Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town F.C.

Full name	Mansfield Town Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Stags, Yellows
Founded	1897 (Mansfield Wesleyans) 1906 (Mansfield Wesley) 1910 (Mansfield Town)
Ground	Field Mill Mansfield (Capacity: 10,000 (Currently limited to 7300))
Owner	John Radford
Chief Executive	Carolyn Still[1]
Manager	Paul Cox
League	Conference National
2010–11	Conference National, 12th FA Cup, 1st Round FA Trophy, Final
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910. They are nicknamed The Stags and traditionally play in amber and royal blue.

The club is currently competing in the Conference National, following their relegation from the the Football League in the 2007–08 season. They had competed in the Football League from 1931 until their relegation.

The club has three honours, having won the Fourth Division title in 1974–75, the Third Division in 1976–77 and the Football League Trophy in 1986–87. The club also finished as runners-up in the 2010–11 FA Trophy

Since 1919 the team's home ground has been Field Mill, which holds around 9,200 people, but is currently restricted to 7,300 seated spectators. The ground was renovated in the early-21st Century after a decision by the club's owners not to move to a new, purpose-built ground as had been previously planned.

Problems with previous club owner and current landlord Keith Haslam came to a head when the club was locked out of the ground in December 2010. Although the issue was resolved, the club was left considering building a new stadium or groundsharing with a local club in order to be able to gain promotion back to the Football League.

History

Main article: History of Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town was formed under the name of Mansfield Weslyans in 1897, the name of the club coming from the local Weslyan 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 6th 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 Arsenal, after a cup run which saw them beat Second Division 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.

In 1959–60 the club was relegated to the recently-created Fourth Division, before gaining promotion back to the Third Division in 1962–63. 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 Rotherham United, Mansfield made another headline-grabbing cup run. Mansfield beat First Division, sixth-places 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 was 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 Freight Rover 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. It was also at this time the controversial owner Keith Haslam bought the club.

In 2001–02, after 10 years, Mansfield were again promoted to the third tier of English football, although they were again straight back down. In 2004, Mansfield lost to Huddersfield Town on penalties in the Division Three play-off final.

In 2007–08, Mansfield's 77–year stay in the Football League came to an end as the club was relegated to the Conference in spite of an FA Cup run, leading to a TV appearance. Three mediocre seasons in the Conference saw four permanent managers come and go at Mansfield, as the club failed to do any better than mid-table.

Duncan Russell lead Mansfield to an FA Trophy final appearance in 2010–11, although the Stags lost 1–0 to Darlington.

Players

As of 12 November 2011.

Current squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Alan Marriott 2 DF Tom Naylor 3 DF Joe Kendrick 4 MF Jon Worthington 5 DF John Thompson 6 DF Martin Riley 7 MF Louis Briscoe 9 FW Paul Connor 10 FW Matt Green (on loan from Oxford United) 11 MF Adam Murray (captain) 14 MF Paul Bolland 15 FW Ross Dyer 16 DF Luke O'Neill

No. Position Player 17 DF Ritchie Sutton 19 MF Adam Smith 20 MF Andy Todd 21 MF Anthony Howell 22 DF Rhys Day 23 GK Shane Redmond 24 MF Lindon Meikle 26 DF Ben Futcher (on loan from Bury) 27 FW Adam Somes† 28 FW Louis Moult (on loan from Stoke City) — DF Kieron Freeman (on loan from Nottingham Forest) — MF Nick Hegarty

†On a youth contract, but registered for the first-team.

Out On Loan

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

No. Position Player 8 MF Lee Stevenson (on loan at Alfreton) - FW Danny Mitchley (on loan at Nuneaton Borough)

Youth Team

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

No. Position Player — GK Ryan Hopkins — DF Kieran Coupe — DF Jason Gregory — DF Benjamin Horsley — DF Liam Marsden — DF Travis Munn — DF Dean Robinson — DF Jobe Shaw (captain) — DF Blake Vincent — DF Jordan Jones — MF Jay Ashley — MF Danny Barke

No. Position Player — MF Clayton Brown — MF Jack Hawkins — MF Joel Holland — MF Callum Pursglove — MF Scott Rogers — MF Danny Williams — MF Jordan Villums — FW Lewis Chambers — FW Joe Flint — FW Matthew Harris — FW Adam Somes

