[themaclad]

Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and yellow kit. Since 1919, Mansfield have played at Field Mill, which is now an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 9,186. Their main rivals are Chesterfield and Notts County.

The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and entered the Mansfield & District Amateur League in 1902, before changing its name to Mansfield Wesley and joining the Notts & District League in 1906. They then finally became Mansfield Town in 1910, and moved from the Notts & Derbyshire League to the Central Alliance the following year. Crowned Alliance champions in 1919–20, they joined the Midland League in 1921 and would win this league on three occasions – 1923–24, 1924–25 and 1928–29 – before they were admitted into the Football League in 1931. They were relegated out of the Third Division in 1960, but won promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1962–63, remaining in the third tier for nine seasons until their relegation in 1972. They reached the Second Division for the first time after winning the Fourth Division title in 1974–75 and the Third Division title in 1976–77, only to suffer two relegations in three seasons.

Promoted out of the Fourth Division under the stewardship of Ian Greaves in 1985–86, they went on to win the Football League Trophy in 1986–87. Mansfield were however relegated in 1991 and promoted again in 1991–92, only to suffer an immediate relegation the following season. They won promotion once again in 2001–02, but were relegated to League Two in 2003 and lost their Football League status with a further relegation in 2008. They spent five seasons in the Conference until they were promoted back into the Football League after winning the Conference in 2012–13 following investment from new club owner John Radford.


https://www.mansfieldtown.net/

LAST TIME OUT

MANSFIELD TOWN 2 BRISTOL ROVERS 1



Managerial career
Burton Albion
In October 1998, he moved into management when he accepted the role of player-manager at Burton Albion in the Southern Football League Premier Division.[citation needed]

Having passed his 32nd birthday, Clough was still registered as a player which possibly explained his apparent lack of ambition to move into League management (his father bitterly lamented the premature curtailment of his own playing career). However, Clough had not played regularly for Burton since the early stages of the 2005–06 season, though he did play in the team's 6–3 win over Sutton Coldfield Town in the Birmingham Senior Cup on 27 October 2008.[16] His final senior appearance for Burton came in the league against Droylsden on 12 February 2008,[17] his only appearance of the season.[18]

In January 2006, Burton, then in the Conference, held Manchester United to a 0–0 draw in the third round of the FA Cup. The United team featured Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Louis Saha, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney introduced as second-half substitutes.[19] Burton midfielder Chris Hall said: "After the match, the press were buzzing... but we had a local cup game, against Stourbridge, I think, and the gaffer only wanted to focus on that.... With his playing career, he was used to the publicity... It was brilliant and it was quite a breath of fresh air, but at the same time, the gaffer kept us grounded".[20] In the replay at Old Trafford, Burton were beaten 5–0, but earned a reported £600,000 in the process.[21]

Clough won the Conference Premier Manager of the Month for December 2008, after completing 11 straight wins in the division and guiding Burton to 13 points clear at the top of the table.[22]

Derby County
On 5 January 2009 he was officially approached by Derby County, one of the clubs his father had previously managed, to take over as their manager as a replacement for Paul Jewell.[23] He was appointed the next day,[24] prior to his taking charge, on 8 January,[25] Academy Head Coach David Lowe guided Derby to a victory over Manchester United 1–0 in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.[26] Clough's first victory in charge of The Rams came on 31 January 2009, when Derby beat Coventry City 2–1. Results improved after Clough's arrival, with a run of four consecutive wins. However, a series of injuries to key players saw a loss of form for the Rams. Safety in the Championship was not confirmed until the penultimate game of the season against Charlton Athletic, with a 1–0 victory.[citation needed]

Clough's first full season in charge of Derby saw significant changes to the playing staff as he brought in nine players and moved on fourteen as well as making substantial dealings in the loan market. Despite this, the Rams again struggled with injuries, at one point being without thirteen first team players. When key players returned from injury, Clough was able to start picking a regular team, and results began to improve. Derby finished two points and four places better off than the previous campaign.[27]

Clough was involved in several altercations during the season. He was accused by counterpart Billy Davies of kicking him in the knee in a pitch side altercation during Derby's 1–0 victory over local rivals Nottingham Forest. Clough denied the claim and, though Davies put in an official complaint to the league, nothing came of the incident.[28]

Clough was also in trouble again when he was sent to the stands during Derby's 3–1 home defeat to Ipswich Town on 5 April. He was fined £1,000 and given a one match ban, which he served during Derby's final match of the campaign at home to Cardiff City.[29] Clough also gave himself some game time during the course of the season, coming on as a late substitute for the reserve side in their 2–1 victory over West Bromwich Albion reserves in their Central League Central Section clash.[30]

Derby suffered a major shock in the FA Cup, losing to Crawley Town 2–1. The result saw Clough's job at the club reportedly come under threat,[31] as he issued an apology to the club's supporters,[32] many of whom responded with demands for his dismissal.[33] Derby's Chief Executive Tom Glick answered fan's concerns by reiterating the club's support for Clough, saying: "Nigel is absolutely our guy. We have been clear about that continuously."[34]

