The Club

A bit of everything on Mansfield Town FC!

Mansfield Town FC

Mansfield Town were formed in 1897 but under a different name. Mansfield Wesleyans. In 1930 the club changed the name to Mansfield Town. Mansfield Town are known to their fans as The Stags or The Yellows. The Stag nicked name comes from the nearby Sherwood Forest. Presumably Stags used to live in this area. The Yellows is a much more simpler one. We play in Yellow. However, more recently the club have adopted an amber colour but this doesn’t stop the fans signing Yeeeeellllllows!

The summer of 2008 was full of mixed emotions. We were relegated from the Football League after participating in it for 77 years. Throughout the season the then owner of the club Keith Haslam came under immense pressure to sell up. Banners were made, boycotts were carried out and live TV games were met with protests.

At the end of that season Haslam finally sold up. However he sold all the clubs top players first. Baptiste to Blackpool, Mullins to Stockport, Boulding to Bradford and Dawson to Bury. With all the other contracts expired and with no manager the majority of the players left. We had just 2 players attending pre season training!

Finally on the 4th July 2008 the club had new owners. Andy Perry former sponsor of the club, Andrew Saunders another former sponsor of the club and Steve Middleton had made the purchase. They made the immediate appointment of Billy McEwan. This decision looked to be a good one. After 10 games the Stags were sat at the top of the league. 10 games and 3 points later Billy McEwan was sacked. The club had dropped into the bottom half of the table and were now in another relegation fight.

3 weeks later David Holdsworth was appointed as the new manager. Relatively unknown his appointment came as a surprise for many fans. However after listening to his first interview and his expectations and targets for the club the fans were soon warmed round. He made an immediate impact and we managed to finish in the top half of the table, beating Stevenage 2-1 on the final day of the season.

The 2009/10 season looks promising for us. So far we are sitting in the play off places. A position all Stags fans would’ve taken and the start of the season. We will have to see what happens, but it certainly looks like the good times are coming back to Field Mill!

The Ground

Field Mill is a new ground built near the centre of Mansfield. Either side of the ground are 2 retail parks. The ground was rebuilt in 2001 but only has 3 new sides. The Bishop Street Stand is derelict and is out of bounds to any supporter. Opposite the Bishop Street Stand is the West Stand which is the main stand, it holds 5,500 people. This stand is two tiered and is amongst the biggest in the Blue Square Premier.

At either end of the ground there are 2 stands which are pretty much symmetrical. The only difference being a security control box in the Quarry Lane End (South Stand). The North stand which holds 1800 houses the away fans. That is of course if the team in question is going to bring a following of over 100. If not,  expect to be put in the West Stand lower.

Below are some pictures of the ground. Images are property of David Holmes. Woking FC photgrapher.