Cod Almighty | Article
by Sam Metcalf
1 July 2010
Well hello there, Mansfield Town. Let's talk about you.
You'd be forgiven for ignoring it in the past, but there are certain parallels between the histories of the Stags and Town. Both spent the best part of their Football League existences in the bottom two divisions – only occasionally kicking against the pricks and enjoying some well-deserved days in the sun.
Mansfield were relegated in 2007-08 – a season when one Michael Boulding scored nearly 20 league goals, but it meant they slipped out of the league after an unbroken 77-year spell. It ended a period when they went through managers like a shoe through shit (Carlton Palmer's reign was particularly disastrous), and the inevitable happened on 29 April 2008.
The Stags host another former Football League side in Oxford United, September 2009. Oxford made it back up eight months later. Photo: Nick Ansell (cc by-nc-nd 2.0)
Sounds familiar? Well, there's more. Mansfield's salad days came in the last '60s and ran through to the late '70s. In 1969 they beat a West Ham side boasting all its World Cup winners 3-0 in the FA Cup, in front of over 21,000 at Field Mill. The team won the fourth division title in 1974-75 and reached the lofty heights of the second division two seasons later, only to be relegated after one season.
There have still been things to cheer, mind. They won the Freight Rover Trophy in 1987, and enjoyed a trip to the Millennium Stadium for the fourth division play-off final in 2004, which they lost on penalties to Huddersfield. Much like Town's trip to Wembley in 2008, that was to be Mansfield's last hurrah before dropping into non-League footy.
Do you come here often?
The last two seasons are the first they've been outside the Football League since entering in 1931. They've been getting better and better, but have each time failed to make the play-offs.
Mansfield fans make their feelings known about a potential takeover by the late John 'I Fuck Companies' Batchelor, April 2008
Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
I actually used to play in the same junior side as ex-player and manager Paul Holland. He was our best player, but I've put on slightly less weight than he has since we were both 15. As far as Town's record against Mansfield goes, well, it's odd but we've only played each other 42 times. I suppose that might be something to do with their good times coinciding with our bad times, and vice versa. There was a time in the 60s and 70s when Town couldn't beat Mansfield at all, and Town went 15 years without taking maximum points from the Stags. Town did the double over Mansfield in their disastrous 2007-08 season, but then so did a lot of other teams...
What can we do when the sun goes down?
I don't want to sound nasty, but (again like Grimsby), Mansfield isn't easy on the eye. The vicious Tory attacks on the local mining industry in the 80s and 90s have led to divided communities, and those scars don't heal too easily. Strides have been made to provide employment sites on the various derelict pit grounds in recent years, but it'll take a few more years yet until Disneyland comes calling.
Vital statistics
Last season
League placing: 9th, Conference Premier, P44 W17 D11 L16 F69 A60 Pts62
Home and away rankings: 10th and 9th in the division
Average attendance: 3,206 (rank: 4th in the division, 84th in England)
Mileage travelled: 3,949
This season
Squad size: 17 (as at 8 June)
Odds on winning the league: 18/1 (Blue Square)
Do say
"Can I have a Paul Holland pie, please?"
Don't say
"Fancy a day out in Chesterfield?"
Do you know the Mansfield area? We want your recommendations for local pubs, cafés or B&Bs, to feature in our pre-match factfiles during next season. Use the Cod Almighty feedback form to send them in – or to share any other thoughts you might have about our Rough Guide to the Conference.