Notable players

Main article: List of Mansfield Town F.C. players

Club Staff/Officials

Boardroom^[2]

• Owner - John Radford
• Chief Executive Officer - Carolyn Still
• Financial Director - James Beachill
• Director - Andrew Saunders
• Director - Steve Middleton
• Director - Steve Hymas
• Director - Darren Bland
• Director - Mark Hawkins
• Director - Darren Shaw (Non-Executive, Fan's Representative)

Playing Staff^[3]

• Manager - Paul Cox
• Assistant - Micky Moore
• Coach - Andy Todd (Player-Coach)
• Physio - Jason Truscott
• Head Scout - Paul Ogden

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 live on the BBC's Match of the Day programme.

In March 2008, it was reported that John Batchelor, a bidder for Mansfield Town, planned to rename the club to Harchester United after the fictional squad from the TV series Dream Team to make the club "more promotable"^[4] if his bid were a success. Fans and executives within the club both stated that they would oppose the name change.^[5][6]

Following the club's relegation in 2008, Colin Hancock, then the chairman of Glapwell, emerged as the leading bidder as he agreed to purchase a controlling share of the Stags, the Field Mill, and some land surrounding the stadium from Haslam. 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, believed to be £1, but they are still renting the stadium from him. At the start of the 2010–2011 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.^[7] Since returning to Field Mill after securing a lease on the ground for a further year and a half, John Radford began to seek out a way by which the club once again owns Field Mill. It was reported that Mr. Haslam rejected an offer from Radford for Field Mill, the offer was alleged to have been worth in between £2 and 4 million.As of April 2011, Mansfield are involved in an ongoing legal dispute with Keith Haslam over issues including the illicit withdrawal of funds from the club.

Honours

• Division Four Champions, 1974–75.
• Division Three Champions, 1976–1977.
• Football League Trophy Winners, 1986–87.

Records

Team Records

Record Win

— 9–2 vs. Rotherham United, 27/12/1932 (Home)

Record Defeat

— 1–7 vs. Reading, 12/03/1932, Peterborough United 26/03/1966 and QPR, 24/09/1966 (All Home)

Best Seasons

• Most Wins

— 28 - 1974–75, 1976–77 (Overall)

• Fewest Defeats

— 6 - 1974–75 (Overall)

• Most Goals For

— 108 - 1962–63

• Fewest Goals Against

— 38 - 1984–85

• Most Points

— 68 - 1974–75 (2 points per win)
— 81 - 1985–86 (3 points per win)

Player Records

Records for all recognized league and cup competitions

• Most Appearances

— Rod Arnold (1970–71, 72–84) 522 games

• Most Goals

— Harry Johnson (1931–36) 114 goals

Rivalries

• Chesterfield and Rotherham (Rivalries developed after the 1980s Miner's Strikes)
• Notts County and Nottingham Forest (Nottinghamshire Derby)

References

1. ^ "Mansfield Town appoint youngest chief executive in English football". bbc.co.uk. 13 September 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14901438.stm. Retrieved 13 September 2011. 
2. ^ "Who's Who at Field Mill". Mansfield Town Official Site. http://www.mansfieldtown.net/page/WhosWho/0,,10325,00.html. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Who's Who at Field Mill". Mansfield Town Official Site. http://www.mansfieldtown.net/page/WhosWho/0,,10325,00.html. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
4. ^ Benammar, Emily (31 March 2008). "Mansfield against Dream Team name change". London: Telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/03/31/ufnhar131.xml. Retrieved 31 March 2008. 
5. ^ "Mansfield fans could have final say on Harchester United renaming idea, says Batchelor". 30 March 2008. http://www.chad.co.uk/stags/Mansfield-fans-could-have-final.3928967.jp. Retrieved 31 March 2008. 
6. ^ "Mansfield Town slam name change move". London: Times Online. 31 March 2008. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/football_league/article3653929.ece. Retrieved 31 March 2008. 
7. ^ "Mansfield Town face stadium rent dispute". bbc.co.uk. 3 December 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-11913816. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 

External links

• Mansfield Town F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club stats
• Mansfield Town Official Website
• Official Website of the Stags Supporters Association
• Official Website Of Mansfield Town Ladies FC