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. A controversial
Luis Suárez
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...
goal helped the Reds to a 2–1 victory, but a brave display from the Mansfield team gave the team momentum in the weeks to follow. Following the cup game the Yellow Stain won 20 of their last 24 games, including a club record run of 12 consecutive wins, to clinch the
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
title, and promotion back to the Football League. The title was sealed with a 1–0 victory over
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
on 20 April 2013.
After a poor start to the
2020–21 season,
Nigel Clough
Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...
took over as manager in November and steered Mansfield to relative safety. 12 games without a win early in the
2021–22 season saw Mansfield second bottom of League Two in late October, but after a subsequent 14-match unbeaten streak from late November to early March, including a club-record 11 straight home wins, the Yellow Stain finished 7th in League Two, just 3 points shy of automatic promotion. They beat
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
3–1 on aggregate in the playoff semi-finals. However, in the final
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
secured an emphatic 3–0 win.
Ownership
The
2006–07 season saw the creation of the "SFFC (Stags Fans for Change)" an organisation aiming for the removal of then owner Keith Haslam from the club. The organisation undertook many projects over the year to get their message over in a different and non-aggressive way. This included hiring a plane to fly over the local derby match with Notts County towing a banner declaring that the club was for sale and calling for Haslam to leave. On 29 November 2007 Haslam rejected a bid from James Derry's consortium and the Mansfield fans pledged to have a TV protest against him on 2 December 2007 against
Harrogate Railway Athletic
Harrogate Railway Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Station View.
History
The club was established in 1935 by employees of the London and Nor ...
live on the BBC's ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary L ...
'' programme.
In March 2008, it was reported that
John Batchelor
John Calvin Batchelor (born April 29, 1948) is an American author and host of ''Eye on the World'' on the CBS Audio Network. His flagship station is New York's 710 WOR. The show is a hard-news-analysis radio program on current events, world his ...
, a bidder for Mansfield Town, planned to rename the club to
Harchester United
''Dream Team'' is a British sports drama television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky One from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Premier League football club, Harchester U ...
after the fictional squad from the TV series ''
Dream Team
Dream Team may refer to:
Sport
Basketball
* Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona
* Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship
* Dream Team III, the 1996 ...
'' to make the club "more promotable" if his bid were a success. Fans and executives within the club both stated that they would oppose the name change.
Following the club's relegation in 2008, Colin Hancock, then the chairman of
Glapwell
Glapwell is a village and civil parish on the A617 road in the Bolsover District of north east Derbyshire, between the towns of Chesterfield (7 miles) and Mansfield (5 miles) and Bolsover (3 miles to the north). With 1,467 residents, increasing ...
, emerged as the leading bidder as he agreed to purchase a controlling share of the Stags, Field Mill, and some land surrounding the stadium from Haslam.
![JohnRadfordBusinessman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/JohnRadfordBusinessman.png)
However, three businessmen who are also Mansfield Town fans, Andrew Perry, Andrew Saunders and Steve Middleton, bought the club from Keith Haslam for an undisclosed fee, but they were still renting the stadium from him. At the start of the 2010–11 season Mansfield were bought by John Radford.
On 2 December 2010 the club was locked out of Field Mill in a dispute over unpaid rent. Since returning to Field Mill after securing a lease on the ground for a further year and a half, John Radford began to seek a way by which the club would once again own Field Mill. It was reported that Keith Haslam rejected an offer from Radford for Field Mill; the offer was alleged to have been worth in between £2 million and £4 million.
On 1 March 2012, Chairman John Radford purchased the ground from Keith Haslam. Since then, 1 March is considered "Amber Day" at the club to commemorate the retrieval of Mansfield's stadium. In April 2012, Radford changed the stadium's name from "Field Mill" to the "One Call Stadium" for sponsorship reasons.
Club culture
Rivalries
The 2003 Football Fans Census indicates that Mansfield's biggest rivalries are with
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
and
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
, with
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
tertiary rivals. Bad blood between Chesterfield and Mansfield has links to the
miners' strike
Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions.
See also
* List of strikes
References
{{Reflist
Miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...
.
Fixtures between Town and County are referred to as
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
derbies. More recently, a lesser rivalry has grown with
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
.
