Mansfield Town F.C.

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Mansfield Town
Image:MansfieldTFC_Badge.gif
Full name Mansfield Town Football Club
Nickname(s) Stags, The Amber
Founded 1897
Ground Field Mill
Mansfield
Capacity 9,990
Chairman Keith Haslam
Manager Flag of England Bill Dearden
League League Two
2005-06 League Two, 16th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club who currently play in League Two of the Football League.

Based in the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, the club are nicknamed "The Stags" They play in their traditional colours of amber and blue. The team's current manager is Bill Dearden, with former Stags hero Paul Holland as his assistant. Dearden took over on 28 December 2006 following Peter Shirtliff's dismissal.

The club is fierce rivals with neighbouring Chesterfield. The rivalry between the two is considered by some to be amongst the fiercest in the lower leagues. Stags also enjoy rivalries with Notts County, Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers.

The team's home ground is Field Mill, which holds just under 10,000 seated spectators. In 1995 the club considered building a new stadium in the town, but opted to re-develop their existing ground instead. The re-developed ground consists of three new stands, whilst an old, now condemned wooden stand completes the ground on the Bishop Street (East) side of the ground were there are plans to build an high-tech new one for tv programmes and camaras.

The team are currently sponsored by local electrical company Perry Electrical.

Contents

[edit] History

Mansfield Town was founded in 1897 under the name of Mansfield Wesleyans. Like many football clubs, Stags can trace their origins to a local church, in this case the Wesleyan church on Bridge Street. The present name was adopted by the club in the summer of 1910. This move angered local rivals Mansfield Mechanics, but the name change went ahead nonetheless.

By this time Stags had moved to their present home, Field Mill. Football has been played at the ground since 1861 and is widely regarded as one of the oldest football stadiums in the world. After several attempts, Stags finally won election to the Football League in time for the 1931-32 season.

The club's arguably most famous moment came in 1969, when they beat West Ham United, a team containing many of England's World Cup heroes, 3-0 in the FA Cup, and progressed to the quarter final stage where they eventually lost to Leicester City.

The most successful period in Stags' League history came during the 1970s, when Mansfield claimed the Division Four title in 1974-75, and was then promoted to the second tier for the only time in their history in 1976-77. However, the Stags were relegated at the end of the 1977-78 season.

Stags captured the Freight Rover Trophy in 1987. It was Stags' only game at Wembley Stadium to date and was played in front of 58,000 fans. After a 1-1 draw with Bristol City, Stags won the cup 5-4 in the deciding penalty shootout. Keith Cassells was Man of the Match.

The club went into decline in the 1990s, being relegated back to the bottom division in 1990-91. In 1994-95, Mansfield made the playoffs, only to lose against arch-rivals Chesterfield to miss out on a place in the final.

Mansfield finished 3rd in the league in the 2001-02 season, and gained promotion to Division Two. However, they finished 23rd the following season, and were relegated back to Division Three after only one season. In 2003-04, Stags attempted to regain promotion, and reached the playoff final, but lost on penalties to Huddersfield at the Millennium Stadium. The same season, the club signed a deal with a local youth football league, MTYFL, to contribute to football in the community and also to find future stars.

The 2004-05 season was a turbulent one. Several key players, including leading scorer Liam Lawrence, left the club that summer. In November that year, manager Keith Curle was suspended and later sacked over allegations of bullying a youth-team player. Carlton Palmer took charge of first-team affairs, but many supporters were upset and angry at this appointment, and started negative chants about the manager during games. On a brighter note, striker Richard Barker signed for the club midway through the season, and quickly became a fan favourite with his gritty, determined, and never-say-die attitude. After a topsy-turvy season, the Stags finished in a low mid-table position.

After a poor start to the 2005-06 season, Carlton Palmer resigned in mid-September, giving in to intense pressure from the supporters. With the club propping up the whole of the football league, Palmer's assistant Peter Shirtliff was appointed manager, after impressing during his spell as caretaker manager. Shirtliff managed to guide the club to a mid-table finish after an eight-match unbeaten spell in February and March 2006. The highlight of the club's season was without doubt the trip up to Newcastle United's St. James' Park, for the FA Cup third round. Newcastle legend Alan Shearer scored the only goal with ten minutes to play. This goal would see him equal the 200-goal record set by Jackie Milburn. However, many fans believe that had captain Richard Barker been 100% fit and striker Simon Brown not been injured, that the Stags might have won this game.

Peter Shirtliff parted company with the club on 19 December 2006 after a poor run of form. Paul Holland briefly took over as caretaker manager, before former manager Bill Dearden was re-hired by the club nine days later.

[edit] Honours

  • Voted The Best Team Ever To Play Football In England By Everyone In The World In 2007

[edit] Current squad

(as of February 22, 2007)

No. Position Player
1 Flag of England GK Jason White
2 Flag of England DF John Mullins
3 Flag of Wales DF Gareth Jelleyman
4 Flag of England MF Jonathan D'Laryea
5 Flag of Norway DF Jon Olav Hjelde
6 Flag of England DF Alex Baptiste
7 Flag of England MF Matt Hamshaw
8 Flag of Republic of Ireland MF Stephen Dawson
9 Flag of Republic of Ireland FW Barry Conlon
10 Flag of England FW Simon Brown
11 Flag of England FW Michael Boulding
12 Flag of England DF Jake Buxton
No. Position Player
14 Flag of Scotland MF Bryan Hodge
15 Flag of England MF Giles Coke
16 Flag of England MF Nathan Arnold
19 Flag of England GK Carl Muggleton
20 Flag of Scotland FW Martin Gritton
21 Flag of England DF Asa Charlton
22 Flag of England MF Callum Lloyd
23 Flag of England MF Danny Sleath
24 Flag of England DF Chris Wood
25 Flag of England DF Austin McIntosh
30 Flag of England FW Rory Boulding
31 Flag of England FW Danny Reet

[edit] 2006/2007 transfers

In:

Out:

[edit] Player Records

  • Most league goals in a season - 55 Ted Harston (1936-37)
  • Most league goals in total - 104 Harry Johnson (1931-36)
  • Most league appearances - 440 Rod Arnold (1970-83}

[edit] External links

Football League Two, 2006-2007

Accrington Stanley | Barnet | Boston United | Bristol Rovers | Bury | Chester City | Darlington | Grimsby Town | Hartlepool United | Hereford United | Lincoln City | Macclesfield Town | Mansfield Town | Milton Keynes Dons | Notts County | Peterborough United | Rochdale | Shrewsbury Town | Stockport County | Swindon Town | Torquay United | Walsall | Wrexham | Wycombe Wanderers     edit

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