During Derby's post-November struggles Clough came under focus for his consistent criticism of individual players,[35] which came to a head when he strongly criticised Tomasz Cywka after his mistake led to a late Portsmouth equaliser in a 1–1 draw at Fratton Park. Of Cywka, Clough said: "He's an extremely inexperienced and not very bright footballer... he can go back to Wigan or wherever he came from – I'm not really bothered – until he learns the game." These incidents led PFA Chief Gordon Taylor to criticise Clough, saying: "It cannot be appropriate to criticise your team in such a way in public. We'll sort things out... otherwise it looks an untenable situation."[36] Ultimately, nothing came of the incident but the outbursts, coupled with Derby's poor results on the pitch, led to some unrest among supporters. Clough's players were booed at the end of a 3–1 home defeat against Doncaster Rovers on 1 March 2011.[37]

Clough's continuing stay at the club was rewarded by overseeing Derby's best start to the season in 106 years as they opened the season with four victories from four and earned a Championship Manager of the Month nomination.[38]

A 1–1 draw with Barnsley on 28 September 2011 took Derby into second place and the automatic promotion spots for the first time in over a year. The results came during discussions over Clough's contract – which was due to expire at the end of the season[39] with Forest allegedly interested in securing their former-player's services.[40] Despite these reports however, there was no evidence that Clough and his staff were looking to go elsewhere and Clough entered into new contract discussions with Derby, stating "It has never been a question of if we wanted to stay or not. This is where our heart is."[41]

Clough signed a new three-year deal, to take him through until summer 2015, on 17 October, two days after a 1–1 draw with league leaders Southampton had kept Derby in the play-off places.[42] After signing the deal, Derby took just four points from their next five fixtures and slipped out of the playoff places. A 3–2 defeat at Peterborough United, after Derby had held a 2–0 lead, saw Clough hit out at the officials and the FA imposed a £2,000 fine on him.[43]

Derby suffered mixed form through the remainder of the season. By mid-April Derby found themselves 11th in the table, 5 points off the play-offs with four games remaining.[44] However, two defeats to Middlesbrough and Cardiff City in 4 days ended Derby's play-off chances. Derby finished the season 12th in the league, with Clough satisfied with the performances of the team, stating that a lack of firepower was the reason why they fell short and that it would be an area to improve on in the following season.[45]

The club also finally ended their interest in appointing a director of football,[46] something the club had been considering since May 2011.[47] This meant Clough retained control of the club's player recruitment policy and he was keen to add to his squad.[48] On the final match of the 2012–13 season, a 1–0 victory over Millwall helped Derby to finish the campaign in 10th place.[49]

After a mixed start to the 2013–14 season, Clough was sacked on 28 September after 3 defeats in eight days, the final of which was a 1–0 defeat to local rivals Nottingham Forest with Derby 14th in the table after 9 games.[50][51] He left the club as the longest serving Derby manager in over a decade.

Sheffield United
On 23 October 2013, Clough was appointed new manager of Sheffield United on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[52] Clough's tenure got off to a winning start as Sheffield United comfortably beat Crewe Alexandra 3–1 at Bramall Lane.[53] Clough was named League One's Manager of the Month for February 2014 after an improved run of form with four wins from five matches, including four clean sheets.[54]

On 9 March 2014, Clough's side beat Charlton Athletic 2–0 to set up an FA Cup semi-final tie against Hull City at Wembley, this was United's ninth consecutive win in all competitions with United climbing out of the League One relegation zone up to 11th in the table.[55] In May 2014, Clough was named FA Cup Manager of the Season by the League Managers Association in recognition of United's run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.[56] Clough also led the Blades to the semi-finals of the League Cup in the 2014–15 season after a 1–0 win over Southampton at Bramall Lane.[57] Sheffield United parted company with Clough on 25 May 2015.[58]

Return to Burton Albion
Clough returned to Burton Albion for a second spell as manager in December 2015, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left the post to join Queens Park Rangers.[59] Clough led the club to a 2nd place finish at the end of the season, gaining the club promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history. Clough kept the side in the league for two seasons before the club was relegated back to League One in May 2018 after a 23rd place finish. Clough later stepped down as manager in May 2020 due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the club.[60]

Mansfield Town
On 6 November 2020, Clough was appointed as manager of Mansfield Town.[61]

LAST MEETING

PRESTON NORTH END 4 MANSFIELD TOWN 0




MACS VIEW
After yesterday's clunker suspect we will put out a stronger than usual side in this one, with three isolating squad is already weakened and yesterday's hammering was a major wake up call. Compared to last seasons stroll against teh Stags, this is a different match altogether. They have a savvy manager who will be out to win this one, have a feeling they will.
I am going on Tuesday night to reaquaint myself with the celestial delight that is Field Mill, bit different to when I last went three new stands actually looks a decent grond although the stand across from the main stand is still shut.Never seemed to be away from the place in the 80/90's however one memorable fternoon stands out
29 March 1986 we won 3-2 at Field Mill, it was the season we finished next to the bottom, it poured down that day and when I mean poured it was non stop, if memory serves me right we were 2 up and the home side who were pushing for promotion levelled before possibly the worst footballer ever to don a white shirt Vernon Allot shinned home the winner deep into injury time, the scenes from the drenched away end were memorable that day.