Travelling to Mansfield
Rovers travel to Mansfield on 7th May for their final game of the season (only about a month after their fabulous 1-0 win at TFCNL). Coaches leave TFCNL at 10.35, Sainsburys at 10.50 & Stonehouse at 11.00. To book your seat, ring KB Coaches on 01453 825 774 between 8.30am and 5pm Mondays to Fridays. Remember to mention if you’re a Supporters Club member to get your discount. The journey by road is about 2 hours 50 minutes (138 miles). If you are driving, the postcode for the ground is NG18 5DA. There is no car parking available at the One Call Stadium on matchdays. You can find parking on Grove Street, NG18 1EL at 70p per hour or Robin Hood Line Station, NG18 1HA 70p per hour or a 24hr ticket for £3.00. Disabled parking is free within the designated spaces for blue badge holders. But there is on-street parking within a reasonable (half a mile) walking distance around the ground. Predictably, trains take about 4 hours 30 minutes, involve 3 changes, and you can’t get back on the same day, so aren’t going to be an option for most.
Field Mill (or the One Call Stadium) is a big stadium with a high-banked, roofed North Stand behind one of the goals where up to 1800 away fans can be accommodated. It’s an all-seater stadium. The Bishop Street Stand (which used to be the main stand at Field Mill) is no longer used and is planned for redevelopment.
Ticket prices are below. Beware that it is cash only if you are buying tickets on the day. Buying and collecting tickets is from the Ticket Booth near the North Stand turnstiles (where away fans are located).
Category | Price (before matchday) | Price (on matchday) |
Adults | £23 | £25 |
Seniors (65+) | £20 | £22 |
Young adults (18-21) | £17 | £19 |
Juniors (7-17) | £14 | £16 |
Under-7 | FREE | FREE |
How are they doing?
Mansfield’s season has been down then up. They started the season with 2 wins, then went 12 games without a win. After this, they played the next 18 matches, winning 14 and drawing 3, with just one loss. This catapulted the Stags up the table and made them the division’s form side. Away losses at Tranmere, Port Vale & Forest Green slowed them down a little. Their away form hasn’t been that sparkling, but they hadn’t lost at home since the 2nd of October and had a club record run of 11 straight home wins until Sutton defeated them 3-2 in April. Since then, normal service has resumed with home victories against Crawley and Stevenage.
They are currently 5th in the table, with one game to go, after a frustrating 2-2 draw away at Salford on Bank Holiday Monday which all but ended their automatic promotion hopes. They now need Bristol Rovers & Northampton to slip up, and to beat Rovers in this final game to claim the last automatic slot. Mansfield can’t afford to lose to Rovers, because wins for Sutton and Swindon and a draw for Port Vale would mean they’d slip out of the play-off places. So, the stakes for Mansfield are high. Rovers know they need at least a draw to have any chance of securing the League 2 title (Rovers needing to better Exeter’s result in the Grecians final home game against Port Vale).
The game at TFCNL was between 2 high-quality sides. Josh March’s 14th minute goal and Lapslie’s 49th minute dismissal proving to be key moments in the match. This was Mansfield’s 7th dismissal this season.
Mansfield’s formation seems to change every time they play. Recent formations have included 5-3-2, 4-3-1-2 and 4-1-2-1-2. But 4-4-2 isn’t unusual for them, and they’ve even played 3-5-2 and 3-4-3. Guessing how Mansfield will line up isn’t easy!
Who’s to watch?
Mansfield’s twin strike force of Rhys Oates (number 18) and Jordan Bowery (number 9) have scored 9 goals and 7 goals respectively. Many Mansfield fans see Oates as their most influential player (he was injured for the match at TFCNL). Danny Johnson (number 11) is a threat and has 4 goals to his name in a season where he has had injury problems. However, Johnson, who is now fit again, is usually preferred to lead the line with Oates.
One of Mansfield’s highest scorers this season is a sometime central defender/sometime striker – Oli Hawkins (number 12) has 7 goals to his name and is a threat from set pieces. Unusual for a player to feature both as a central defender or a striker for the same team.
Mansfield do seem to have goals from all over the park with 18 different scorers this season. Veteran left midfielder, Stephen Quinn (number 16), is another key player to watch in the Mansfield line-up. Matty Longstaff (number 44) was signed from Newcastle on loan on deadline day. Longstaff had been loaned to Aberdeen at the start of the season but failed to make much of an impression, making only 5 starts. After making his first team debut for Newcastle the season before last (and scoring the winner against Manchester Utd), Longstaff struggled to push on. However, 5 goals and some assists in his relatively few starts for Mansfield suggest he may be rediscovering his quality.

