Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town have played at Field Mill since the end of the First World War

Mansfield Town was formed under the name of Mansfield Wesleyans in 1897, the name of the club coming from the local Wesleyan church. The club played friendlies 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 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 and Notts and Derbyshire League, before World War I brought a halt to proceedings.

After the war, Mansfield became occupants of the Field Mill ground, after Mansfield Mechanics failed to pay their rent. In 1921, the club was admitted into the Midland Counties League, 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 to the Football League.

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, after a cup run which saw them beat Second Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, York City beat the Stags in elections for a League place.

In 1931, Mansfield were finally elected to the Southern Section 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 was Ted Harston, who scored 55 goals in one season before transferring to Liverpool.

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 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.

Chart of Mansfield's yearly table positions in the Football League

In 1959–60 the club was relegated to the recently created Fourth Division, 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 for bribing opponents, including players of Hartlepools United 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, Mansfield made another headline-grabbing cup run. Mansfield beat First Division West Ham United 3–0 in the fifth round of the 1968–69 FA Cup, before narrowly losing to Leicester City 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, beat Wrexham 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 in front of 58,000 fans in May 1987, beating Bristol City on penalties 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 bought the club.

In 2001–02, Mansfield were again promoted to the third tier of English football, beating Carlisle United on the final day of the season to take third place from Cheltenham Town, who lost at Plymouth Argyle. A poor season in Division Two did not pick up even with the arrival of former England international Keith Curle as manager, as the club was relegated straight back to the fourth tier of English football. In 2003–04, Mansfield beat Northampton Town in a penalty shoot-out in the Division Three play-off semi-finals, but lost to Huddersfield Town in a similar fashion final, after having an apparently legitimate Colin Larkin 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.[4] A fluke goal in a 1–0 loss to rivals Rotherham United in the last home game of the season all but guaranteed relegation.[5] Ugly scenes erupted at the final whistle, with controversial owner Keith Haslam being attacked by fans.[6]

Haslam left the club, as the "Three Amigos" of Perry, Middleton and Saunders purchased the club (but not the ground) for £1 and installed Billy McEwan as manager. He was replaced after Christmas by David Holdsworth. Holdsworth's two-and-a-half year reign bought little improvement to the club and he was dismissed as manager. Caretaker manager Duncan Russell led Mansfield to an FA Trophy final appearance in 2010–11, Louis Briscoe scoring a late extra-time winner against Luton Town in the semi-final second leg. The Stags lost 1–0 to Darlington at Wembley Stadium after a 120th-minute extra-time goal by Chris Senior.[7] 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, although they lost 2–1 on aggregate to eventual play-off winners York City 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[8] set up a third round tie with Premier League side Liverpool. A controversial Luis Suárez goal helped the Reds to a 2–1 victory,[9] but a brave display from the Mansfield team gave the team momentum in the weeks to follow. Following the cup game the Stags won 20 of their last 24 games, including a club record run of 12 consecutive wins, to clinch the Conference Premier title, and promotion back to the Football League. The title was sealed with a 1–0 victory over Wrexham on 20 April 2013.[10]

Mansfield finished their first season back in the Football League in 11th place.[11] In 2018–19, the Stags narrowly missed out on promotion on the final day of the season after a defeat to promotion rivals MK Dons.[12] They would then lose in the play-offs on penalties to Newport County in the semi-final.[13] In 2021–22, Mansfield reached the play-offs again but lost 3–0 to Port Vale in the final.[14]

The 2003 Football Fans Census indicates that Mansfield's biggest rivalries are with Chesterfield and Notts County, with Doncaster Rovers tertiary rivals.[20] Bad blood between Chesterfield and Mansfield has links to the miners' strike.[19] Fixtures between Town and County are referred to as Nottinghamshire derbies.[21] More recently, a lesser rivalry has grown with Grimsby Town.[22]

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.[23]

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.[23]

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.[23]

Selection of Mansfield Town home kits through history[23]
Wesleyans' original kit 1897–c. 1900. Worn with sky blue shorts 1997–98	The first kit of the "Mansfield Town" era. Worn in the 1910–11 season	Black and white quartered kit worn from 1911 until closedown in 1916	Kit adopted upon election to the Football League. Worn 1931–1934	The Stags wore white shirts and black shorts from 1954 to 1961	The traditional club colours of Mansfield Town, as worn from 1974 to 1979

The following tables detail the shirt sponsors and kit suppliers of Mansfield by year:[23]

As of 11 September 2023[24]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Christy Pym 2 DF  ENG Callum Johnson 3 DF  IRL Stephen McLaughlin 4 DF  WAL Elliott Hewitt 5 DF  ENG Alfie Kilgour 6 DF  ENG Baily Cargill 7 FW  ENG Lucas Akins 8 MF  ENG Ollie Clarke (captain) 9 FW  ENG Jordan Bowery 10 MF  ENG George Maris 11 MF  ENG Calum Macdonald 12 FW  ENG James Gale 13 GK  ENG Scott Flinders 14 DF  ENG Aden Flint

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  WAL Aaron Lewis 16 MF  IRL Stephen Quinn 18 FW  ENG Rhys Oates 19 DF  ENG George Cooper 22 DF  ENG George Williams 23 GK  ENG Owen Mason 24 DF  ENG Lewis Brunt (on loan from Leicester City) 25 MF  ENG Louis Reed 26 FW  ENG Will Swan 30 GK  ENG Adam Collin 35 MF  IRL John-Joe O'Toole 40 MF  ENG Davis Keillor-Dunn 44 MF  ENG Hiram Boateng

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  ENG Anthony Hartigan (at Barnet)

For details of former players, see List of Mansfield Town F.C. players

As of 8 September 2023[2]

• Owner/Chairman: John Radford
• Chief executive officer: Carolyn Radford
• Financial director: James Beachill
• Director: Alex Sherriff
• Director: Steve Hymas
• Director: Mark Burton
• Director: Paul Brown
• Club secretary / Supporters' liaison officer: Diane Ceney

As of 8 September 2023[25]

• Manager: Nigel Clough
• Assistant manager: Gary Crosby
• First team coach: Andy Garner
• Physio: Tom Whittamore
• Goalkeeper coach: Adam Collin
• Head of recruitment: Simon Clough

Team records

• Record win[28]
  • 9–2 v. Rotherham United, 27 December 1932 (home) (two 7-goal victories since)
• Record defeat[28]
  • 1–8 v. Walsall, 19 January 1933 (Away)

Best seasons[28]

• 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 recognised league and cup competitions[28]

• Most appearances
  • Rod Arnold (1970–71, 72–84) 522 games
• Most goals
  • Harry Johnson (1931–36) 114 goals