Club colours
During the Wesleyans era, Mansfield played in chocolate and sky blue shirts, firstly striped until 1902, and then halved. Upon assuming the Mansfield Town moniker, the club switched to red shirts, white shorts, and black socks, though this identity only lasted the
1910–11 season. A five-year stint in black and white quartered shirts with black shorts and socks followed before the club closed down.
Upon their return in 1919, Town introduced their now-familiar blue and amber club colour scheme, initially in halves. Becoming a league side in 1931 coincided with a change to pale blue shirts with white shorts, which the club would wear until October 1934, when the blue and amber returned (albeit in quarters for the remainder of the
1934–35 season). They would continue to wear this colour combination in various arrangements (including a blue shirt with amber sleeves from January 1948) for two decades. From 1954 to 1961 Town played in white shirts and black shorts, before amber shirts with blue shorts returned for seven years. All-blue with amber trim was selected in 1968, before a new look of white shirts with blue shorts was introduced in 1970.
1974 saw the classic colour scheme return, and though the composition might vary, amber and blue has reigned ever since. The only exception to this was the centenary kit worn in the
1997–98 season, which was a
retro kit design styled after Mansfield Wesleyans' first, albeit with sky blue shorts and socks.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
The following tables detail the shirt sponsors and kit suppliers of Mansfield by year:
Players
Current squad
Former players
''For details of former players, see
List of Mansfield Town F.C. players''
Club officials
Boardroom
*Owner/Chairman – John Radford and Carolyn Radford
*Chief executive officer –
David Sharpe
*Financial director – James Beachill
*Director - Alex Sherriff
*Director – Steve Hymas
*Director – Mark Burton
*Director - Paul Brown
*Club secretary / Supporters' liaison officer – Diane Ceney
First team staff
*
Manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
–
Nigel Clough
Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...
*Assistant manager –
Gary Crosby
*First team coach - Andy Garner
*Physio – Tom Whittamore
*Goalkeeper coach -
Adam Collin
Adam James Collin (born 9 December 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Career
Early career
Born in Penrith, Cumbria, Collin started his career as a professional footballer with Newcastle United as a youngster. H ...
*Head of recruitment - Simon Clough
Managerial history
Honours and achievements
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...
(3rd tier)
*Champions:
1976–77
Football League Fourth Division
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
(4th tier)
*Champions:
1974–75
*3rd place promotion:
1985–86,
1991–92,
2001–02
*4th place promotion:
1962–63
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
(5th tier)
*Champions: 2012–13
Midland League
The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid.
History
Th ...
*Champions: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1928–29
Central Alliance
The Central Alliance was a football league in England, covering the East Midlands.
History
The league was established in 1911 with twelve clubs, most of which had previously been members of the Notts & Derbyshire League; Derby County Reserve ...
*Champions: 1919–20
The Central Alliance 1911–1925
Non-League Matters
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
*Winners: 1986–87
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
*Runners-up: 2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
Club records
; Team records
* Record win
** 9–2 v. Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
, 27 December 1932 (home) (two 7-goal victories since)
* Record defeat
** 1–8 v. Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
, 19 January 1933 (Away)
; Best seasons
* Most wins
** 28 – 1974–75, 1976–77 (overall)
** 30 – 2012–13
* Fewest defeats
** 6 – 1974–75 (overall)
** 7 – 2011–12
* Most goals for
** 108 – 1962–63
* Fewest goals against
** 38 – 1984–85
* Most points
** 68 – 1974–75 (2 points per win)
** 95 – 2012–13 (3 points per win)
;Player records
;Records for all recognized league and cup competitions
* Most appearances
** Rod Arnold
Roderick James Arnold (born 3 June 1952) is an English former football goalkeeper who spent the majority of his career at Mansfield Town, having started his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. With 513 first-team appearances for Mansfield (440 in ...
(1970–71, 72–84) 522 games
* Most goals
** Harry Johnson (1931–36) 114 goals
References
External links
Mansfield Town official website
Independent Supporters Website
Official website of the Stags Supporters Association
{{Authority control
1897 establishments in England
Association football clubs established in 1897
Football clubs in England
Sport in Mansfield
Midland Football League (1889)
English Football League clubs
National League (English football) clubs
EFL Trophy winners
Central Alliance