Oli Hawkins (number 12) has 7 goals this season. The 6ft 6 inch Hawkins can, bizarrely, play as either striker or central defender.
Striker Rhys Oates (number 18) is top scorer with 9 goals, but can also play in defence. He has been Mansfield’s stand-out player but was injured when the sides met in April.

Danny Johnson (number 11) has had some fitness issues this season but may be available up front.
Matty Longstaff (number 44) was a deadline day loan signing from Newcastle
The Manager
The appointment of Nigel Clough as manager happened just before Mansfield came to the New Lawn in November last year. The appointment was something of a coup for Mansfield as Clough has some pedigree (14 England caps, and over 600 appearances at the top level with 131 goals). He had also managed Derby County, Sheffield United and Burton Albion before his arrival at Mansfield.
Clough’s arrival improved Mansfield’s fortunes and they went on a 5 match winning run. However, their form then dipped and they finished the season in 16th place, comfortably away from both the relegation and the play-off places. It was a season of mid-table consolidation for the club and, unless they can continue their run, there is a risk of it being a similar story this season.

Nigel Clough became Mansfield Town’s manager on 6th November 2020. Here pictured with Rob at TFCNL in April.
A Rovers connection

Farrend Rawson in his FGR days……
Rovers fans will remember a familiar figure in the Mansfield squad – Farrend Rawson. Nottingham-born Farrend joined Mansfield in July 2020. Farrend has figured in most of Mansfield’s games this season and has scored once for the Stags. He was on the bench when Mansfield came to Nailsworth.
Faz has been sent off a couple of times this season – coincidentally (?) both of these games have been against Barrow!

…..now in Mansfield colours
The club
Mansfield play at Field Mill, which lays claim to being the oldest professional football ground in the world (used for football since 1861). Mansfield didn’t start playing at Field Mill until just after the First World War when their rivals, Mansfield Mechanics, were evicted from the venue for not paying their rent.
Mansfield started life as the Mansfield Wesleyans. But when the local league they played in (the Mansfield District Amateur League) dropped the word ‘Amateur’ from their title, the Wesleyan church turned their back on the club and forbade them from using the word ‘Wesleyans’. As an act of defiance the club called themselves Mansfield Wesley in the early 1900’s. This isn’t the only brush the club had with religion at the time – in 1909 their chairman Fred Abraham and secretary James Marples resigned, later to be banned by the FA for serious irregularities. They had committed the (then) heinous crime of signing a player on the Sabbath (the day of rest).
The club, like many, has had its ups and downs. Some yo-yo’ing between the 3rd and 4th tiers of English football, a spell in the Conference (National League) between 2008 and 2013, and controversies with their owners. The club, now owned by John and Carolyn Radford, seem to be sailing in calmer waters these days.
Mansfield is a former market town in Nottinghamshire, just east of the M1. In more recent years, brewing, soft drinks and coal have dominated the town but there is little sign of any of these industries in the town now (other than the fact many Mansfield streets have suffered from mining subsidence). Rebecca Adlington, Richard Bacon, and Lib Dem leader Ed Davey all come from Mansfield.
Mascots Sally and Sammy Stag. Nobody’s really sure how the nickname ‘the Stags’ arrived. Maybe nearby Sherwood Forest?