Congratulations to Mansfield Town
The win on Saturday by Mansfield Town over Wrexham was enough to confirm them as Champions of the National Conference. Their 95 points from the season was enough to confirm an automatic promotion and pipping Kidderminster Harriers by 2 points.
So, welcome back to the Football League to the Stags. Like Exeter City beforehand they’ve been in the Conference 5 seasons before making their escape good. They were relegated the season the Grecians came up, 2007/08
There record in the Conference has been as follows:
- 2011/12 3rd. Lost to York City in the semi-final of the play offs.
- 2010/11 12th.
- 2009/10 9th
- 2008/09 12th
The last time we played them was the 2001/02 season. That was the season Mansfield Town were promoted to Division II, the third tier of English football. They beat us 1-0 at the Park in January, and we beat them 1-0 at Field Mill in December. Andy Roscoe played in both those games, having joined the Grecians at the beginning of the season from Mansfield Town. The line up at Field Mill that day was:
| Mansfield | 0 | 1 | Exeter | |
| Barry McConnell (pen 53) | ||||
| HT 0 – 0 | ||||
| Line-ups: | ||||
| K Pilkington | A van Heusden | |||
| B Hassell | N Whitworth | |||
| A Barrett | B McConnell | |||
| (45) A Tankard | A Watson | |||
| L Robinson | A Roscoe (70) | |||
| L Lawrence | J Campbell | |||
| M Piper | G Cronin | Yellow card | ||
| L Williamson | C Roberts | |||
| C Disley | P Ampadu | Yellow card | ||
| (74) S Corden | G Tomlinson (76) | |||
| C Greenacre | P Read | |||
| Subs: | ||||
| M Bingham | S Fraser | |||
| A Asher | M Burrows | |||
| S Reddington | M Barlow (76) | |||
| (45) M Pemberton | S Flack (90) | |||
| (74) S Bradley | J Richardson (70) | |||
| REFEREE: R Pearson STADIUM: Field Mill | ||||
Mansfield was also our first game post administration (the first one). The 1996/97 season. We won 1-0 thanks to 
a Leon Braithwaite goal in the 2nd minute.
Mansfield itself is about half way between Nottingham and Chesterfield. The ground itself has seen plenty of improvements over the years. Its 224 miles away from St James Park, and Google reckons that will take 3 and a ½ hours to get to. By train,. it’ll be a 5 hour journey via Birmingham and Nottingham. About £82 for train tickets (without a railcard). While we know it as Field Mill, it is now known as the One Call Stadium. A ground guide can be found here.
The only other thing of note. Well of interest to the author anyway, is that they were the team that Exeter City played at the Park on the day I was born. We lost 2-0!
